It was supposed to be a great day for 14-year-old D'Zhana Simmons, who
received a transplant to replace her enlarged heart. However, her dream
turned into a nightmare when the new heart failed to function properly.
Doctors had to remove the new organ, but without another heart available
and with D'Zhana weakened from the surgery, they had to come up with a
stopgap measure: two artificial pumps that kept the blood flowing in her
body for close to four months. The feat was newsworthy partially
because of D'Zhana's age and partially because when an artificial heart
is used to sustain a patient, the patient's own heart is usually left in
the body. Finally, on October 29, D'Zhana received another heart
transplant, and it was so successful that she had a kidney transplant
the very next day.
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