Lance Cpl. Chris LeBleu, Thank you for your service to this country. Get well soon! A salute from the right coast!
Posted on 01/30/2005 7:09:13 PM PST by doug from upland
FREEPERS -- the story of a young Marine is below. Loma Linda is a half hour away from me. Leave messages on this thread, I'll print it, and I'll deliver it to his wife at the hospital.
Marine, Iraq Veteran, Receives New Liver
Yahoo News ^ | 1/30/05 | BEN FOX, AP
Posted on 01/30/2005 6:35:36 PM PST by kattracks
LOMA LINDA, Calif. - With little time left before his organs would likely fail, a U.S. Marine received a new liver Sunday for a mysterious ailment doctors said would kill him if he didn't get a transplant. Doctors operated on Lance Cpl. Chris LeBleu, who had been in a coma and on life support, for nearly 12 hours Sunday after an unidentified donor from New Mexico was found late Saturday night.Doctors said the procedure went well, said Sgt. Jennie Haskamp, spokeswoman at Twentynine Palms, where LeBleu was stationed. He was in critical condition late Sunday.
In the hospital lobby, his 21-year-old wife, Melany, found comfort in photos of her wedding last fall, shortly after LeBleu returned from Iraq (news - web sites). Despite her fears, she has remained optimistic since her husband's illness was discovered earlier this month.
Several of LeBleu's commanding officers, fellow Marines and other family members huddled with his wife Sunday as they awaited the outcome of the operation.
Burt Parham, who is related to LeBleu by marriage, said he expected bad news when he got the call that a liver had been found.
"It was kind of a worried ring, but we were glad of the news," said Parham, who lives in the family's hometown of Lake Charles, La. "It's a shame somebody has to die. But I mean, it's God's will, I guess. We sure have been praying for Chris."
The cause of the infection is unknown. Dr. Donald Hillebrand, a liver specialist, said LeBleu most likely caught a virus or was exposed to a toxin or chemical in Iraq or after his return.
LeBleu, 22, was a rifleman in Iraq for seven months as part of a 2,200-man task force that lost 21 people and had nearly 200 wounded in action. His battalion commander, Lt. Col. Matt Lopez, said he wasn't aware of any other members of the unit with similar ailments to LeBleu.
Fellow Marines call him "Blue," and say the Marine kept a cool head as his 160-man company guarded a base near the Syrian border.
"He's a real resilient guy, the most relaxed, confident person you'll ever meet," said Lance Cpl. Rob Whittenberg, 23, of Spring Branch, Texas.
The infection developed gradually.
In mid-December, just months after he returned from Iraq, LeBleu told his new wife he felt tired, a little under the weather.
Still, he was strong enough to drive them home to Louisiana for the holidays from his Marine Base in Southern California, going for 36 hours straight. On Jan. 2, he found the strength to go wild boar hunting with relatives.
"We kept telling him to go to a doctor, but he said it was just a sinus infection," Melany LeBleu said. "Of course, we didn't think it was anything major."
Days later, he felt much worse during the drive back to the Marine base at Twentynine Palms. In Texas, LeBleu felt so nauseous he had to pull over. They made it back to their home on the base, but he didn't get better.
On Jan. 10, she took him to a base emergency room, which sent him to Loma Linda University Medical Center, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles.
"He couldn't keep anything down, not even water," she said.
As recently as Thursday, he was jaundiced and swelling but could still answer questions, Hillebrand said.
Within 24 hours, however, he was no longer coherent and had to be put on life support.
Without a new liver, his other organs would have started to fail, his doctor said.
About 17,500 people are waiting for liver transplants in the United States, Hillebrand said. LeBleu's family and friends had sought a liver from someone with O-positive blood as a directed donation, outside the usual waiting process.
"It's hard to see your husband in that situation," Melany LeBleu said. "You can't even describe the feeling."
___
Associated Press Writers Doug Simpson and Janet McConnaughey in New Orleans contributed to this report.
Marine given new liver still in coma
By JANET M. HARP, Staff Writer
LOMA LINDA - Melany LeBleu clung to faith Monday as she waited for her husband to awake from a coma recalling how he looked "wonderful' following a 10-hour operation to save his life.
Lance Cpl. Chris LeBleu survived the wrath of Iraq for seven months only to be told last week he might not make it to February. He remains in critical condition today, fighting to survive a liver transplant surgery that took place Sunday at Loma Linda University Medical Center.
