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http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46245005/ns/today-today_health/
HOLLIS, Maine A 9-year-old Maine girl is home from a Boston hospital healthy, active and with high hopes and a new stomach, liver, spleen, small intestine, pancreas, and part of an esophagus to replace the ones that were being choked by a huge tumor.
It's believed to be the first-ever transplant of an esophagus and the largest number of organs transplanted at one time in New England.
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It was 2008 when Alannah, then 5, began running a fever and losing weight while her belly swelled. Doctors discovered the tumor that year and twice attempted to remove it, as it made its way like octopus legs from organ to organ. But it was difficult to access what turned out to be a rare form of sarcoma, said Debi Skolas, Alannah's grandmother, and chemotherapy didn't do the trick, either.
All the time, the growth known as an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor continued to grow in her abdomen, causing pain, making it hard to eat and swelling her up with fluid. Surgery was the last resort to save her life, and Alannah spent more than a year on a waiting list for the organs, said Dr. Heung Bae Kim, the lead surgeon on the procedure at Children's Hospital Boston.
The family was told there was a 50 percent chance Alannah wouldn't survive the procedure. But without it, she had no chance whatsoever.
More at link.....
HOLLIS, Maine A 9-year-old Maine girl is home from a Boston hospital healthy, active and with high hopes and a new stomach, liver, spleen, small intestine, pancreas, and part of an esophagus to replace the ones that were being choked by a huge tumor.
It's believed to be the first-ever transplant of an esophagus and the largest number of organs transplanted at one time in New England.
--------
It was 2008 when Alannah, then 5, began running a fever and losing weight while her belly swelled. Doctors discovered the tumor that year and twice attempted to remove it, as it made its way like octopus legs from organ to organ. But it was difficult to access what turned out to be a rare form of sarcoma, said Debi Skolas, Alannah's grandmother, and chemotherapy didn't do the trick, either.
All the time, the growth known as an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor continued to grow in her abdomen, causing pain, making it hard to eat and swelling her up with fluid. Surgery was the last resort to save her life, and Alannah spent more than a year on a waiting list for the organs, said Dr. Heung Bae Kim, the lead surgeon on the procedure at Children's Hospital Boston.
The family was told there was a 50 percent chance Alannah wouldn't survive the procedure. But without it, she had no chance whatsoever.
More at link.....
