Gibson Brown

Gibson started out life in the NICU with breathing and blood sugar issues. Those soon resolved and he developed jaundice. He was released from the hostpital at a week old. A few months later we noticed that he was getting more yellow again and took him to the doctor. This began our journey into the world of Biliary Atresia. It is a liver issue with an unknown cause.

Babies are born with normal bile ducts and then they go away. There is a procedue called the Kasai, named after the doctor that developed it, that if done early enough can help the liver recover and function in a somewhat normal way. Gibson had this surgery at 8 weeks. The surgeon was hopeful that Gibson would not ever need a liver transplant or only later in life.

July came around and Gibson got more yellow again and his belly got big making it hard for him to breathe. Gibson and Christa flew down to Stanford to get Gibson evaluated for a transplant. Gibson was added to the list to get a transplant a less than a week after they arrived. One week after arriving Gibson had a new liver. He left the hostpital in one week, a record for the hospital, we think.

All was good for one month. Then Gibson wasn’t eating and started thowing up bile. Back to the ER at Stanford we went. He ended up having emergency surgery to remove scar tissue that was blocking his bowels. The super hero doctors at Stanford did it again, they saved his life and he was again out of the hosptial in a week.

Overall we stayed in California for a little over two months. Our insurance paid for our housing at the Ronald McDonald House but nothing for food or the loss of wages that Christa suffered due to a job loss during this time. Your gift will help with Gibson’s transplant expenses now and going forward. He will need to be on medicines for the rest of his life and will need to be seen by his GI doctors at home regularly.

Family and friends of Gibson Brown are raising money to pay for uninsured medical expenses associated with transplantation.

Gibson’s family has chosen to fundraise with HelpHOPELive in part because HelpHOPELive assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for donors. Donors can be sure that funds donated will be used only to pay or reimburse medically-related expenses. For more information, please contact HelpHOPELive at 800.642.8399.

Thanks for your support!