Colton has struggled with stomach/GI related issues for his whole life. Recently, Angie and Colton learned that he was born with something called a duodenal web. A duodenal web is a thin layer of tissues that forms in the first part of the small intestines (called the duodenum) and can completely or partially block the passage of food.

Because of how rare this condition it, it is often missed. (A duodenal web occurs in about 1 in 10,000 - 1 in 40,0000 people.) If you knew him as a baby, you know he struggled keeping bottles down and struggled greatly to gain weight. He's often been in the "failure to thrive" category throughout his life.

A little over a year ago he was having one of his stomach episodes, and he decided he was done eating because he was sick of food upsetting his stomach. During that time, he dropped 6lbs in 3 days, his levels dropped, and his organs were starting to shut down. He spent some time in the hospital and was then referred to a specialist. Following testing, he was referred to U of I Children's Hospital where they finally discovered the root cause of all of his GI issues.

Initially, Angie and Colton were told to plan for a 3 - 14 day stay. That has now been upped to a minimum of 3 weeks, maybe longer. Colton's stay has not been smooth by any means. At the time of writing this, Colton is eight days post surgery. During that time, he has not been allowed to eat anything solid and has only been allowed a few ounces of Gatorade per day and a few popsicles. On Thursday, April 17th (one-week post op), Colton was not making the progress they had hoped for and he had to have a PICC line placed as well as additional monitoring due to some wacky heart rhythms.

Extended hospital stays have all sorts of hidden costs - even when you have insurance and live reasonably close. Angie has been by Colton's side this whole time, which means extra time off work. Please consider chipping in so we can help take at least some of the financial burden off Angie. All money will go directly to Angie to help with Colton's medical bills and to assist with bridging the gap with unexpected expenses.