Doctors involved with the last-minute surgery said Monday that a brain MRI and head CT scan showed no abnormalities, the liver is showing signs of function and "Blue,' as he's affectionately known, is likely to awaken within a couple days.
"We are grateful for all the prayers you have sent out for my husband,' said the Marine's 21-year-old wife, who wore Marine and angel pins on her sweater. "I can't even count so many people have called the hospital or sent messages over the Internet.'
LeBleu, stationed at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, started suffering liver failure in December, three months after returning from Iraq. He had to be put on life support Friday. Doctors said his liver was close to total failure and if he didn't receive a new one within a few days, he wouldn't live.
Late Saturday night, after pleas from the hospital, Marines and media, officials located an organ in New Mexico. No information about the donor has been revealed but doctors said if the families wish to speak, social workers can make arrangements.
Melany LeBleu and her father-in-law, Eric Lamendola, expressed gratitude for the donation and sympathy for the family of the person it came from.
"My deepest sympathies go out to them; that they had to lose a family member for my husband to live,' Melany LeBleu said. "I thank them very much for giving my husband and I a chance to have a life together.'
There are nearly 4,000 people waiting for liver transplants in California and more than 17,000 in the country, according to OneLegacy, a transplant donor network.
LeBleu, a native of Lake Charles, La., shot to the top of that list because the system allows those with sudden acute liver failure to be given the highest priority, said Dr. Ok Ojogho, the lead transplant surgeon in LeBleu's case.
Liver recipients live an average of 15 years, but there is one known case of a person who survived for 35 years.
"They return to a near-normal quality of life,' said Dr. Donald Hillebrand, a transplant hepatologist at the medical center.
LeBleu's liver failure could have resulted from viral hepatitis, but how he contracted the disease won't be known until more tests are done. The 22-year-old has at least an 80percent chance of surviving.
"There is no indication that his condition was contracted in Iraq,' Capt. Brad Tippett of the Twentynine Palms base said. "Anyone would agree that a possibility exists.'
LeBleu was a rifleman in Iraq as part of the 2,200-man 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment in which more than 20 Marines died and 200 suffered injuries.
"Chris shined in that environment. Given a task or mission, he didn't need extra hand-holding or direction,' said Tippett, who described LeBleu's fellow Marines as downtrodden but hopeful. "He's service-oriented, always has a good attitude. He's that guy that always makes you want to smile.'
LeBleu returned Sept. 9 and married in October. He first complained of fatigue in mid-December, but still drove to Louisiana for the holidays and didn't think he was seriously ill.
When Melany LeBleu realized her husband's health was worsening Jan. 10, she took him to the base emergency room. He was transferred to Loma Linda's Transplant Institute on Wednesday.
She repeatedly expressed thanks for support, the donor's family and the doctors' work, helping her through the terrifying time.
"God's pulled me through it, Chris has pulled me through it,' LeBleu said. "God and my husband are the ones I've done this for.'
BTTT
Please let me know if you read my post #111 on this thread.
Your description of Chris's symptoms made me think of Wegeners Granulomastosis....Wegeners Disease for short. This is a very rare disease of the immune system and is usually only recognized by Reumatoligists that have had occasion to confront it previously. There are only about 2000 to 3000 cases in the US.
Symptoms of "Wegeners Granulomastosis": a severe sinus cold that does not respond to conventional antibiotic treatment, followed by fatigue, night sweats, joint pain and eventual failure of one or more organs.
I urge you to have Chris's Doctors look into this as a possibility. If he has Wegeners and it remains undiagnosed, his new liver will have little chance of improving his prognosis. The class test for Wegeners is a blood test called ANCA - followed by confirmation with study of a tissue sample.
You should know that I am not a Doctor, but I have the disease and have beat it into remission, 3 times - it takes chemo and cortisone but it can be beat.
They have that info in the package. Thanks. I could only talk to an official of the hospital.
Thank you and god bless!
Praising our Lord for His Mercy and Grace!
I sent your note via email to Patient Relations.
Lance Cpl. Chris LeBleu, Thank you for your service to this country. Get well soon! A salute from the right coast!
I sent them your info by email and an administrator advised me that the doctors are well aware of that disease. They thank you for your concern in passing on the information.
God bless you for your service, and the Marines, and a plug for the Army (my son is in the Army now, after being in the Corps)
V/R
Justanothersquid
HM1 (SW/FMF)
and a prior Corporal of Marines
Thank you for all you have done for us. And please leave that hospital as soon as possible.
God bless this Marine and his wife.
