Calgary girl with rare cancer gets liver transplant in U.S.

Less than 24 hours after a Calgary girl and her family flew to Ohio to wait for a potentially life-saving organ transplant to treat her rare form of cancer, they received a call from the hospital telling them a liver had beenfound and the girl was rushed into surgery.

Three-year-oldGreta Marofke was diagnosed with hepatoblastomashortly before her second birthday. The cancer was successfully treated at Alberta Children's Hospital, but when it returned, doctors told the family palliative care was the final remaining option.

The family looked to the U.S. for help and found an expert at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital who said a liver transplant could save Greta. The family began raising money to fund the child's treatment.

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According to the Greta's Guardians Facebook page, the family left Alberta Saturday morning to fly to the U.S. to wait for the transplant. The call informing them a match had been found came early Sunday morning while the family was going through customs at the Cincinnati airport.

"We just left our baby in the OR to receive her new liver! She will come out of there at the end of today with a new liver and NO tumours!" the post reads.

Six hours later, a second post revealed Greta's new liver had successfully been transplanted.

On Tuesday, Greta's mother LindseyMarofketoldthe Calgary Eyeopenerdoctors told the family the wait for a cadaver liver could take between three to five weeks. Several family and friends had volunteered to be tested to see if they could be a live donor match.

The surgery is expected to cost the family around $700,000 US, Marofke said. As Canadian citizens without U.S. health insurance, Canada's public health plan will not cover the cost.The family is funding Greta's treatment through the help of grandparents' retirement funds and crowdfunding.Their GoFundMe page has so far raised nearly $275,000.

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