Kids Korner | Transplant Unwrapped

Kids Korner

A separate site made just for kiddos going through this touch journey.

Useful Resources for Kids:

This is the special page just for kids living with short bowel and intestinal failure and going through the intestinal rehabilitation intestinal and multivisceral transplantation process.

Whew! Those are big words.

What does all of that even mean? Well, before you can understand intestinal rehabilitation or transplantation, you first need to understand how the digestive system works. You can find a description of the process here.

After that, you will be prepared to learn more about intestinal rehab and transplant. Intestinal rehab is when your team helps you learn to eat and drink, take special medications, and sometimes have a procedure, to help get you off your nutrition in your veins and grow into a big kid! If that doesn't work, your team may recommend an intestinal transplant, which is when one person's unhealthy intestine is replaced with a healthy intestine, similar to when you replace an old lightbulb with a new lightbulb in a lamp.

To learn more about the intestinal transplant journey, we have many kid-friendly resources:

Kid's Guide to Intestinal Transplant

Kid's Intestinal Transplant Activity Book

"Elpis the Elephant Gets an Intestinal Transplant," an illustrated children's book about intestinal transplant. Email and ask us how you can get a copy

To learn more about short bowel syndrome and the intestinal rehabilitation journey:

Short Bowel Syndrome and Intestinal Rehabilitation Activity Book

Videos for Kids

(Note: Not Created by Transplant Unwrapped, Linked Offsite)

1. "Quacker's" Preparing for surgery.

2."10 Things to Know for Surgery:" Are you nervous about your upcoming surgery? Watch this video to learn more about what will happen to make yourself feel a bit better.

3. "Getting Blood Drawn" Watch as a little girl gets her blood drawn. This series by Nemours Healthcare also has other common medical procedures including getting an upper GI, X-ray, CT scan, IV, and EKG.

4. "Transplant Talk: Your Organ's Are Amazing!" This video explains the function of each of the organs in your body and how they help you and others. Made by HRSA.

5. "Organ Donation and Transplantation: How Does it Work?" This video helps to explain how the organ donation process works in the United States. Made by HRSA.

6. "Operation Ouch- Digestion" This is a Biology for Kids presentation in which one of their 'scientist' ingests a pill endoscopy camera and they follow the journey of the camera through the digestive system.

7. "Digestive System" This video explains how your digestive system works. Made by Education for Kids Happy Learning English.

8. "Describing TPN" This video explains TPN. At the beginning it references TPN for cancer treatment, however, the rest of the video provides a simple explanation of TPN for you to understand TPN. Made by Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

Websites for Kids

1. "Health Topics for Kids" A website that explains a variety of health conditions and illnesses for kids.

2. "Health for Kids" A website with lots of information about your body and possible illnesses. It has fun interactive features and games, such as "Poop Shooter."

3. "Coping Club" A variety of videos of other kids talking about their own experiences with certain illnesses or problems in the hospital.

4. "Scrub Club" A website about hand washing and the importance of staying clean and germ-free. It is very important as transplant patients to stay germ-free because our immune systems are weak. Visit this site for great tips and fun activities, such as coloring sheets and connect the dots.

5. "Girls Health" A website geared toward young girls. Visit this if you are interested in learning about girl-related issues.

Phone Applications for Kids

1. TransplantU App: Downloadable App on the app store for your iPhone. Created by Nebraska Transplant, tells a story of the transplant process for kids. Interactive, drag and drop features. The child can read story or the story can be read to the child.

2. Simply Sayin': Application for the iPhone created by Phoenix Children's Hospital. Provides a glossary of medical terms with kid-friendly definitions as well as some fun educational illustrations. A fabulous educational tool for young children navigating a complex medical world.