Dec 7, 2005 5:59 pm US/Eastern
CBS 4 Kids: Maggie's Double-Lung Transplant
by Lisa Hughes
BOSTON (CBS4) ―
Friday is our 'Day of Giving' at CBS4 and CBS4Boston.com. Phone lines and online donations will be open, to raise money for groundbreaking research at Children's Hospital Boston.
It will also benefit a lot of wonderful kids.
Kids like Maggie, who is truly a living miracle. She has received not one double lung transplant, but two.
Her family moved to Boston specifically to get care for her.
What started as a routine checkup in Virginia was the beginning of a life-altering journey for Maggie Mansfield.
"Her pediatrician heard a quick noise in her heart that he had not heard before," said Maggie's mother, Jackie Mansfield.
At Children Hospital, doctors found her heart really wasn't the problem.
"We found a large tangle of blood vessels within her lungs preventing the blood from becoming oxygenated," said Dr. Mary Mullen, of Children's Hospital.
Maggie had severe pulmonary hypertension and was having trouble breathing. She needed a double-lung transplant.
"The expected waiting time could be anywhere up to a year and a half to two and a half years and she clearly did not have that," said Dr. David Waltz, of the Lung Transplant Program.
Miraculously, matching lungs arrived 16 days later. The transplant was a success, but the story doesn't end there.
After three years, Maggie's body rejected her new lungs. Doctors ultimately realized she would need a second transplant. The second transplant was also a success and now Maggie lives her life to the fullest.
She enjoys playing sports and loves talking about butterflies.
"I just think they're so grateful … beautiful," said Maggie. "And after my transplant, they reminded me of lungs breathing."
"She was trying to tell us all along that these lungs weren't working right and she was chasing those butterflies – she was looking for new lungs," said Mansfield.
Some people might argue that with so many patients waiting for transplants, giving a patient a second transplant is risky and unfair.
But doctors say not in this case. Maggie came through her first surgery well and the second one even better.
Maggie's is just one of the inspirational stories about kids at Children's Hospital year round.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