NEW LIVER: Doctors in Loma Linda say the Marine is recovering, but in a coma.
12:09 AM PST on Tuesday, February 1, 2005
By PAUL LaROCCO / The Press-Enterprise
LOMA LINDA - Good timing could describe doctors' ability to find Lance Cpl. Chris LeBleu a liver Saturday, just as they feared he had entered his final hours.
The Marine's stepfather, however, sees it as a more bittersweet example of life's give-and-take.
"There's someone out there who lost someone yesterday," Eric Lamendola said, "but they gave us Chris back."
Greg Vojtko / The Press-Enterprise
Dr. Donald Hillebrand talks with Melany LeBleu and Susan Lamendola, the wife and mother of Marine Chris LeBleu, a liver recipient who remains in critical condition.
Less than two days after an anonymous donor's death provided LeBleu with the full, matching liver he needed for a transplant, doctors said the 22-year-old was already showing signs of a full recovery.
LeBleu, an Iraq war veteran stationed with the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, remained unconscious and in critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center Monday. But doctors said his new liver is functioning well, and they expressed hope he'll awake from his coma within the week.
Liver transplant patients have a 60 percent to 90 percent chance of survival; as opposed to 15 percent to 40 percent for patients unable to find a donor, according to Dr. OK Ojogho, one of three surgeons who conducted LeBleu's operation of nearly 12 hours Sunday. Successful transplant patients live an average of 15 years after their operation, with the longest known survivor living 35 years.
"We expect him, obviously, to do well," said Ojogho.
No further information was released on the donor's identity, other than that the liver came from New Mexico. After being diagnosed with acute liver failure last Wednesday -- with the threat of death within days -- LeBleu was moved to the top of the donor list. The three days it took to locate a matching liver was actually considered a long time for someone with such an advanced case.
"We would have hoped to have gotten something sooner," Ojogho said.
It is still unclear what caused the Marine's liver failure. Doctors said they're awaiting results from a battery of tests, including one for viral hepatitis. A CT scan and brain MRI conducted to see if LeBleu's coma stemmed from anything neurological came back clean, said Dr. Donald Hillebrand, medical director for the hospital's Transplant Institute.
LeBleu spent seven months in western Iraq last year, serving as a rifleman for support and stabilization operations near the Syrian border. Doctors haven't ruled out that the soldier contracted the disease that led to his liver failure while overseas, but they also cautioned anyone from jumping to conclusions.
Capt. Brad Tippett, who served as LeBleu's commander in both Iraq and in Twentynine Palms, said he doesn't know of any other soldiers in his unit who have reported similar illnesses.
His Marines, after hearing about LeBleu's worsening condition last month, went well beyond moral support in coming to their comrade's aid, Tippett said.
"Guys were saying, 'I'm type-O positive, can I give half my liver to Chris?' 'I'm type-O positive, can I give my blood to Chris?' " he said. "Everyone wanted to know what they could do."
Dozens of Marines have swarmed the hospital in recent days, giving comfort to LeBleu's newlywed wife, Melany. The 21-year-old, who met LeBleu in their hometown of Lake Charles, La., has held a constant bedside vigil for her husband since he was transferred to Loma Linda on Jan. 26.
On Monday, Melany LeBleu said Chris "looked wonderful" after surgery, and that she can't wait to let him know how his illness caught the attention of so many.
"I'll tell him everything that happened," she said, "and how he's loved across the nation."
Before he lapsed into a coma, her husband expressed hope he could continue his service with the Marines, she said.
Hillebrand is confident LeBleu will return to a "near-normal" life, but added that he's unsure that would include the grueling activities required in the military.
"Most people get back to near-normal," he said. "Whether that's consistent with being a Marine, well, that's a tough life."
Checking in for an update and a prayer up for Chris and all concerned with his well being.
Thanks DfU for all you are doing.
God Speed, Chris! Thanks for the ping, DFU!
Roll call for organ transplant list
Marine's need for a liver put him on an elite list: Those in dire need of an organ transplant
11:18 PM PST on Tuesday, February 1, 2005
By DOUGLAS E. BEEMAN / The Press-Enterprise
Awaiting organs
Thousands of Southern California patients with failing organs are waiting for a transplant. Here is the most recent waiting list (as of Jan. 28) for the region that extends from Kern County to the Mexican border:
Kidney: 6,580
Liver: 1,912
Heart: 362
Lung: 326
Pancreas: 75
Intestine: 17
Kidney-pancreas: 442
Heart-lung: 6
Source: United Network for Organ Sharing
Half of people with liver disease must wait two years or longer to get a potentially life-saving transplant -- if they get one at all.
