A Chicago woman is recovering after receiving a rare quadruple organ transplant at UChicago Medicine. Jasmine Jones, 28, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as an infant and later developed cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, liver failure, and severe kidney problems. Doctors determined that she would need a transplant involving four organs because her diseased lungs would eventually affect the function of any newly transplanted organs.
Jones says her health declined quickly after her kidneys dropped to 10 percent function and she slipped into a coma. Earlier this year, donor organs from a single person became available, and the transplant team moved forward with the operation. UChicago surgeon Dr. Rolf Barth says procedures involving four organ transplants have been uncommon because the medical techniques needed for them didn’t previously exist and many patients didn’t survive long enough to undergo them.
Jones says she feared dying during surgery but credits her family, especially her mother, for supporting her through the process. The medical team expects transplant patients to return to full lives, including work and public activities. As she recovers, Jones says she hopes to return to working at a daycare, try new hobbies, and possibly begin acting again, which had been a longtime dream before her health declined.
Source: WGN TV
photo: GETTY