The World Specialist
Lloyd and LaWanda Cox were shocked when their gymnastic star daughter was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer after an emergency room visit that ended at Children's Hospital in Baltimore. Luckily for Khloe, the pediatric oncologist pledged to do whatever research was necessary to figure out how to treat the rare disease. Dr. Teresa York used her database to look at John Hopkins, St. Jude's, and Children's in Washington DC, but she came up empty-handed. Then a resident in Radiology who had attended the University of Iowa told Dr. York about the work of Dr. Sue O'Dorisio.
Hard Work Was Done
Dr. Sue O'Dorisio knows just how difficult it is to diagnose NETs and long it can take. She gives a lot of credit to Dr. York for running the right tests and then going the extra mile to help the Cox family find the right doctor and the right treatment for Khloe. Dr. O or Dr. Sue, as the family calls her with affection, modestly acknowledges the hard work had already been done when she met Khloe.
Dr “O” (Sue O’dorisio) in her “team khloe” tshirt
Khloe and dr. York in baltimore
Transplant Is The Goal
Lloyd and LaWanda were told upfront by Dr. O that Khloe would eventually need a transplant: 1. Because she was young and 2. Because both her pancreas and her liver had major risk factors. Dr. York had described Khloe's liver as so full of tumors that it was difficult to imagine it in an adult, much less a child. Her pancreas also had not matured properly because of the cancer. However, like any parents, they hoped the treatment alone might be enough.
Transplant Criteria
Dr. O's work may have been made easier because a local doctor addressed the hard work initially, but there was also no guarantee that a transplant was going to be possible. Another one of the pieces of the puzzle fell right in place--the University of Iowa had opened a clinical trial of a promising new treatment in neuroendodrine care and it was approved FOR CHILDREN!
Khloe's Decision
Khloe did show response to the treatment set up by Dr. O in Iowa and facilitated with follow-ups, shots, and labs back in Maryland by Dr. York. It was a remarkable collaborative effort that many neuroendocrine patients can only dream of when the expert is more than 900 miles away from their hometown. Ultimately it was 9 year old Klhoe who told her parents she just wanted to get the cancer out.
Hope
The bravery and resilence of her young patient was not lost on Dr. O, who took the call from Khloe that she wanted to have a transplant that would replace both her pancreas and her liver. The remarkable teamwork of Dr. O and Dr. York was now going to involve a third collaborator, a transplant surgeon in Minnesota.
