Sarah Murnaghan to Leave CHOP Tuesday

An 11-year-old Pennsylvania girl recovering from two double lung transplants is expected to be released from the hospital on Tuesday her mother said Monday.

"WE ARE GOING HOME TOMORROW!!!!!!" Janet Murnaghan said in a post on her Facebook page.

The Newtown Square girl with end-stage cystic fibrosis received the transplants this summer after a federal judge intervened in her parents' lawsuit challenging national transplant rules. Her case spurred a national debate over the process of getting organs.

Janet Murnaghan said Sunday that her daughter was taken off oxygen, although she still gets support from a machine that helps her to breathe, and has started to walk with the aid of a walker, even venturing outside.

"My sister pointed out that today is our Mom's birthday -- she died 11 years ago," she posted Saturday on her Facebook page. "And today is the first day Sarah has not needed any supplemental oxygen. Miracles from heaven!!!"

Simon said Sarah's recovery is now focused on building her muscle strength so she no longer has to use a breathing tube. She said Sarah recovered from a case of pneumonia that stemmed from the tube.

Sarah's first set of adult lungs failed after a transplant June 12. A second set was transplanted three days later.

After her parents sued to change a national transplant policy that put her at the bottom of the adult list for patients 12 and older, the federal judge intervened and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network -- the private nonprofit group that manages U.S. organ allocation -- added Sarah to the adult list.

The case raised questions among some health specialists and medical ethicists about how organ donation rules are developed and under what circumstances they might be disregarded.

During the entire battle, Janet Murnaghan has kept supporters in the loop with Sarah’s struggles and triumphs through her Facebook page including posting photos of her daughter.

Sarah had her 11th birthday party earlier this month in the PCU playroom with her siblings, cousins, aunts, uncle and grandparents. According to her mother Janet, the party was the first time since her transplant that Sarah has seen her siblings.

On Aug. 10, her mother released a video of her walking for the first time since her surgery.

Officials at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where Sarah is being treated, have declined to comment on her case.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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