Team Travis

Jason, my husband, and I have been friends with Travis for 20+ years. Besides our family, Travis is the one person that we’ve always been able to count on. If he said he was going to do something he did it. He’s the one friend that has remained our friend though all my husband’s struggles with his Multiple Sclerosis – not only checking on him but on myself and our kids as well. When my mother-in-law passed this last year, Travis drove 4 hours round trip in one day to attend her last minute service. That is just who he is, someone you can always count on.

Well now Travis and his family need us. When Travis told me it was a good possibility that he would need a double lung transplant I immediately made several designs for t-shirts, this is the one I decided was the one. Show your support for Travis and his family by purchasing a shirt and helping fund the costs of the double lung transplant and after care that he’ll require.

Below is a simplified version of his story, you can read the full story that Emily’s sister Sarah wrote up here - https://www.gofundme.com/travis-gibson-double-lung-transplant-fund. You can make monetary donations on the Go Fund Me page as well.



What started as a sore throat last December, went to coughing and not feeling well by mid-January to doctors telling him he had walking pneumonia in early February. On Valentine’s Day Emily took Travis to the emergency room where doctors said it looked like Interstitial Lung Disease. On Travis’ 40th birthday, he was scheduled for surgery to have a lung biopsy done. The results pointed to Interstitial Lung Disease again.

What is Interstitial Lung Disease?
Interstitial Lung Disease is a term used to describe many disorders that cause scarring on the lung tissue. Exposure to hazardous materials, autoimmune disorders, and sometimes unknown factors cause this disease and damage to the lungs. Eventually, the scarring affects your ability to breathe which causes a decrease in oxygen in your bloodstream. This is why Travis continued to be increasingly out of breath. He literally was not getting enough oxygen.

Travis was referred to the MUSC Lung Transplant Clinic in Charleston for transplant evaluation. A double lung transplant. Emily’s grandparents live in North Charleston, so Emily and Travis have stayed with them off and on during their visits to MUSC.

After lots of tests at MUSC, the doctors told them Travis had Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia, one of those diseases that falls into the Interstitial Lung Disease category. The disease had caused severe damage to both of Travis’ lungs. If Travis does need the transplant, he will not be able to move his arms for eight weeks after surgery in order to give his sternum time to heal. Some patients have ended up having to have metal plates put in their chest as a result of arm use too soon after surgery.

For three months after the transplant Travis will have to live within ten minutes of MUSC for continuing care and as a precaution in the event that a complication develops. Emily and Travis have to have $15,000 available just to be able to be put on the transplant list. Lung matches do not typically take very long since they are matched based on height and blood type.

In addition to the $15,000 upfront, there will be post-transplant medication and follow-up procedures. Travis will need to take 30 pills each day to make sure his body does not reject the new lungs. The first year after a double lung transplant is crucial. Emily will be his caregiver and have to do pretty much everything for him especially in those first eight weeks when arm movement is restricted. This entire ordeal is stressful for the whole family. They will all need help and support in every way.