Double-Transplant Patient Gets Her Send-Off

Donations Fund Teen's Operations After Health Plan Refused To Pay

By Gillian Flaccus

The Associated Press

McMINNVILLE OR -- Brandy Stroeder joked halfheartedly as she greeted well-wishers yesterday before leaving for Stanford University Medical Center in California, where she will be evaluated for a possible lifesaving lung-and-liver transplant.

"It's $5 to shake my hand, $10 to hug me," Stroeder, 18, said as family and friends poured past.

But Stroeder, who has cystic fibrosis, knows it will take more than warm wishes to convince Stanford doctors that she can handle the experimental procedure -- physically, mentally and financially.

Stroeder has health coverage through the government-funded Oregon Health Plan for poor or disabled residents. The plan has refused to pay for the combined transplant, which probably will cost more than $250,000, calling it experimental.

Double transplants are rare, and have been done only six to 10 times worldwide, said Dr. William Berquist, medical director of the pediatric liver transplant program at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University. Those numbers are too small to determine what the success rate would be, he said.

The case prompted some Republicans to criticize the state program, started by Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber when he was a state legislator. The case got more complicated when it was discovered that lung and liver transplants are covered separately under the plan, but not the combined procedure.

Multimillionaire Mark Hemstreet, owner of Shilo Inns, has donated $125,000 and promised to raise whatever it takes to pay for Stroeder's transplant. He also flew her to Stanford University Hospital yesterday in his corporate Cessna Citation II jet. So far, McMinnville residents have raised another $93,000 for Stroeder's medical expenses.

Yesterday, Hemstreet's spokesman, David Rogoway, announced the creation of the Brandy Stroeder Healthcare Foundation. Money from the foundation, supported by private donations, will continue to pay for Stroeder's expenses and those of other Oregonians in similar situations, he said.

"I just want everybody to know there are good people in the world when it comes down to it and somebody needs help," Stroeder said of the fund-raising efforts. "There are a lot of people who will step in to do the right thing."

Stroeder still must complete a grueling interview and evaluation process to qualify for a transplant.

About 70,000 people are waiting for organs nationwide, and there are about 15,000 potential donors each year, said Mary Jane Hunt, executive director of the Oregon Donor Program. Doctors recover organs from about 6,000 of those potential donors.

Patients must go through a stringent selection process because there aren't enough organs to go around, Berquist said.

"The organs we're transplanting are very precious and there's a high demand for them, and for that reason you're going to be very cautious of who you accept," he said.

Stroeder's age and high level of family support will likely give her a "pretty good" chance of getting approved, he said. If she does, her name will be placed on the national United Network of Organ Sharing, Berquist said.

Copyright © 1999-2000 Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

This article posted July 26, 2000.