3-Year-Old Receives Five-Organ Transplant At JMH
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – A three-year-old boy who survived a five-organ transplant earlier this year at Jackson Memorial Hospital will meet the media Tuesday along with his doctors and his family.
Adonis Ortiz, 3, underwent the multivisceral transplant in October. During the surgery, he received a new liver, pancreas, stomach, and small and large intestines.
While his body was badly bruised, his spirit was anything but hurt.
"He is really strong," said Adonis' mother, Aracelis. "After all his surgeries, he comes out with a smile. I'm like how do you come out with a smile? They just chopped you up."
Doctors said the multi-organ transplant was needed because he was born with a condition in which his intestines protruded through a hole in his abdominal wall.
Ortiz underwent his first surgery when he was 3 months old and has had several other procedures. Earlier this year he was diagnosed with liver fibrosis.
His doctors say he received the transplant without an opening that connects the colon to the surface of the abdomen. He's expected to make a full recovery.
Adonis' mom said he's spent every Christmas this year in a hospital and while he will be at the Ronald McDonald House; his family is thankful he has another Christmas to celebrate.
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