Pandemic Puts Caribou Woman’s Vital Liver Transplant On Hold

Click here for the latest coronavirus news, which the BDN has made free for the public. You can support this mission by purchasing a digital subscription. CARIBOU, Maine — Former Deputy City Clerk Kalen Hill was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer last year. Now her chance of getting a vital liver transplant is on hold until the COVID-19 pandemic is under control. Earlier this year, doctors at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts told her she was near the top of the list for the transplant — the one procedure that could save her life. [Our COVID-19 tracker contains the most recent information on Maine cases by county] “They said [recently] ‘you cannot come down here until this virus is under control because you would die’,” Hill said, adding that there are other people in the same situation right now. Hill needs a full liver transplant from a deceased organ donor, which must meet several criteria in order for Hill to go through with the procedure.