Marine Lance Cpl. Chris LeBleu got his new liver in just weeks.
His status as an Iraq war veteran counted for little, organ procurement officials say. But they explained that his collapsing health and a fortuitous set of circumstances pushed him to the top of the recipient list when the liver of a 63-year-old woman became available in New Mexico.
LeBleu, 22, received the new liver Sunday at Loma Linda University Medical Center, two days after slipping into a coma. LeBleu remained in critical condition and in a coma Tuesday, although doctors are upbeat about his prognosis.
His physicians believe LeBleu may have contracted viral hepatitis that attacked his liver, although they don't know where he picked it up. More tests are being done to confirm the diagnosis.
LeBleu -- "Blue" to his fellow Marines -- returned to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms last September after seven months in Iraq. In mid-December, he complained of feeling ill, his wife Melany said. He brushed aside family pleas that he see a doctor.
By Jan. 10, he couldn't even keep water down, she said. That's when LeBleu was admitted to the base hospital at Twentynine Palms.
Last Wednesday, he was admitted to Loma Linda University Medical Center's Transplant Institute. By Friday, his condition had dramatically deteriorated: he was on life support and his brain showed signs of swelling. Doctors feared he might not survive the wait for a liver transplant.
Other Organs
Livers are the second most-needed organ after kidneys, said Annie Moore, a spokeswoman for UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing. UNOS coordinates transplants nationally. Half of all liver candidates wait 796 days or longer for a transplant, she said. Some never make it to the operating table.
Dialysis can sustain kidney-transplant candidates for years, and often, kidney patients must wait years to get a transplant, Moore said. Liver and heart transplant candidates have nothing similar to sustain them through the wait.
"When these vital organs shut down, you are facing a life-and-death situation," she said.
When a liver becomes available, a local-organ procurement organization will submit details about the donor's blood type, the organ's size and the donor's location to UNOS. With that information in its database, UNOS will produce a list of potential recipients ranked by greatest need, a match of blood types and proximity to the donor.
Geography is important, Moore said. The liver can survive outside the body for about 12 hours, which limits how far it can travel for a transplant.
As transplant coordinators work down the list, they may have to exclude transplant candidates who are too ill for the operation, have an infection that makes surgery problematic or who cannot get to a transplant center fast enough, Moore said.
As potential recipients are scratched from the list, transplant coordinators broaden their search to waiting recipients in other states or regions, Moore said. That's how a liver from New Mexico could end up in Inland Southern California.
In this case, no one else in a five-state area from New Mexico to California was as desperate for a liver as LeBleu, said Maria Sanders, spokeswoman for the New Mexico Donor Services.
Liver Donor
The liver came from Laralee Bergstrom, a 63-year-old woman from Littleton, Colo., who was fatally injured in a traffic collision outside of Santa Fe. After doctors declared Bergstrom brain-dead Saturday, her two daughters agreed to donate her liver and kidneys. The kidneys were given to patients in New Mexico, Sanders said.
Although Bergstrom was 41 years older than LeBleu, the age difference was less important than making sure the liver was functional, Sanders said. The condition of the organ depends on the type of life the donor led.
"From what we understand, this woman was pretty healthy for her age," Sanders said.
Bergstrom's daughters had no idea who got her liver until friends in California made the connection between her death and news stories about the young Marine receiving a transplanted liver, Sanders said.
"They said their mom would probably be ecstatic to know she saved the life of a 22-year-old," Sanders said.
Although LeBleu made an appealing candidate as a young Marine just back from a war zone, that was not a factor in deciding where he landed on the transplant list, organ procurement officials said.
"The urgency of need determines where someone is on the list," said Bryan Stewart, a spokesman for One Legacy, the transplant network serving most of Southern California. Several other people may have been just as ill as LeBleu, Stewart said. But blood types of the donor and recipient must match and the organ must be the right size to make the transplant possible, he said. Because the liver was donated in New Mexico, One Legacy was not involved in connecting the donated organ to the recipient.
Wow. Thanks DfU. Excellent information. Prayers up for donors family also. Continued prayers for Chris' full recovery and his long and happy marriage. Bless them all.
Thanks, Mike!!! We on this forum owe everything to those brave young men and women who risk their lives so that we can enjoy life in this greatest country on God's green earth. Our prayers will continue for Chris and Melany and for all of those who are in harm's way.
Update on post 218.
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