Toddler Survives Rare Transplant Surgery.Remarkable

[bonnie]

Toddler Survives Rare Transplant Surgery

Adonis Ortiz was only 3 years old when he underwent a complicated and rare surgery that would ultimately change his life forever (for the better).

Adonis was born with a condition called gastrochisis, which left his intestines protruding through a hole in his abdominal wall—in other words, the birth defect allowed his intestines to form outside of his body. Doctors performed a surgery to correct this problem soon after Adonis’ birth but discovered that his intestines hadn’t developed fully. This meant that he would have to undergo two more surgeries that would help to lengthen the intestines and increase their function.

“He only had 28 centimeters of intestines. A normal baby has 250,” explained Adonis’ mother, Aracelis Ortiz, to NBC Miami. “Everything they would keep telling me is that he would have a 50/50 chance.”

Unfortunately, those three surgeries still were not enough to help Adonis long-term and in August 2013, he was diagnosed with stage 2 liver fibrosis—which required a transplant of five compromised organs, a surgery that have never before been attempted.

In October 2013, the family received a phone call that revealed good news: donors for all five organs has been located. Within hours, Adonis had a five-organ transplant surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miama, Florida. He received a new liver, pancreas, stomach, and small and large intestines.

“For you to have a donor, a baby must die,” said Adonis’ grandmother, Elvira Cruz. “That was the hardest part for us.”

“He is really strong,” his mother said to CBS Miami. “After all his surgeries, he comes out with a smile.”

As of yesterday, the toddler has recovered enough from the procedure and was able to make a brief media appearance. Adonis is recovering from the rare surgery exceptionally well and will soon be learning to eat food with his mouth—something he has never done before.

“His chances of rejecting [the organs] are actually under 10 percent,” said Rodrigo Vianna, the doctor who operated on Adonis. “I do think he has a very good chance to have a very good and normal life.”

It’s amazing how he always manages to smile after a surgery! He’s been through so much in such a small amount of time.

[phkrause]

Awesome, and as the grandma says, sadly it takes someone to have to die.