The Gift of New Life
By Stephen Hansen-Langmann
“If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”
1st Corinthians 12:26
In the months leading up to our daughter’s birth we would read 1st Corinthians 12:4-31 out loud, thinking that God was working with us and would create a beautiful child, inside and out. It was not until much later, after finding out and living with our daughter’s life-threatening disease that we came to realize how much this verse prepared us for our daughter’s life—and ours.
Our daughter, Lausanne Hansen-Langmann, was diagnosed with Biliary Atresia at 14 days old. On her twenty-sixth day, she underwent the Kasai surgery in the hopes that this operation would replace her bile duct that had closed within those first two weeks of her life. Then at 18 months, Lausanne’s liver was failing; my wife decided, without hesitation, that she would donate part of hers to save the life of our daughter.
Lausanne was born in Korea and had all of her major hospital operations performed there. To this day, we are grateful for all of the doctors and nurses who took us step-by-step along this difficult journey.
Today, we have a great team at BC Children’s Hospital watching over her and making sure that her body is running smoothly.
After her transplant, Lausanne was not allowed to be in places where large congregations of people would be, as we had to be very careful of infections. This was difficult to take at times; however, after getting the “okay,” close to 12 months later, we were able to live a semi-normal life by taking her to her favorite places and enrolling Lausanne in Sunday school.
A family’s uncertain future before the transplant.
Lausanne is already setting high goals for herself, as she has stated over the past year that she would like to be a stage performer, or even a doctor or nurse. These goals have stemmed from her love of performing multiple times on stage and her countless visits to the hospital. She is a true goal setter and has always showed a determination to overcome her challenges, even from birth.
Lausanne, who is now five years old, and over three-and-a-half years post-transplant, is as healthy as can be. She participated in the 2018 Canadian Transplant Games and won three gold medals in the Long Jump, 25 Metre, and Ball Throw.
Five-year old Lausanne, all smiles, at the 2018 Canadian Transplant Games.
She can speak two languages fluently (Korean and English) and is now learning French at school. What lies ahead for our little girl is impossible to tell. However, we are very proud of her and how far she has come in such a short time. To have a child who has undergone such challenges at such a young age and now to see her living life happily is very rewarding. We love her dearly and look forward to the years ahead in all that she will accomplish.
The support of the Children’s Organ Transplant Society is making our journey easier.