Children's tweets from transplant surgery
On Monday, May 18, Children's made history by becoming the first hospital to Twitter in real time from a transplant surgery.
Three-year-old John Gilbreath received a kidney from his father, Chris Gilbreath. John has overcome overwhelming odds to survive since his parents were told to make arrangements for his funeral before his birth. Doctors thought John wouldn't be able to breathe due to undeveloped lungs. He also had a condition known as posterior urethral valves (PUV) that compromised his kidney function.
John’s lungs worked since birth, but both of his kidneys had to be removed. Still, he developed into a healthy and energetic young boy with the help of nightly 10-hour sessions of peritoneal dialysis.
Now that John has received his father's kidney, he no longer has to undergo dialysis. He will also be able to swim and ski – activities he could never do before that his father always wanted to teach him.
Chris is used to saving lives as a firefighter in Sherman, Texas, but he never anticipated saving his son.
"You hope that everything is good and well, and that you'll never have to rescue someone in your own family," Gilbreath said. "But it meant a lot to me to have the opportunity to help John."
Chris had his kidney removed at UT Southwestern University Hospital. After his surgery was complete, his kidney was transported to Children's and implanted into John. Representatives from the public relations departments at Children's and UT Southwestern Twittered live from both surgeries in an effort to educate the public and raise awareness of living organ donations.
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