Nine-year-old Alannah Shevenell of Hollis rests in her hospital bed at Children’s Hospital Boston on Tuesday. Alannah underwent a 14-hour surgery in October to remove an aggressive tumor and to undergo a transplant of her stomach, pancreas, spleen, liver, small bowel and esophagus. It is believed to be the first esophageal transplant ever performed. Read more about Alannah at the Portland Press Herald.
BOSTON (AP) — A 9-year-old Maine girl is heading home after a groundbreaking multiple organ transplant at Children's Hospital Boston.
Alannah Shevenell of Hollis underwent 14 hours of surgery in October to remove an aggressive tumor and to undergo a transplant of her stomach, pancreas, spleen, liver, small bowel and esophagus.
Hospital officials say it was the first known esophageal transplant in the world and the largest number of organs transplanted into a person at one time in New England.
Alannah was diagnosed with a rare former of cancer when she was 4. The tumor snaked and twisted itself around her internal organs, choking the life out of them.
It didn't respond to chemotherapy or surgery to get rid of it. Even the transplant was risky.
Alannah is scheduled to come home Wednesday.
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