BABY BATTLES BACK FROM THE BRINK : INFANT RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL AFTER 23 MONTHS OF TREATMENT.

Byline: Associated Press

The odds were stacked against young Michael Kerr from the beginning.

Then, they got worse.

Cancer was followed by a lung infection that developed into pneumonia. Then came kidney failure.

For 23 months, the toddler's body was strapped to tubes and machines so complicated that his father, Raymond, kept a chart showing where they plugged in.

But on Friday, after spending most of his life in a hospital, Michael went home. As he left Children's Hospital of Orange County, he tugged on a balloon that floated skyward with the message: ``One in a Million.''

``We almost lost him several times,'' said his mother, Heidi Kerr of Chino Hills. ``But we never lost our faith or hope. You have to have faith if you want to have a miracle.''

Michael was treated for neuroblastoma, a tumor in an adrenal gland. His fight drew national attention this summer when the family's insurance plan stopped paying for treatment when the $1 million limit was reached.

A state insurance program took over but would not pay for a bone marrow transplant from his sister that Michael needed because radiation and chemotherapy had destroyed his immune system.

Michael's pediatrician, Dr. Ken Akey, and his wife, Laurie, launched a fund-raising campaign to pay for the $300,000 transplant. The Kerrs' new insurer eventually agreed to cover the procedure.

On July 18, Michael received bone marrow from his 6-year-old sister, Tiffany.

A week later, Michael developed a lung infection that turned into pneumonia. His kidneys stopped working. He was hooked to a respirator for two months.

``You might as well write this kid off,'' one doctor told Raymond Kerr.

But the boy's oncologist, Dr. Mitchell Cairo, refused to do that.

``He's one of those children who come into your life and leave an impact on it forever,'' Cairo said. ``He showed me his tenacity, his courage despite the odds.

``I knew that we should seek out all possibilities to cure this young man.''

Cairo managed to obtain two experimental drug treatments that he said he believed help save the boy's life.

``It's hard to watch your kid go through something like this,'' Kerr said. ``Sometimes, it hurts so bad, you don't know how to feel. You look at him lying there, attached to all these wires and tubes. And as a parent, you're always questioning yourself: Am I doing the right thing?''

The Kerrs share credit for their son's survival, said Renna Killen, the hospital's bone marrow transplant coordinator.

``He's one tough little kid. It was a long shot that he would live,'' she said. ``He has very, very, very vigilant parents. They never left his side.''

Michael came first even when Raymond Kerr lost his executive job at a construction firm and spent four days in the hospital last month because of a viral heart problem.

On Friday, hospital staffers wept as Michael, his face covered by a surgical mask, departed.

He will have to play catchup. Because of his long hospitalization, the nearly 2-year-old boy has the body of a 6-month-old. He cannot walk or crawl and can say little besides ``Mama,'' ``Papa'' and ``ball.''

The Kerrs also must wait five years before they can be reasonably certain that the boy is cancer-free.

``This is the end of a chapter,'' Kerr said. ``Someday, I just hope he'll be a little boy running around with a baseball cap on, having fun.''

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Photo

Photo: Michael Kerr reaches for a toy soldier balloon given to him upon his release from the hospital that has been his home almost all his life. The 23-month-old battled back from cancer and pneumonia.

Associated Press