PLOVER, WI (WAOW/CNN) - A Wisconsin boy is getting a new chance at life after seven weeks of waiting in a St. Louis hospital. This past week, a family heard the news that would change their lives, forever.
With a double lung transplant, a little boy has the chance to be just a regular kid. In April, Roland Raabe embarked on a life-changing excursion. "Huge learning curve... like major changes for us,” said Cathy Raabe, Roland's mother.
Born with a rare lung disorder that hindered his breathing, the 2-year-old boy from Plover and his family moved to St. Louis and waited just seven weeks until they got the call that changed their lives. "The person on the phone was very, very calm. They said that there's been a donor. A lung donor," Cathy Raabe said.
Roland's parents experienced a surge of emotion. "It was like an exciting moment, and a scary moment. Roland was asleep in the stroller at that point,” his mother said.
Rushing to the hospital the transplant was still not a guarantee. "A lot of going back and forth with the lung to make sure it was healthy, it was the right match for Roland," Cathy Raabe said.
After getting the green light, it was time. "Every hour-and-a-half, we had a personal phone call from the nurse letting us know how it was going, what they were doing,” Cathy Raabe said.
Roland’s parents were fighting by his side the whole way. "I asked the nurse to whisper in his ear that we love him," Cathy Raabe said.
And after watching the clock tick for nine hours, doctors emerged and Roland was given two new healthy lungs.
"If he wants to go into another room, he can get up and go into the other room, go down the slide. We can do that without this major maneuver with his equipment and cords,” Cathy Raabe said.
It all marks a new chapter for one brave, 2-year-old boy from Portage County.
"I am so proud of him and so excited for him. I can't wait, for me, the moment I'm really looking forward to is being able to pick him up and twirl him around and twirl him around without all tangled up in the cords,” Cathy Raabe said.
Roland is still under sedation, which is normal, but is already beginning to breathe on his own.The family expects to return home to Wisconsin in the next three months.
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