Little Kaylee grows up

Jeff Cook/Quad-City Times Kaylee Lindley plays air hockey with her dad, Jim, who in 2003 donated part of his liver to her when she was 19 days old. Buy this Photo!
PORT BYRON, Ill. — Forgive Kellie Lindley if she had no opinion about organ transplants much before 2003.

In 2003, you see, her baby daughter was saved in a momentous, historic operation when her husband, Dr. Jim Lindley, donated part of his liver to save his tiny, 19-day-old child. At the time, Kaylee was the world’s youngest, living, related-donor liver transplant patient.

She was born without the cells that make up the substance of the liver, which meant Kaylee’s liver could not produce the materials that clot blood or remove poisonous substances from the blood. A transplant would be needed to survive.

Kaylee Susan Lindley is now an active 4-year-old, attends preschool every day and is “doing just fine,” according to her dad, 45, who is a family medicine physician at Genesis Medical Center — Illini Campus, Silvis, Ill.

Jim Lindley, the live donor, feels fine and has no ill effects from his part of the surgery, done at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City. There is a scar on his chest which, Kellie said, “looks like the Mercedes logo without the circle.”

Some issues continue

Kaylee is dealing with some medical issues but has started school and is a happy, charismatic child with a grand vocabulary. The 4-year-old is blind in one eye, has no tooth enamel yet and has a pre-cancerous blood condition.

She has survived 16 operations.

There are medications, taken daily. Her parents, like others who care for transplant patients, give Kaylee immunosuppressants to keep the organ healthy.

Kaylee’s parents are vigilant and watchful because these drugs can leave a child more susceptible to infections. A recent chicken pox scare meant Kellie Lindley was in immediate contact with Kaylee’s doctors and nurses in Iowa City.

But the future is bright, Dr. Alan Reed said. Reed, professor and chief of transplant surgery, is also the new director of the hospital’s Organ Transplant Center. Reed has done many transplants on children when he previously worked in Florida, but he did not operate on Kaylee.

Severe complications are most worrisome in the first year after a transplant, Reed said.

“But kids have pretty good survival rates after liver transplants,” he added, noting most risks do come from infection.

Children on whom Reed performed transplants 15 to 20 years ago keep in touch with the doctor, and he’s been invited to their weddings and graduation ceremonies.

“Kaylee will have some things she has to watch out for, of course. But she can expect to grow up and have children of her own some day,” Reed said.

It’s a blur

The crisis with Kaylee came as a deep shock to her parents. Kellie had tried in vitro fertilization four times, and Kaylee was the only baby who survived. The Lindleys also have twin adopted boys, Justice and Rhyis, now 7 years old and in the second grade.

“We tried for years to have a baby,” said Kellie Lindley, 44. “She was a very welcomed child.”

The 2003 operation and first year after it was a blur.

“We missed every single holiday that first year,” Kellie Lindley recalled, explaining that a health crisis seemed to happen on the same day as big events.

The couple spent three months immediately after Kaylee’s birth in the Ronald McDonald House, for example. The 2003 Christmas was celebrated in Iowa City with the twin boys, who came in for the holiday.

The boys, who were 3 years old at the time, stayed with family members in the Quad-Cities. The Lindleys said their family and friends provided a lot of support during these difficult months.

“I remember thinking, ‘This is like a Lifetime movie,’” Kellie Lindley said. She felt as if she floated above the events, looking down. “There was a lot of pain and tears,” she remembered.

“I also prayed a lot, and our friends and family members started a prayer line,” she said.

Life has slowly improved. Jim and Kellie Lindley, for example, recently took their first vacation in four years. Curley-haired Kaylee gets along well with her brothers, and on a recent December night, she played with her toys while Justice and Rhyis competed on a video game.

Kaylee wore a special shirt which read: “The Greatest Present Ever.”