Only eight months before, the 22-year-old weighed 74 pounds; her skin was bright yellow with jaundice. She had a rare condition, intestinal dysmotility, which rendered her digestive organs non-functional.

But in a 13-hour operation at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia, she received a new stomach, liver, pancreas and large and small intestine – all from a six-year-old Mississippi boy killed in a traumatic injury.

The medical team, led by Dr. Tomoaki Kato,” treated me with above-and-beyond care – we are all like family,” Molini told Bay Currents. “Dr. Kato is a miracle worker -- and he inspired me to become a doctor.”

Molino, frail and dependent on an IV for food, had a difficult wait for a transplant because of her rare AB blood type. When she received a phone call in May that a donor had been found, “I was absolutely shocked and amazed, thankful, and grateful,” she said.  She said she wanted to get to know the family of the Mississippi boy and for them to part of her life. “I want to thank them for my life,” she said.

Dr. Kato said that only about 500 operations of this type have been performed worldwide – he has done 50 of them. “Her recovery has been good, relatively fast,” he said.

What is next for Molino? “I want to go back to school, go to medical school. Live my life and hangout with my friends like any other 22-year-old girl wants to do”

What is Intestinal Dysmotility?

We take it for granted that when we swallow a piece of food, it will travel easily down the esophagus, into the stomach and then the intestines, being digested in stages along the way.

We normally don’t have to worry about it, because these organs use a wave-like muscular movement, peristalsis, to transport the food (it’s why we could eat upside down, although no one’s recommending actually doing it).

In Kristin Molini’s case, this movement, or motility, was hampered. Food simply couldn’t be processed by her digestive system.

Now she has an entirely new set of digestive organs, and, as long as she takes care of herself, her prognosis is good, her doctors say.