Support the Hyperinsulinism Program

– Life is Sweeter with Your Help!

What would you do if your baby was born with an unexpected, complex, and very rare disease? A disease your local expert physicians have never treated or are unfamiliar with. 

What if you learned of a doctor who has committed his life’s work to researching this rare disease, treating it, and at times even curing it? What if you learned he has gone further to guide an entire interdisciplinary team to care for your baby and support you? A team ready to treat any obstacle that arises.

Would you travel as far as necessary to get there?

We would! We are 18 families who have been blessed beyond measure by Dr. Paul Thornton’s Congenital Hyperinsulinism team at Cook Children’s. I invite you to read our unique stories of how we arrived at Cook Children’s and how this specialized team changed our lives.

Congenital Hyperinsulinism is not just one disease with one cause. There are numerous genetic forms of hyperinsulinism and each type has a unique treatment. This is a disease babies are born with where their pancreas produces too much insulin. The only way to prevent seizures, comas, brain damage and death is to combat the insulin with a significant amount of sugar in IV form in addition to frequent feedings. It is then determined which medications are effective in managing the disease and if pancreatic surgery is an option. While current research has provided a cure to some, more research is needed to bring a cure to all.

There are only 2 interdisciplinary team clinics for hyperinsulinism in the United States! Cook Children’s in Fort Worth, Texas is one of three hospitals in the US with the authority to perform hyperinsulinism research with a special 18F-DOPA PET scan that helps create the surgical plan.

With hearts of gratitude and for the continued specialized care of infants and children please join us in supporting this vital program.

For more information on this program please check out their site and videos. https://www.cookchildrens.org/endocrinology/specialty-programs/Pages/hyperinsulinism-center.aspx

"My son has been a part of the Cook Children's Hyperinsulinism Center from the very beginning. We have regularly traveled with our son from many hours away to see Dr. Thornton since he arrived at Cook Children's in 2003. The incredible multidisciplinary team Dr. Thornton has pulled together to care for this rare, life-threatening condition is truly world class. We are so blessed to have this kind of expertise right here in Texas." - Davelyn Hood, Mom to Hayden, President of the Board of Congenital Hyperinsulinism International