GASTONIA, N.C. — For the past seven years, 34-year-old Sarah Granados has battled with health issues from thyroid cancer to intestinal failure. Now she’s in need of a multi-organ transplant in hopes of improving her way of life for good.
In January, she was approved for a multi-visceral transplant and since then has been traveling back and forth from North Carolina to the Miami Transplant Institute where they are preparing to give her the procedure of a lifetime.
Granados is in need of a new stomach, pancreas, and colon.
Doctors say this multi-organ transplant is the best cure after she experienced complete intestinal failure.
“All of my nutrition, all of my fluids, all of my medication are given to me through my central line and fed directly to my veins,” Granados said.
This procedure could change all that.
So far, less than 1,000 people worldwide have received a multi-organ transplant like this and the care is costly. Just this year, Granados says the visits back and forth to Miami, home healthcare, medication and more have cost close to $800,000.
But this wife and mother of three believes it’s all well worth it.
“It could cost us everything,” Granados said. “We could lose our house, we could lose our car we could lose everything but if that means I get to be their mom for another day or get to be my husband’s wife for another hour it’s ultimately worth it.”
She also adds the importance of organ donations can be invaluable for those like her too.
“Before I would have said why not be an organ donor and now I can give you a hundred million reasons why to be a donor,” Granados said. “Without the organ donor, there is no miracle.”
She is now on the list to receive her transplant at any moment now once the organs are available. After the surgery, Granados will be required to live in Miami for at least six months during her recovery.