A new liver has become available for a young Calgary girl suffering from recurrent liver cancer.
Three-year-old Greta Marofke’s family received a phone call with the good news shortly after arriving in Cincinnati on Saturday, according to the Greta’s Guardians Facebook page.
“It’s been a very long day!!” We got up early this morning to get on a plane to head to Cincinnati to wait for a liver for Greta – but – while we were going through customs at the airport, we received a call that they had a liver for her!” said the update, which was posted on the page shortly after 3 a.m MT.
Greta has been undergoing treatment for cancer since shortly after her second birthday. The cancer returned just four months after initially being sent into remission last year and her mother was told a liver transplant was her only chance at surviving the illness.
READ MORE: Calgary family to pay $600k for little girl’s transplant after Canada’s health system says, ‘No’
After transplant teams in Alberta and Ontario determined that Greta was not eligible for transplant surgery in Canada, Greta’s team reached out to a cancer specialist at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. A transplant team in Cincinnati agreed to put Greta on the transplant list, though the surgery won’t be covered by Canada’s public health system.
“Once we got to Cincinnati lots of tests and double checks were done. We just left our baby in the OR to receive her new liver!” Sunday morning’s Facebook update continued. “She will come out of there at the end of today with a new liver and NO tumours!”
READ MORE: Alberta health minister asked about little girl’s liver transplant bill during QP
Greta’s family has been told the surgery will likely cost more than $600,000 US. They have applied to Alberta Health for out-of-country health funding and are working to raise funds via a Go Fund Me page online. So far, more than $270,000 has been raised.
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