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."
