The Region - News from July 2, 1986

Jesse Dean Sepulveda, the “Baby Jesse” who received a transplanted heart last month, has experienced what Loma Linda University Medical Center physicians suspect is a “mild early rejection” episode. But a hospital spokeswoman said the 6-week-old infant is “stable, active, alert and pink, and is being prepared to eventually go home.” Meanwhile, Nicky Carrizales, 3, who received two heart transplants within 24 hours two weeks ago, “remains critically ill but stable for the present,” the spokeswoman said. Nicky, of San Antonio, Tex., suffered from a degenerative heart disease that virtually destroyed his first heart. A third young heart transplant patient, Baby Rachel, “continues to make a satisfactory response to treatment for a difficult rejection episode,” she said. A fourth child, Baby James, went home last week to continue recovering from his heart transplant.