Little Heather McNamara is glad to be going home to her big sister and her Pomeranian named Angel but, after more than a month in the hospital, she says she’ll be sleeping with her parents tonight.  The cheerful 7-year-old Long Island, New York, girl is finally being released after a 23-hour marathon operation for cancer that required the removal of six organs.  Of the miraculous surgical procedure, her lead surgeon, Tomoaki Kato, acknowledged being “very nervous.”

Kato, Heather, and her parents held a press conference today at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital to thank the hospital staff for saving Heather’s life in spite of such tremendous odds against it and to say they were finally taking Heather home.

A cancerous tumor the size of a baseball had developed in the girl’s abdomen, threatening her life and presenting a daunting challenge for her surgical team.  To get to the tumor, her stomach, large and small intestines, liver, spleen, and pancreas had to be removed.  Cancer-free organs were chilled and held, as if awaiting transplant, during the February 6 surgery, which is exactly what happened, making her essentially donor and recipient of her own organs.  Her dad, Joe McNamara, stood by, ready to donate a portion of his liver if Heather’s proved to be diseased.

The child’s liver was healthy but cancer claimed her pancreas, spleen, and stomach.  With no pancreas, Heather is now diabetic and will require digestive enzymes and insulin injections to stay healthy.  The absence of a spleen affects her immune system, putting her at increased risk for infection.  During the procedure, Kato’s surgical team used intestinal tissue to fashion a pouch that replaces her stomach.  The pouch holds food awaiting digestion in the small intestine.  Heather can eat regular foods but requires supplements that are administered by pump, housed in a bag she wears over her shoulders like the backpacks kids use in school.

Kato performed a similar procedure last year on a 62-year-old woman from Florida and reports she is doing well.  He said the big responsibility of such a high-risk procedure left him so exhausted he collapsed afterward on a couch, where he slept for more than five hours.  Last year’s procedure and this one on Heather are the only two times so many organs have been removed and returned during a single surgical procedure.

As for Heather, she’s looking forward to playing with her dog and her 10-year-old sister, Stephanie, but when a reporter asked her if she’s looking forward to sleeping in her own bed for a change, she turned toward her parents and informed them that, “actually, I’m sleeping with you guys.”