Groundbreaking split liver transplant gives the gift of life to two different patients
It's the gift of life times two. Innovative technology allowed North Texas doctors to use one donated liver for two different transplant patients.
It wasn't long after Luna Sifuentes' birth that her parents felt something was wrong.
"They say jaundice kind of comes of goes," Ashtin Sifuentes said.
The jaundice didn't go away, and Luna's mom, Ashtin, noticed more issues.
"One day her poop just went from like a bright, sunny, breastfed yellow to a straight cement gray like overnight," Ashtin Sifuentes said.
Doctors diagnosed Luna with end-of-life liver failure and biliary atresia, a liver condition where bile ducts are absent or blocked.
"We were running out of time," Samuel Sifuentes said.
"She would need a transplant sooner than later because she was already had about 75% cirrhosis of the liver," Ashtin Sifuentes said.
Luna went on the national transplant waiting list for more than a year. Finding a small liver wad incredibly difficult.
"Then on November 18th, called us and said, 'Hey, we possibly have a match,'" Ashtin Sifuentes said.
That call came from Children's Health Medical Center in Dallas. Pediatric transplant surgeon Dr. Young Kwon performed the extremely rare split liver transplant.
"We actually divide the donor liver into two," Kwon said. "It's not being done everywhere, only by a few select centers."
Children's Health is one of 10 pediatric hospitals in the country doing the surgery.
"My guess is about 100 cases annually," Kwon said.
Dr. Kwon divided a single adult liver into two, giving a small portion to Luna and the rest to a 53-year-old woman.
"Over the last 13, 14 months, we have done 27," Kwon said.
"The 6.5 hour wait, it was it was really scary. I think I threw up four times," Samuel Sifuentes said.
Samuel and Ashtin noticed an immediate difference with their two-year-old daughter.
"As soon as we got back, it was like a switch went off. She wanted to eat pizza," Ashtin Sifuentes said.
Luna had two bouts of rejection doctors got under control. Her prognosis is excellent.
"Luna should be able to live a normal, healthy life, just like regular people," Kwon said.
"They saved our family, and man, I am so grateful," Samuel Sifuentes said. "For the family that made that decision, we want to meet them."
"It's our blessing that they live on through Luna and that she's able to achieve things because of their sacrifice," Ashtin Sifuentes said.
The Children's Health organ transplant wall includes hundreds of name, including Luna's, whose life is forever changed thanks to groundbreaking transplant advancements and a donor who lives on through the lives of two people.