What would you do to save your child's life? Most parents would answer that question with 'anything.'
News Specialist, Carole Mikita, brings us story of a mother who did say that.
Two-year-old Lexie Sorensen is the joy of her family's life-- full of energy and very curious. Her parents and older sisters can't imagine life without her, but they almost had to.
Two months after she was born, her pediatrician noticed that Lexie's tummy was distended. So, he sent her to Primary Children's Medical Center, and the diagnosis was not good.
Jackie Sorensen, Lexie's Mom: "It was a begign tumor and it was supposed to shrink with, we tried steroids, interferon shots, and the shots were supposed to definitely shrink the tumor. But it grew."
Doctors next tried radiation, to contain the tumor on Lexie's liver. But it grew even larger. Now the tumor was endangering her life. Her heart was failing.
Linda Book, M.D., Gastroenterologist: "As this tumor grew and grew and grew, and we saw this baby get more and more distressed, a solution was a new technique, called living related transplantation."
Because there are not many livers small enough to be transplanted into a baby weighing between eight and ten pounds, doctors proposed that Lexie's mother donate part of hers. Lab technicians started the tests to find out if they were compatible. They were.
Tests for living related transplants can take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. For Jackie Sorenson, it was a lot shorter than that-- just over 24 hours.
Then mother and daughter were rushed into surgery and doctors took part of Jackie Sorenson's liver, about one- third of the left side, while another team took the liver and huge tumor, about the size of a basketball, out of Lexie, then transplanted part of Jackie's into the baby.
Rebecka Meyers,M.D., transplant surgeon: "And you try and coordinate those so that the new little piece, the healthy little piece of Mom is coming out at the same time with the big tumor liver is coming out of the baby."
Jackie Sorenson: "I was just willing to do anything to get her better, and we knew it was her last hope."
A mother's love became a mother's life-saving gift. And although Lexie doesn't know it yet, just that smile, almost lost, reminds Jackie Sorenson of what is most precious.
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