POLAND – Most kids take running and playing for granted. But 14-year-old L.J. Langelier could only dream about playing on a sports team with his friends.

That dream is about to come true.

Born with a rare heart defect, L.J. is recovering from a successful heart transplant. He is recuperating in a halfway house in Boston, said his father, Larry Langelier.

The family already has noticed more energy and a healthy skin color, and is looking forward to L.J.’s return home sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“He looked totally different right away, after the surgery,” said Trudy Langelier, L.J.’s stepmother. “The tip of his nose isn’t blue anymore. Now he’s a healthy pink.”

The family’s challenge now will be to keep L.J. protected from germs for at least a year.

“The doctors told us that most do all right with the surgery,” said Larry Langelier. “But the biggest problem will be either infection or rejection of the new heart.”

Failure to thrive

L.J. already had endured four surgeries during his first four years of life, said his father. He was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which is a rare condition treated only by surgery, according to the Children’s Heart Institute. With surgical repair or a heart transplant, 70 percent of children born with the condition live at least five years, according to the Texas Heart Institute.

“The first 30 days after he was born, he just didn’t thrive,” said Larry Langelier. “He wouldn’t hold anything down. He wouldn’t gain any weight.”

Langelier remembered being at work on third shift when L.J.’s mother, Christine Dillingham, called him with the X-ray results.

“His mother was all in tears,” said Langelier. “That night, L.J. was in surgery.”

Things seemed to get better for L.J., although he could never participate in gym classes or sports. Even though Langelier and Dillingham divorced when L.J. was 2 years old, the newly blended families of step-siblings and half-siblings focused on L.J.’s needs. Everyone thought L.J. would be able to lead a somewhat normal life.

At age 10, the boy suffered a major setback, possibly due to a viral infection. His health continued to decline over the next four years. He couldn’t climb the stairs at school. He had become pasty white and often ran out of breath and energy.

“I was in denial for the longest time,” said Trudy Langelier. “I kept hoping that he would get better. I cried a lot, but Larry was so strong through all of this.”

Fortunately, the waiting list for a heart was short, and the family got the call from the doctors only about two months after deciding this fall to go ahead with the transplant.

“The hardest part was saying goodbye to him as they wheeled him out of his hospital room and into surgery,” said his father. “That was a long night.”

L.J. went into surgery at 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 21 and came out fine at 4:30 a.m. the next day, said his stepmother.

Since then, L.J.’s mother, Christine Dillingham, has spent the weekdays at her son’s side. Larry travels for visits every weekend while he continues his full-time job.