Twice as much to love, two blessings from above are what could be said about having twins. Candice and Jon Baron of Brandon truly felt this way when they welcome their twin boys Colton Robert and Camden Robert this past January. Both boys have their grandfather’s name as their middle name and they were also born on his birthday, which was January 7. The couple wanted to honor his memory since he passed away a few years ago. Candice had a normal, full-term pregnancy and both boys came in at a healthy birth weight of 7 lbs. for Camden and 8 lbs. for Colton. But on the day they were to leave the hospital, something went terribly wrong with Colton. “Candice looked down at Colton and he was completely blue and not breathing,” said Susan Lewis, the twins’ grandmother. Colton was rushed to the ER and then later admitted into ICU.
It was discovered that Colton suffers from a rare disease called Hyperinsulinism, which means his pancreas makes too much insulin for him to survive. His brother Camden was tested and does not have the same condition. “His pancreas doesn’t stop secreting insulin, so his body’s response is that his blood sugar drops and he loses consciousness,” Lewis said. “The doctors give him sugar continually to stabilize him.” Colton’s doctors told his parents that he needed to be taken to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where they specialize in his condition. “He needs to be taken to a place that could effectively treat him and that place is in Philadelphia,” Lewis said. Colton’s parents had to apply for Medicaid to help cover his medical expenses.
His parents realized that Medicaid wouldn’t cover everything so the family set up a Go Fund Me account and took to their Facebook pages to spread the word about Colton and his condition. “We set up the Go Fund Me account to help get the family to Philadelphia and within three days we raised $5,000,” Lewis said. Colton was placed in an incubator and he and his family were flown in an air ambulance to the hospital. He is currently receiving treatment for his condition while his family stays at the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia. The doctors are doing tests on his pancreas to see what is causing the Hyperinsulinism. Colton and his family still face more procedures and treatments that Medicaid won’t cover. To help Colton and his family, visit www.gofundme.com/coltonbaron.
