Police save lives every day, just not this way — a liver for Sloan

Sloane and Lt. Tenney A police officer’s job is all about action and reaction. “We see something, react to it and, typically, it’s over quickly,” says Lt. Steve Tenney of the Keene, New Hampshire, Police Department. But on the morning of Sept. 8, while Steve lay in a hospital bed at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, action/reaction wasn’t part of the equation. This time, there was time to think. Even so, the decision to donate a piece of his liver to save Sloan — a baby he’d never even met — was made without hesitation. “I did what anyone would have done,” he says. Sloan with big brother, Carter Saving Sloan When Sloan St. James was born, she arrived smiling. In the months that followed, her parents Sarah and Chris described her as a happy and healthy baby. “She was eating, sleeping and hitting all her developmental milestones,” Sarah says. “The only thing we noticed was that she was jaundiced and started getting what we called a ‘Buddha belly.’” Sarah decided to schedule a wellness check, even though Sloan’s four-month checkup was a month way. “The doctor took one look at her and told us, ‘Take her to the hospital.’” Sloan’s parents wasted no time. They drove straight from their home in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, to Boston Children’s Hospital, where Sloan was admitted and diagnosed with biliary atresia. Biliary atresia is a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts. The common bile duct is blocked...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories biliary atresia Dr. Christine Lee Dr. Heung-Bae Kim Dr. Khashavar Vakili Liver transplant Liver Transplant Program living donor Source Type: news