Girl Who Had Six Organs Transplanted Is Thriving

by Jen Thorpe | More from this Blogger

11 Feb 2012 12:29 AM

A nine year old girl, who lives in Maine, is bouncing back after surviving organ transplant surgery. She had a total of six organs transplanted, to replace the ones that were damaged by a large tumor, (which was also removed in a previous surgery). I think this is really impressive!

Alannah Shevenell lives in Portland, Maine, with her grandparents. There doesn't seem to be any information about where her parents are at, or the circumstances that resulted in Alannah living with her grandparents, instead of her parents.

Alannah is only nine years old, but she has been through a lot. When she was five years old, she got sick. She started running a fever and losing weight. Despite the weight loss, it was clear that this little girl's belly had swelled.

It turned out that Alannah had a growing tumor in her abdomen. It was called an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor, which is a rare type of sarcoma. It caused her to experience pain, and to have difficulty eating. It swelled up with fluid. She went through chemotherapy treatments, but that didn't work.

She went through two surgeries that year, where doctors attempted to remove the tumor. Unfortunately, this type of tumor was able to continue to grow, and to surround and damage her internal organs. Doctors were not able to remove the entire tumor during the surgeries.

The solution was for Alannah to be put on a waiting list for transplanted organs. She spent more than a year waiting for the organs that she needed. Doctors told her family that there was a 50% chance that she would not survive the transplant surgery. Without the transplanted organs, she had zero chance of survival.

In October of 2011, the doctors preformed what one surgeon described as "the most extensive tumor removals ever done". The hardest part was removing the six organs that Alannah needed to have removed, and to deal with the resulting blood loss. Alannah's new organs were donated by the family of a child who was close to Alannah's size, and who had passed away.

Now, Alannah is recovering from the six organ transplant surgery, and the removal of the tumor. It appears that she is doing great, and is definitely happy to be home. She received a new stomach, liver, spleen, small intestine, pancreas, and part of an esophagus. This is the first time an esophagus has been transplanted. It also is the first time that six organs have been transplanted at one time, in New England.

Currently, Alannah has to take nine different medications every day. Some of them are required to be given two, three, or four times a day. Her grandparents need to check her blood sugar, and to precicely measure everything that goes into, and comes out of, Alannah's body.

She has an ostomy pouch and a feeding tube in place, so that she can get nutrition while she adjusts to being able to eat again. Her immune system is fragile, so she cannot go out in crowds. A tutor comes to her home for twenty hours every week.

Image by Derek Baird on Flickr

Learn more about Jen Thorpe

I am currently writing for the Insurance, Deals, Genealogy, and Special Needs blogs.I have also written for the Parenting,Money, Homeschooling, Preschool, Health, Food and Weightloss blogs.

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