Posted on 05/14/2018 2:48:26 PM PDT by Ennis85
All Erika Zak wants to do is play with her daughter on the playground. Take her to the zoo. Walk her to school.
She's never been able to be the mother she longs to be. At 38, Erika is dying. Her battle to live began almost as soon as her daughter, Loïe, was born four years ago, when Erika was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic colon cancer that had spread to her liver. The cancer was removed from her colon and, her doctors say, she responded well to treatment. But a microwave ablation surgery last year to remove two tumors from her liver went terribly wrong, leaving a fist-sized hole in her liver and destroying her bile ducts. Every day since has been a fight to survive. She's been hospitalized 19 times in Oregon over the last 12 months for infections, bleeding and an array of other health issues. She has high blood pressure in her liver, which backs up the veins in her esophagus and can be catastrophic. Her surgical oncologist constantly worries she will fall ill with a bad infection and die.
"Every time she calls me and has a fever and some bleeding, we all hold our breath, worried: Will this be the time Erika bleeds to death?" says Dr. Skye Mayo, her surgical oncologist at Oregon Health & Science University. "This is kind of the end game of what liver failure looks like." More than 100 doctors at three of the nation's top medical centers have weighed in on her case, which is complex and exceedingly rare. Their conclusion: The only way to save Erika's life is to give her a new liver. After weeks of evaluation at the Cleveland Clinic in December and January, Erika finally got her big break.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
Alfie Evans is a testament to that. In the UK, she would have been put down by now.
The liver transplant will buy her some time.
Its heart-breaking. I lost my mom as a teen so this always feel sad.
God takes away our loved ones before their time and that’s the reality of life.
They live in our hearts and for us death isn’t an end because they’re still with us.
Their memories are for a blessing!
Basically, the procedure is usually rejected because most patients die. UHC is making an exception because of the PR fallout. CNN isn’t talking about how often this procedure is approved in Europe because it would detract from their single-payer vs big bad insurance company narrative. From the article:
“It’s a new territory,” he told CNN. “I can’t blame anybody.”
Even a few years makes all the difference in the world.
Let her see her children grow up!
I’m not heartless to condemn her to death simply to save money.
Our lives are not defined by material circumstances.
The harsh truth is that from the day we are born, we begin the process of dying. Survival is putting off dying for another day. When it comes to healthcare decisions, the real question is WHO gets to decide how to put off that inevitable day? The government, the insurance company, the doctor, the hospital, the patient, who?
She metastasized cancer to her liver.
With a transplant she will need to take immunosuppressants to keep her own body from rejecting the donor organ.
They will most likely suppress the anti tumor and the infection fighting capabilities needed for life.
There are many other patients who would be more likely to benefit from a very scarce resource; a donor organ, that she will likely not reap any benefit from.
David Crosby might have brought his disease on himself but the immunosuppressants are less likely to be an issue insofar as cancer is, in many ways, an immune deficiency issue.
“UnitedHealthcare had overruled her treating physicians and denied the transplant, saying “unproven health services is not a covered benefit.”
So the problem is the insurance company not understanding what her true situation is. What does anyone think is going to happen when it’s another bureaucrat making decisions with no knowledge of medicine doing it? What the doctors say is reasonable is what should guide the insurer’s decision. Not a decision from someone who is not a medical professional. And certainly not a civil service drone.
She had ablation of her liver tumors, but it destroyed the architecture of her liver - thus the need for a transplant. If she does have latent metastases somewhere, then yes, immunosuppression can lead to decreased immune surveillance and possible reactivation of the cancer. That said, she absolutely deserves a chance at a transplant - particularly since there is no evidence she has other metastases or residual tumor. We spend a heck of a lot more money in society treating people with significantly less likelihood of benefit.
Regarding immunosuppression, even those without a history of cancer have an increased cancer risk on immunosuppression. It's just one of the risks you take to stay alive. All any of us are doing is trying to stay healthy enough to extend our time here. No one gets out alive.
If livers grew on trees I would agree, everyone deserves a chance.
There are many on the waiting list who also deserve one.
About 7800 livers were transplanted last year and the waiting list is close to 15,000. Heartbreaking.
“Maybe Miss Lib, instead of crying for her mommy, needs to ask her Mommy what sins she committed that the cancer was visited upon her, and REPENT”
Boy ,you are on a roll tonight-——jackass.
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What did Jesus say about the Tower of Siloam? What did he say about on whom the rain falls?
YOU need to repent, brother.
So we got a liberal poor tugging on the heartstrings with her begging. NOT TODAY, SATAN.
Maybe Miss Lib, instead of crying for her mommy, needs to ask her Mommy what sins she committed that the cancer was visited upon her, and REPENT.
Max tactical... I see you haven’t responded yet to the objections of your post. Is that from cowardice or incompetence? Or are you frantically pounding the keyboard giving birth to some insane screed? Or are you a troll here to make FR look bad? If not, you are the worst example God ever created to carry his word.A detriment to His intent and disgusting in anyone’s book.
Wow. I cannot believe anyone actually said that. Some serious spiritual sickness.
Calls himself a man of God—————yikes !!!
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