Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 22, 1993 TAG: 9307220111
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BARBARA KOH KNIGHT-RIDDER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But when 10-year-old Kristopher Alexander was given that choice Tuesday, a day before his eighth brain surgery, he didn't think of himself.
His wish would be easy to announce on national television - even though it's unlikely to come true: He is asking for a heart for a 6-month-old baby.
It's a wish hatched and nurtured from months of shared misery and courage between Kristopher and infant Connor Brownlee, both patients of the Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Calif., and between their families.
Kristopher has an unusually severe case of a rare brain vessel disorder. Connor, clinging to a ventilator, has an ineffective heart muscle.
Whether Kristopher's request to make his plea on national television will be realized remained unclear Tuesday night. But another, unspoken wish seemed possible just months after Florida doctors considered Kristopher's arterial venous malformation, AMV, inoperable and gave him a year to live. Now physicians believe he can be saved.
Kristopher arrived from Florida in May for treatment. His abnormal vessels rob blood from the healthy parts of his brain.
Most malformations are a few inches in diameter. Kristopher's is about 8 inches and occupies about 60 percent of his brain, Dr. Gary Steinberg said. "No one in the world's seen one like this."
Still, the Stanford University Medical Center neurosurgeon said he was optimistic about Wednesday's six-hour procedure, which he hoped will obliterate the AVM. If it's successful, Kristopher may have a normal lifespan, he said.
When Kristopher was wheeled into surgery Wednesday, rooting for him was the Brownlees of Paso Robles, Calif. They have been at the hospital since February, waiting for a heart for Connor.
In the hallways of the Ronald McDonald House, where patients' families stay, Christine Alexander met Rebecca Brownlee. Kristopher befriended Dylan, Connor's 5-year-old brother.
Kristopher, too young to visit the neonatal intensive care unit, has seen Connor only in photos and a video. "He was sweet, he was beautiful," Kristopher said. "He's very sick and needs a heart, and that's why I used my wish to get him a heart."
by CNB