It’s Kelsey Keen’s
own decade of dominance

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Kelsey Keen was still a youngster, but she recalls her harrowing experience one morning a decade ago.
"I remember I woke up and got dressed for school, but I couldn’t walk, then I remember going to the hospital," she said.
Kelsey, who lives on Carey Terrace in the Far Northeast, was a 6-year-old first-grader at St. Martha Elementary School in September 1997.
After experiencing pain through the night, Kelsey went to a pediatrician. Tests showed that a piece of a tumor had developed in the little girl’s heart and traveled to her brain, causing a stroke.
Kevin and June Keen couldn’t believe what they were hearing — that a girl so young could have a stroke. Their daughter’s partial paralysis and slurred speech made them believers.
Kelsey was originally admitted to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, where she suffered a second, milder stroke. She was then transferred to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The child’s medical woes were not over. She suffered a third stroke and a heart attack, during which a piece of her tumor traveled into her coronary artery. She was on life support for 11 days.
The damage was so severe that doctors determined that she needed a new heart. Within two weeks, a heart became available.
On Oct. 7, 1997, Kelsey received a new heart and a new life. The girl has grown up healthy and is now a 16-year-old sophomore volleyball player at Archbishop Ryan High School.
"In ten years, there’s been no rejection," her mother said happily.
"The heart could be a perfect match and last forever," her father said hopefully.
The Keens celebrated the 10th anniversary of the successful heart transplant with a family dinner. They decorated their lawn and window with red and white hearts, lights and a "Congratulations 10" sign. Green ribbons are planted in the lawn to bring awareness to the need for organ donors.
Today, Kelsey bears the scars of her ordeal, literally. She has scars on both sides of her neck and down the center of her chest from surgeries.
The teenager wears a medical alert bracelet intended to provide emergency personnel with her history in case of a health–related episode.
Other than that, Kelsey is the typical teen. She’s about to go for her driver’s permit. And she’s happy to inform anyone who asks about her medical past.
"They see my scars or see my bracelet and ask me what it’s for," she said.
Kelsey is the oldest of three girls. Krysta is 13. Karleigh, who just turned 9, was born a year to the day that Kelsey was first taken to the doctor for her pain. Both siblings attend St. Martha but made a recent stop at Ryan to decorate their sister’s locker in honor of her 10-year anniversary. They also decorated her 1988 Pontiac Grand Am that sits on the street.
The family still includes Meeko, the dog that Kelsey missed during her lengthy hospital stay and therapy at the Children’s Seashore House in 1997.
The therapy was intense. She had to learn to do everything again, including talking instead of pointing when she wanted something. She was strong through all of the tests, including when she had to have blood drawn.
"The guys and women down there at CHOP are amazing," her dad said.
Kevin Keen works for the U.S. Postal Service, and US Healthcare paid for the expensive medical care. The family also is grateful to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for providing a trip to Disney World in the spring after Kelsey’s health scare.
The time spent in the hospital was made more bearable by all of the Beanie Babies that she received and the frequent visits by popular athletes of the time, such as Eric Lindros and John LeClair of the Flyers and Scott Rolen of the Phillies. Then-76ers president Pat Croce also stopped by.
Relatives and friends helped the Keens in various ways during the ordeal, and neighbors rented a limousine to bring Kelsey home from the hospital.
By January 1998, she was well enough to return to first grade. Because of the time missed, she repeated the grade, which was OK with her because she got to spend another year with her favorite teacher, Mrs. Kim Volz.
Because the weakness was on her right side, Kelsey learned to become a left-hander.
At Ryan, Kelsey is in the school’s Bonaventure Program for students with a learning disability. In her case, the stroke has slowed her learning, but she is a good student.
Today, Kelsey takes anti-heart rejection medicine, and will do so for the rest of her life. Still, while she once took 18 pills a day, now she takes only five. She was on steroids for seven years but has been off of them for the last three.
The medicine weakens her immune system. She must avoid cats, birds and anyone with chicken pox, cannot drink tap water because it contains bacteria, and must order soda without ice at restaurants. Thankfully for her family, Wissahickon Mountain Spring Water is providing a lifetime supply of its product.
Every three months, Kelsey visits the doctor. Each year, she goes for a stress test and heart-catheterization procedure.
Kelsey does not think about her heart and is an active girl, especially on the volleyball court. Over the years, she has participated in soccer, track and field, swimming, basketball, softball, cheerleading and dance.
The teen’s diet includes plenty of spicy foods lathered in hot sauce and steak sauce.
"I just live my life," she said.
There is one restriction, though.
"She can’t play tackle football," her mom said.
The Keens have not heard from the parents who donated the heart, but they are thankful. They and their family and friends are organ donors and sponsored a volleyball tournament at St. Martha in April to raise money for the cause.
Without a family’s donation of their child’s heart, Kelsey would not have been able to grow up as a healthy kid.
"She’s doing good," Kevin Keen said. "In ten years, there’s been minimal rejection. We’re very surprised, very happy and very glad." ••