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Jason Whitely reports

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• Carter Michael Cates' website
• Information on Necrotizing Enterocolitis
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MCKINNEY – Preparations are under way for a homecoming many people in McKinney have been praying for since last year.

"Carter is coming home and gets to sleep in his bed," said Linda Wynn, Carter Cates' grandmother.

She has waited 15 months for Carter to come back home from the hospital.

"I'm going to cry tears of joy," she said.

On Thursday afternoon, the wait will finally be over. Born ten weeks early in July 2007, Carter was the size of his dad's hand when he was born; but the crushing news was still to come.

Within days of his birth, doctors diagnosed Carter with a disease called Necrotizing Enterocolitis, which meant his intestines were decaying. Other organs soon failed and he couldn't digest food.

He has spent all but two weeks of his life in various hospitals.

In May, before his first birthday, Carter was taken by his parents to Boston, where doctors did something rare: They transplanted six organs into him, including a liver, stomach, pancreas, spleen and large and small intestines. They all came from a single donor after a heartbreaking, yet life-saving decision made by another child's family.

Carter's Web site

Carter Michael Cates

"If someone hadn't done that, Carter would not receive those organs and we would be telling Carter goodbye," said a tearful Wynn.

Now, after five surgeries and more than $5 million in medical bills, Carter's mom, Chelle, has tickets for both of them to fly back home on an American Airlines flight Thursday morning.

"There's no doubt in my mind that Carter's going to grow up and be a healthy young child," his grandmother said.

Carter’s father, Sean, said that while doctors haven't promised any long-term prognosis, the smiling little boy now weighs 17 pounds and continues to give his family reason to hope.

Meanwhile, Wynn spent Wednesday night tidying up his room and adding a sheet to his mattress as she awaits his return.

E-mail jwhitely@wfaa.com