Mar 11, 2009 10:30 am US/Central
Doctor Removes Girl's Tumor In Daring Surgery
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Doctors removed Heather's stomach, pancreas, spleen, liver, and small and large intestines and chilled them. Once they took out the tumor, only the liver and the intestines could be re-implanted.
CBS
It's being called a miraculous, life-saving surgery. Doctors removed six vital organs from a 7-year-old girl and replaced them in order to access a tumor deep inside her abdomen.
Incredibly, the Heather McNamara left the hospital Wednesday, a little over a month later, CBS station WCBS-TV reported.
"We came here with no hope, and they gave us hope," Heather's mom Tina McNamara said. "Whoever is out there with a child who has a medical problem—"
"That there's hope," Heather McNamara said, finishing her mom's thought.
The McNamaras were originally told Heather's tumor was not inoperable. Chemotherapy had not worked, and the tumor threatened six vital organs.
On Feb. 6, however, doctors embarked on a risky operation to move six organs out of the way to access the tumor. The operation was the first of its kind for a young child.
Dr. Tomaoaki Kato said he felt confident the surgery could work. It took 23 hours.
"At the end of the case, I really was literally about to collapse," Kato said. "Any surgery this level of magnitude is something is close to the never-been-done situation, you get so nervous about it."
The surgery was successful, WCBS-TV reported. With the loss of her spleen, McNamara faces risk of infection. Not having a pancreas anymore means she will be a diabetic.
Still, these are seemingly small prices to pay in face of the alternative. Doctors say Heather's prognosis is good. They believe there's only a small chance that the tumor will return.
"She wasn't just a patient. They cared, they really cared. It was about Heather getting better," Tina McNamara said. "I don't even know what to say other than thank you, thank you for giving me back [our daughter] from the bottom of our hearts."
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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