This week there’s a tree farm at Texas Children’s Hospital where kids pick out Christmas trees for their hospital room.
For kids in the hospital this time of year, they’re not just looking forward to a magical season, they’re fighting for a lifetime of them.
“Most of us want to be home with our family,” said Dr. Julia Steinke, Texas Children’s Hospital Medical Director of Pediatric Kidney Transplant. “We tend to take that for granted that some of these kids, they’re not going to be able to be home for Christmas, that they’re actually going to be spending it in the hospital.”
At Texas Children’s Hospital, they have a Roaming Robot Program, it let’s a robot walk through areas of the hospital where children in isolation cannot go.
KPRC 2 Health Reporter Haley Hernandez walked alongside the robot while the little boy behind the screen, Jaxon, picked out his Christmas tree at the tree farm.
Jaxon is in the hospital recovering from a second kidney transplant that didn’t work.
He’s been in kidney failure for years. His adoptive mother donated his first kidney, it never took.
Unfortunately, the second one transplanted earlier this month also failed, and this week Jaxon had to go through another difficult operation.
“A lot of times the smaller children do have a harder time with their transplant and then require a more prolonged hospital stay. So, as you know, he’s had his challenges and as a result of that, you know, we do anticipate that he’ll be here over the Christmas time,” Dr. Steinke explained. “The holiday season really is a time of of giving and giving back and it’s a wonderful time to think about like, how can we give back to our community and those that are less fortunate than us? Certainly, any child that has to be in the hospital during this time would fall into that category. So, you know, people can certainly reach out and ask how they can help out.”
This report aired on Jaxon’s sixth birthday. Happy birthday, Jaxon, we are sending you all the well wishes!
