Caron Adams, now 11, was diagnosed in 2010 with a Pilomyxoid Astrocytoma brain tumor. His family has been fighting for stability ever since.
WILLINGBORO TWP. -- Caron Adams' family has had a home of their own for 20 days now. However, the medical costs associated with treating the 11-year-old's devastating medical condition means they might not be able to pay rent next month.
Linda Gayle, Caron's grandmother, said Monday that their new home in Willingboro is a blessing, but financial support to help the family buy a desperately-needed testing device would be a godsend.
"We are so happy to be in a home," Gayle said after vacating a Cherry Hill hotel in September after more than a year of staying there. Herlisha Adams, Caron's mother; Gayle and Adams' two teenage daughters struck on the Burlington County home just in time to avoid being homeless -- again.
"We just trusted the lord," Gayle said.
Caron was diagnosed in 2010 with a Pilomyxoid Astrocytoma brain tumor. At that time, the group was living together in four-bedroom home in Voorhees when he hit his head and was diagnosed with a concussion. A month later, he was back in the hospital and received a CAT scan that revealed the truth -- a golf ball-sized tumor.
Treating the boy's condition is a full-time job, Adams said, and he's been left bed-ridden and dazed by the tumor.
"Just one of his vital vitamins for a 30 day supply is $90. To supply him with organic fruits and vegetables every week, that ranges to about $200 or more a week. If he consumes unhealthy foods he begins to deteriorate so it's not an option for us because we want Caron to live and not go through this anymore," Adams said.
Regular and emergency visits to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) took their toll on the family and Caron, who would need to be carried or carted to and from the Center City hospital.
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"He's doing great right now," Gayle said.
He'd be doing a lot better, and so would the family, if they had the financial cushion to afford an i-STAT vital statistics monitor. If Caron's sodium level drops or climbs too high, he will go into seizures that could prove fatal. Without the tool that costs anywhere from $3,000 used to $6,000 new, the family must rush him to the emergency room.
"It's a matter of just giving him water," Gayle said of responding to a change in Caron's sodium levels. "You've just got to catch it before it gets to that point."
Doctors have told Adams and Gayle that insurance won't cover the purchase of the machine, which is similar to a blood testing device for those with diabetes.
"It's real simple. It's just expensive," Gayle said. "We can't keep playing with his life like that."
A Gofundme page has been set up by the family to help support the purchase of the i-STAT device. Gayle emphasized that readers don't need to donate large amounts; $5 is all they're asking.
"We don't know how we're going to pay rent next month," Gayle said of the $1,700 they need to find sooner rather than later. "We're scratching to get a meal for tonight. We're really in this financial bind and we want to get out."
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.