A Princeton baby who has spent months in BC Children’s Hospital is getting ready to come home.
Robert Gibson was born Nov. 24, 2020.
He weighed 5 lbs 13 ounces, and was diagnosed with gestational alloimmune liver disease and neonatal hemochromatosis.
Robert’s liver was being attacked by his own antibodies, and he needed a full blood transfusion to clean his body.
His parents were also told he might require a liver transplant.
“(We) just took it day by day and hoped for the best. (It’s) all you can really do,” said his mother Destiny Mclaren in an interview with the Spotlight.
Mclaren and her husband Cody Gibson were almost constantly at their son’s side throughout the ordeal, living at Vancouver’s Ronald McDonald House.
“Cody and I just supported each other the best we could. We believed that he was in the best hands here at (BC) Children’s Hospital the doctors and nurses were super amazing with us and him,” she said.
Robert’s liver healed itself, but then he experienced problems with his blood sugar, and with breathing.
“He is now on room air,” said Mclaren, and he is also able to eat without a feeding tube.
If all continues to go well “we will be going home in a week or two. He definitely surprised us all. He has come so far from when he was born. It’s truly amazing to be able to have an end date coming soon and to finally bring him home.”
A gofundme page raised $2,780 to help the parents offset expenses, and friends organized a bottle drive to support them.
“I just want to thank everybody so much for everything they have done for us. If it wasn’t for everyone that helped us out I don’t know where we would be today.”
Related: Princeton baby fights for his life, with parents at his side
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