A Santa Ana family is trying to raise awareness about their son’s rare medical condition while holding onto a hope that a life-changing surgery will take away his pain for good.
4-year-old Matthew Morales, who suffers from a birth defect in his pancreas that causes him constant pain, has already been to the emergency room dozens of times and undergone five different procedures without much success.
Every morning, the little boy lets his family know how he’s feeling.
“We’ll wake up, and he’ll go like this,” explained Mario Morales, Matthew’s father, as he gives a thumbs up. “That means everything is good. Nothing hurts, and this is him being a normal kid.”
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Matthew’s family cherishes the good days. Lately, they said, the bad days are getting more frequent.
The boy's dad said Matthew’s stomach pain started when he was just a few weeks old.
“He was a fussy baby. When you have a fussy baby, sometimes you think, maybe its normal for them to cry a lot,” explained Morales.
When Matthew was 18 months old, his parents got the devastating diagnosis.
“They found out he had something called pancreas divisum, a birth defect,” said Morales. “One of the anatomy didn’t fulfill when he was in the womb.”
Matthew’s congenital condition then progressed to chronic pancreatitis, which doctors say is rare in children.
His family says he is in constant pain.
“There’s moments I cry at the hospital wishing I could just take that pain away,” said Morales. “I mention to other people I even cry to him. Hey, just give him my pancreas. That’s just something I can offer for him."
Matthew’s parents said he was just approved for a complex and risky, but life-changing surgery at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
“Its finally going to give him the opportunity to live a pain-free life, which he’s never been able to experience before,” said Kenia Morales, Matthew’s mother.
His parents say the surgery will reduce Matthew’s risk of developing pancreatic cancer in the future, but most importantly give him a chance to enjoy his childhood.
“Honestly, it fuels more fuel to my car and makes he want to go further above and beyond for them,” said Morales.
Matthew’s family hopes insurance will cover most of the surgery, but they need more support.
You can learn more about Matthew’s story here.
