Child Who Got New Liver Set to Go Home
Alyssa Smith, the nation’s first living-donor liver transplant recipient, and her mother will return to their Texas home today, hospital officials said.
A farewell celebration and news conference were planned at the University of Chicago’s Wyler Children’s Hospital Medical Center for 23-month-old Alyssa and Teresa Smith, 29, who donated part of her liver to her daughter on Nov. 27.
Alyssa was released from the hospital on Monday and has been staying with her mother at a nearby residence for the families of out-of-town patients.
Mrs. Smith and her daughter were scheduled to leave O’Hare International Airport for their home in the San Antonio suburb of Schertz.
Alyssa would have to return to Chicago for checkups, said hospital spokeswoman Mary Fetsch. At home, the child will continue taking drugs to prevent her body from rejecting the new organ.
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