TRIPLE TRANSPLANT/OREGON

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Doctors Cancel Triple TransplantBy GILLIAN FLACCUSAssociated Press WriterDecember 15, 2001, 8:08 AM EST

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Doctors canceled a rare triple transplant surgery for a 19-year-old woman after discovering one of the donated lungs was damaged, a spokeswoman for the Stanford University Medical Center said. Stroeder, who has been fighting the Oregon Health Plan for the right to a lung, liver and heart transplant, had been flown to the hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., for the surgery after learning about the available organs early Friday. "She came in, she underwent the evaluation and was in good condition. Unfortunately -- and this is not uncommon -- once the organs were retrieved, they were not viable," said hospital spokeswoman Ruthann Richter. Stroeder has cystic fibrosis, a disease that chokes her lungs with mucus and causes other organ damage. Without a transplant, Stroeder would likely die within two years. She now relies on an oxygen tank to breathe. "I understand she'll be going home, and she'll have to wait until the organs become available, unfortunately," Richter said. Only three heart-lung-liver transplants have taken place in the United States, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Last year, the Oregon Health Plan, which provides health insurance to Oregon's poor, refused to pay for the transplant for Stroeder, saying the operation was experimental. The transplant could cost more than $250,000. Taft, a child life therapist who has been working with Stroeder, said Stroeder got the call about the possibility of the transplant organs being available early Friday. "A man called her and said something like, 'I think we have the organs you've been waiting for,'" Taft said. She said when Stroeder reached her by phone she was crying. A few hours later, Stroeder was flying by donated private jet to the hospital. Stroeder had already been in the hospital for several hours undergoing tests in preparation for the surgery when the transplant was called off late Friday night, Richter said. Stroeder, who is from McMinnville, about 20 miles southwest of Portland, has said getting the state to pay for the transplant is a matter of principle -- she wants those who come after her to have an easier time getting the health care they need. The Oregon Appeals Court has not ruled in her case. A community effort led by millionaire motel magnate Mark Hemstreet has raised $300,000 toward her medical costs.

[Guest guest]

<The Oregon Appeals Court has not ruled in her case. A community effort

led by millionaire motel magnate Mark Hemstreet has raised $300,000

toward her medical costs. >

This is why if you ever come to Oregon, you should try to stay at a Shiloh

Inn. Mark Hemstreet is an angel...

Eileen ---->Current Eugene, OR resident

UC - 1978, PSC - 1996