ESCALON - That smile is back. The one that runs from ear to ear and brightens up even the gloomiest December day in the Valley.
Berenice Jasso, the Escalon teenager who underwent a successful transplant operation Dec. 6 with a kidney donated by her mother, Maria Jasso, 49, is home.
"I'm feeling good," she said Friday. The words may be simple, but they convey a lot of meaning when you see the energy that's returned to her eyes, the way she moves, the way she holds her head up - and smiles.
"It's like my baby has been born twice," her equally beaming father, Jesus Jasso, 50, said.
When Berenice arrived at the rural family farmhouse earlier this week after her most recent nine-day stay at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center in Sacramento, her sister Regina, 20, had filled the home with balloons. There was a cake - a treat she couldn't eat before - as well as close family and friends to share it with. More extended family will be visiting today from Madera.
She got to eat her mother's beans and favorite tacos - a tortilla filled with potatoes, sour cream, cheese and green chillies - for the first time in more than a year. And there are no more 3 a.m. wake-up calls three times a week to the make the early-morning run into Stockton for kidney dialysis.
She hasn't gained any weight, yet. She's still less than 100 pounds, and doctors have told her that probably won't change for a couple more months. She's on 15 medications, including two anti-rejection drugs. And she needs to be "really careful" of sodium and potassium. So that means no more potatoes in her tacos for a while.
A visiting teacher came, but with winter break nearing Berenice won't start studying until January. And she won't get back to her abbreviated freshman year at Escalon High School until March.
Another teacher who she became close to at El Portal Middle School and who visited her at home after she first became sick in 2009 said Berenice has a wonderful outlook on life and on her condition.
"She is a phenomenal kid. She is always thinking about other people. No other kid would probably get through this. She's told me, 'I just want to be a normal kid again,' " said Neici Becerra, who has relocated to Kodiak, Alaska.
And even though schoolwork became secondary for everyone else as Berenice's health steadily declined, Becerra said, "She focused on school as a good thing. We told her 'Don't worry about it,' but she persisted."
For now, Berenice is watching television and sleeping because she still tires easily, as expected, while her body learns to adjust to its new organ. She lived without either for almost four months. Her kidneys were removed in September.
Berenice, who dreams of becoming a crime-scene investigator and photographer - "CSI: Miami" is her favorite TV show - is looking forward to her 15th birthday in June when she hopes to have a traditional quinceañera with as many as 250 guests and a 26-piece band at the ranch site where her parents celebrated their church wedding.
The family, whose finances have gotten "pretty tight" because they've had to take long absences from work when Berenice got sick, will get some help from the Make A Wish Foundation to put on Berenice's quinceañera.
Her major medical expenses have been completely covered by California Children's Services.
For what Berenice has endured, she's gained a lot of wisdom - and maturity, her sister said. She said she's gotten much closer to her parents at a time when many teenagers start to question authority.
"For kids who are sick, keep your head up and don't get down. Keep your hope up, because a miracle will happen one day or another," Berenice said. "My parents have given me confidence to be strong, to keep going in life."
Maria Jasso, recovering quickly from her own surgery, said she is extremely happy because of her daughter's rapid improvement.
She also said, in Spanish as interpreted by Berenice, that "people praying is really strong, really deep, and miracles can exist."
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