Stories

Palo Alto Community Rallies Around Baby Born with Biliary Artesia

October 25, 2016

A 6-month-old baby girl is recovering after a successful liver transplant at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto.

The surgery lasted eight hours on Oct. 15, now baby Charli Jo Zumbach is recovering well at the hospital’s intensive care unit.

The child was diagnosed with a rare liver disease when she was two-months old, said her mother Toni Zumbach.

“She’s strong, she’s happy, she’s never sad, she always takes everything that’s given to her,” Zumbach said.  “Yea, she’s definitely here for a reason.”

The disease is called Biliary Atresia – bile is naturally created in the liver. The disease halts the flow of bile to the gallbladder and eventually leads to liver failure, according to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

The disease affects one in 15,000 to 20,000 babies, according to the CCH website.

Charlio Jo’s doctors performed a surgery on June 6 to attempt to fix the problem but it failed and a transplant became necessary.

A family friend was found to be a perfect match for a transplant and the surgery was scheduled Nov. 4, but another match was found and the surgery happened a few weeks earlier.

“It’s been very amazing here at Stanford. They are an amazing hospital,” Zumbach said.

The Angels Camp family said its community has shown them tremendous support. The community held a benefit softball tournament Oct. 2.

An Angels Camp business called Blooms and Things is donating 100 percent of the proceeds from their pumpkin patch to the Zumbach family.

The Zumbach family also offers a tremendous thank you to organ donors.

Copyright 2016 KXTV (source)

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