Rare Quadruple Organ Transplant Saves Cystic Fibrosis Survivor

• A Chicago woman became only the sixth person in the United States to receive a quadruple organ transplant involving lungs, liver, and a kidney, with all four organs required at the same time. ().
  
  Jasmine Jones received the donated organs after spending years living with cystic fibrosis, according to CBS Chicago. She underwent the complex 36-hour transplant surgery at UChicago Medicine.
  
  Jones, 28, who lives in Chicago�s Calumet Heights neighborhood, started noticing early symptoms of organ failure nearly a year ago, she told the outlet. �You can't get any more selfless than that,� Jones said about her organ donor during an interview with CBS Chicago. �Truthfully, you gave your life to give a life. And there's ... there's no words that can be put into how grateful I am for that.�
  
  

  Rare Quadruple Organ Surgery

  Jones became the first person in Illinois to undergo a transplant of this magnitude and only the sixth in the United States, CBS Chicago reported, citing The United Network for Organ Sharing.
  
  Jones said she was first diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of five during an interview with local outlet WGN9. While attending college, she was later diagnosed with cystic fibrosis-related diabetes.
  
  �Then we found out my kidneys were only working at 10%,� Jones recalled. �So now I'm like, 'It's liver and it's kidney, what else can be happening right now?' It was happening so fast.�
  
  According to Mayo Clinic, cystic fibrosis is �a condition passed down in families that causes damage to the lungs, digestive system and other organs in the body. � Cystic fibrosis affects the cells responsible for producing mucus, sweat, and digestive fluids.
  
  �These fluids, also called secretions, are usually thin and slippery to protect the body's internal tubes and ducts and make them smooth pathways,� Mayo Clinic explained. �But in people with CF, a changed gene causes the secretions to become sticky and thick. The secretions plug up pathways, especially in the lungs and pancreas.�
  
  Dr. Pablo Sanchez, surgical director of the UChicago Medicine Lung Transplant program, carried out Jones� double-lung transplant, while Dr. Rolf Barth, co-director of the UChicago Medicine Transplant Institute, performed the liver and kidney transplants, according to CBS Chicago.
  
  

  Life-Changing Recovery Journey

  �We as a team decided that it was the best option for her long-term survival was to replace all her organs in one surgery,� Dr. Sanchez told local ABC affiliate WLS while discussing the team�s decision to move forward with the demanding procedure.
  
  Dr. Sanchez later reflected on Jones� recovery following surgery. �If you see these patients the next day, if you have ... if you met them before the surgery, and you met Jasmine, after all the organs were in, she had a different glow,� Dr. Sanchez told CBS Chicago.
  
  According to WLS, Jones will now attend rehabilitation therapy sessions three times a week as she continues her recovery process.
  
  �Before, I wasn't living life,� Jones told CBS Chicago. �I was a bystander. And now I feel like I'm ... I'm the main character. I can do anything.�
  
  To sum up, the rare quadruple organ transplant gave Jasmine Jones a renewed chance at life after years of battling complications from cystic fibrosis. The successful surgery marked a major medical milestone while allowing her to look toward a healthier future.
  
  Reference:

  1. Illinois� first quadruple-organ transplant of its kind saves UChicago Medicine patient with cystic fibrosis (https:www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/transplant-articles/quadruple-organ-transplant)

  
  
  Source-Medindia