Pennsylvania baby born with rare condition comes home after 8 months in hospital
WINDSOR TOWNSHIP, Pa. - After months of treatment and multiple surgeries, a Pennsylvania baby born with a rare condition is finally going home.
When Andrew Kuhn and Katie Faulkner found out they were having twins, it came as a shock.
The couple welcomed two beautiful boys, Jamison and Jackson, in July of last year through C-section.
However, when Jackson came out minutes after his brother, shock turned to fear.
"I saw that they were examining one of the babies they had the other one and took him away and a bunch of doctors were surrounding," Kuhn said.
As Faulkner was recovering from surgery, Kuhn said he was focusing on staying calm.
"I was just like something doesn't seem right something doesn't feel right," he said.
A doctor pulled him to the side and broke the news: Jackson had an imperforate anus, a piece of skin covering his rectum which never fully formed.
Twenty-four hours later, doctors transferred Jackson to John's Hopkins for better equipped care.
After five months, the family was told their insurance wasn't accepted, forcing them to transfer to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, two hours away from their home.
Seven surgeries later, the family found themselves facing hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt.
"We still have to pay for our house and our other bills, too. We're trying to catch up, we're struggling a bit," Faulker said.
"You feel depressed and stressed out every day you're thinking what's going to happen next and what bill is going to come in the mail next," Kuhn said.
Jackson is now home after eight months in the hospital, but this is just the beginning for him.
"He has a colostomy right now where his stool drains into, and he also has a central line where he gets all of his nutrients from, and he also has a G-tube where he gets formula," Faulker said.
While the couple says the past year has been difficult, they are both just happy to have Jackson at home.
"Just seeing his smiling face every day home with us beats any bill," both parents said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family pay for Jackson's medical needs.