Health

Girl Hurt By Drain Receives Lifesaving Transplant

OMAHA, Neb. (WCCO) ― Early Sunday morning, the Taylor family of Edina, Minn. received a phone call they never expected would come so soon.

The Nebraska Medical Center told them they had a small bowel, liver and pancreas waiting for their daughter, Abigail. She needed the triple transplant because the feeding tube that had been keeping her alive was causing severe liver damage.

The Opus Corporation donated their private jet to take the Taylors to Omaha and they arrived within four hours of the call. The surgery began at 2:15 Monday morning and lasted five hours. Dr. Alan Langnas, Chief of Transplantation at the Nebraska Medical Center, said the surgery saved her life.

"Abigail is in serious but stable condition and I think we're all pleased with her progress," said Langnas.

Abigail had been seriously injured after she sat on open pool drain at the Minneapolis Golf Club in June. The suction tore out part of her small intestine. She had only been on the transplant waiting list for two weeks. Her parents don't know the donor or even why Abigail was chosen.

In these cases, the organs come from donors who have died and are generally smaller than their recipients.

The triple transplant is a rare surgery. The Nebraska Medical Center performed 14 of the 96 in the U.S. in 2006. They are generally done on patients younger than six who were born with their condition. The goal is to make the feeding tube unnecessary.

"It allows the to have a functioning GI tract so they can go on and do the things that normal kids do, which is eat. We want them to be able to sit at the dinner table and to have Thanksgiving dinner," said Langnas.

In November, Abigail's mother, Katey, said her daughter could only eat a few bites of food at each meal. At the time, they thought she might need the feeding tube forever. They have sued the Minneapolis Golf Club and the pool drain manufacturer.

"It's hard to see your child struggle with anything, but she handles it well," she said.

The Taylors declined interview requests on Wednesday.

"They're, I'm sure, worried beyond belief. The surgery is over. She got through that. They're taking each day in this acute recovery phase at a time," said their attorney Bob Bennett.

According to Langnas, patients with this type of surgery must stay in the hospital for 45 to 90 days. They also must remain in the area for six months for check-ups or any problems that may occur with the anti-rejection medication.

"It tends to be a bumpy road for the first three to six months after transplantation," he said.

He also said he doesn't know Abigail's life expectancy, but mentioned the hospital's longest-surviving patient is now 17 years old. She had her transplant in 1991. He also cited a Nebraska Medical Center study that showed children with transplants think their quality of life is equal to their classmates five years out.

 

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