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Friends, family and even strangers have offered to donate parts of their livers to Delilah Saunders, the young Ottawa indigenous advocate who remains in critical condition after being flown to a Toronto liver transplant centre last week.
Saunders’ lawyer Caryma Sa’d said Sunday that Saunders’ has received new medication and is slightly stronger than she has been “but is definitely not out of the woods. She is still in critical condition, but is better than she was.”
Saunders’ family members, who are in Toronto at her bedside, are waiting to hear from doctors at the University Health Network about what kind of treatment Saunders’ will need.
“We still have no word on the doctors’ opinion on whether a transplant will be required,” said Sa’d. “It is still very much wait and see.”
Sa’d said Saunders’ MELD (model for end stage liver disease) score, which measures mortality risk and can help prioritize patients for organ allocation, remains very high. Based on that, she said it seems unlikely her liver will spontaneously repair itself. If this remains the case, a liver transplant would be the only option to save Saunders’ life.
According to provincial regulations she does not meet the requirement that she abstain from alcohol for six months prior to a transplant,
Sa’d said the family hopes to hear soon whether Saunders’ will be put on a transplant list immediately or forced to wait six months. If necessary, they will go to court to fight the ruling, she said.
“If we don’t have to prolong her suffering, our preference is to do it as soon as possible so she is not in pain.”
Sa’d said Saunders’ is conscious but sleeping most of the day. She said she is vaguely aware of the debate surrounding her condition, but she has advised her family to shield her from many of the social media comments about the case.
“There are a lot of horrible, racists things people are saying. We are focusing on the outpouring of support, the people who have come out of the woodwork to offer support.” That support includes people offering to donate parts of their livers.
This newspaper has heard from other families whose loved-ones died after being turned down for an immediate liver transplant because of alcohol.
One woman whose husband died after being turned down for a transplant said she wanted to see Saunders get one. Another woman, whose husband also died wrote :”I wish Delilah Saunders all the best in Toronto but the family and Amnesty International need to follow the law that goes with a liver transplant.”
Amnesty International, which recognized Saunders earlier this year for her work with missing and murdered indigenous women, weighed in late last week, saying the so-called six-month rule for liver transplants in people with alcohol related damage is unfair and contravenes international law.
Saunders’ family was told that her acute liver failure was caused by Tylenol, which doctors say is more likely to damage livers of people who abuse alcohol or already have a compromised liver.
Her family says Saunders’ has struggled with addictions and had been successful in fighting them until she had a relapse that coincided with her recent appearance at the missing and murdered indigenous women hearings.
Saunders became an advocate after her own sister Loretta, who was 26, the same age as she is now, was murdered in 2014. The sisters are Inuk and grew up in Labrador.
The six-month rule for liver transplants has been challenged by others, including Debra Selkirk, a Toronto area woman whose husband died after being told he must was six months for a transplant.
Selkirk said the six month wait is not supported by science.
The University Health Networks, which is one of North America’s biggest liver transplant centres, is set to begin a pilot project 2018 to move away from the strict six-month criteria to find other ways to assess potential transplant patients.
epayne@postmedia.com
查看原文...
Saunders’ lawyer Caryma Sa’d said Sunday that Saunders’ has received new medication and is slightly stronger than she has been “but is definitely not out of the woods. She is still in critical condition, but is better than she was.”
Saunders’ family members, who are in Toronto at her bedside, are waiting to hear from doctors at the University Health Network about what kind of treatment Saunders’ will need.
“We still have no word on the doctors’ opinion on whether a transplant will be required,” said Sa’d. “It is still very much wait and see.”
Sa’d said Saunders’ MELD (model for end stage liver disease) score, which measures mortality risk and can help prioritize patients for organ allocation, remains very high. Based on that, she said it seems unlikely her liver will spontaneously repair itself. If this remains the case, a liver transplant would be the only option to save Saunders’ life.
According to provincial regulations she does not meet the requirement that she abstain from alcohol for six months prior to a transplant,
Sa’d said the family hopes to hear soon whether Saunders’ will be put on a transplant list immediately or forced to wait six months. If necessary, they will go to court to fight the ruling, she said.
“If we don’t have to prolong her suffering, our preference is to do it as soon as possible so she is not in pain.”
Sa’d said Saunders’ is conscious but sleeping most of the day. She said she is vaguely aware of the debate surrounding her condition, but she has advised her family to shield her from many of the social media comments about the case.
“There are a lot of horrible, racists things people are saying. We are focusing on the outpouring of support, the people who have come out of the woodwork to offer support.” That support includes people offering to donate parts of their livers.
This newspaper has heard from other families whose loved-ones died after being turned down for an immediate liver transplant because of alcohol.
One woman whose husband died after being turned down for a transplant said she wanted to see Saunders get one. Another woman, whose husband also died wrote :”I wish Delilah Saunders all the best in Toronto but the family and Amnesty International need to follow the law that goes with a liver transplant.”
Amnesty International, which recognized Saunders earlier this year for her work with missing and murdered indigenous women, weighed in late last week, saying the so-called six-month rule for liver transplants in people with alcohol related damage is unfair and contravenes international law.
Saunders’ family was told that her acute liver failure was caused by Tylenol, which doctors say is more likely to damage livers of people who abuse alcohol or already have a compromised liver.
Her family says Saunders’ has struggled with addictions and had been successful in fighting them until she had a relapse that coincided with her recent appearance at the missing and murdered indigenous women hearings.
Saunders became an advocate after her own sister Loretta, who was 26, the same age as she is now, was murdered in 2014. The sisters are Inuk and grew up in Labrador.
The six-month rule for liver transplants has been challenged by others, including Debra Selkirk, a Toronto area woman whose husband died after being told he must was six months for a transplant.
Selkirk said the six month wait is not supported by science.
The University Health Networks, which is one of North America’s biggest liver transplant centres, is set to begin a pilot project 2018 to move away from the strict six-month criteria to find other ways to assess potential transplant patients.
epayne@postmedia.com
查看原文...
