9-Year-Old Girl Heads Home After 6 Organ Transplant At Children's Hospital
BOSTON (CBS) — A 9-year-old girl went back home to Maine Wednesday, three months after a groundbreaking multiple organ transplant at Children's Hospital Boston.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Mark Katic reports
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Alannah Shevenell of Hollis underwent 14-and-a-half hours of surgery in October to remove an aggressive tumor and six organs - her stomach, pancreas, spleen, liver, small bowel and the esophagus.
WBZ-TV's Ken MacLeod reports
The tumor had twisted around the organs, so they all had to be transplanted.
"They come together sort of as a cluster, so it's almost like transplanting one big organ," said Dr. Heung Bae Kim, the director of Children's Pediatric Transplant Center.
"The only way to take out this tumor was to remove all of the organs that were involved."
"It was like changing the whole engine of the car. You take the whole thing out and put a whole new engine in."
Dr. Kim said the esophagus transplant was the first in the world, but Alana waited a long time for the perfect match.
"Especially in this type of case, where you need six organs. She waited over a year for these organs, but actually they were the perfect organs for her."
"We waited 15 months. Nobody ever thought we would wait that long and it was getting worse," said Alana's grandmother, Debbie Scolas.
"We'd like to thank, especially the donor family. This was a huge thing, they gave us back Alana."
If you'd like to be an organ donor, visit Donate Life New England to sign up.
