Pledges for Peyton
Peyton is our 7 year old daughter. Peyton is a little trooper, having been through more (medically speaking) before she was 5 years old than most do in a lifetime. Peyton has been diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anemia for the second time. Severe Aplastic Anemia is, for lack of better words, when your body quits making its own blood.
When Peyton was born, she was born with what is called Gastroschisis, which is where your abdominal wall does not close around all of your organs, and they hang out unsupported. She was rushed to the operating room immediately when she was born, where the Drs. attached a Silo (tube shaped plastic bag) to her abdomen to contain all of her organs in a sterile environment, until her abdominal wall could be stretched to the point that all of her organs could be pushed back into her body. Every day they came and twisted the bag just a little more and pushed her organs back into her body, until they were all safely inside of her. This ordeal lasted close to 3 months, all of which Mommy was there in the NICU for Peyton.
It was during the Gastroschisis that we realized what a fighter our precious first born was, surviving an event that many would have lost their spirit in the face of, especially being born at 5 lbs, 5 Oz, and six weeks early.
We also learned how taxing a situation like this can be, emotionally, physically, and last but not least financially. The tab for all of the treatment necessary to bring our sweet Peyton into the world topped $300,000. Luckily, Daddy was in the military at the time, and the insurance was very comprehensive. Most of the expense of the procedures and medical treatment was covered, but not all of it.
All was well for a couple of years until Peytons 2nd birthday party at Aunt Krissy's house. We woke up the morning of Peyton's birthday party and went about business as usual, you know the regular routine with the kiddo when you get them going in the morning, get dressed, eat breakfast brush your teeth, watch some cartoons etc. A while after brushing Peyton's teeth she was playing with her cousins, whom she never got to see since we live out of state, she came to us for something, when we noticed one of the most horrifying things for fairly new parents. Our daughter had black "stuff" coming from her gums. At first we couldn't tell where it was coming from, or even what it was, but upon closer inspection by Aunt Krissy (Registered Nurse) we were informed that it was clotted blood that was oozing from between her teeth. SCARY!!!
We did what any good parents would do, we rushed her to the hospital. At the hospital they performed a series of tests and then told us to hurry up and wait. We sat in that room for what felt like hours with our baby whom we were scared to death for. At this point we got the worst news we had EVER gotten in our lives up until this point, Peyton had Leukemia. We were devistated...
We were in for another long stay in the hospital, but who cares about that, we were just given a death sentence for our beautiful daughter. We were in shambles, and had no idea what our next step was going to be, prayers, prayers, a couple more prayers, one more prayer, and then 2 more, and we were blessed by good news (very relatively). The Dr. came back to us a fews days later, after a short stay in the ICU and many bags of blood later to tell us that Peyton did not in fact have Leukemia, but an equally devastating, but much more treatable Severe Aplastic Anemia. Thank GOD!!!
We were referred to consult with our local Drs, and made our way from Aunt Krissy's back to Atlanta, GA where we admitted Peyton to Scottish Rite, Children's Hospital of Atlanta. This is where our journey began, and where we learned what it was like to have a child with a major illness. Over the course of the next 18 months Peyton underwent treatment after treatment to try and remedy her illness, some with more success than others, ALL of which were emotionally devastating, and physically devastating to Peyton. She was introduced to new experimental treatments with little positive results, many negative side affects, and all very time consuming. She also went through more conventional treatments for Aplastic Anemia which yielded more success, but exposed her to things like Chemo, and Radiation treatment.
During this time we watched our daughter go through agony. It was all we could do to try and keep her distracted. Much of our time and money was spent on trying to distract her from the woes of her treatment, and a child going through something like this is not easily distracted. We constantly were moving on to the next distraction to try and ease the pain, all at our expense, since the insurance company doesn't believe in taking care of the emotions, mental state, and feelings of a sick child.
During Peyton's stay at the hospital Mommy was pregnant with our second child, Hailey. (Hailey was ultimately the savior of her big sister through the use of her stem cells). Peyton had to have someone with her while she was in the hospital, and ultimately, it was mostly Mommy since Daddy had to work. Eventually there came a time when it was time for little Hailey to come into the world. When this happened Mommy was out of commission for a while, which meant the shared responsibility of being bedside with Peyton became Daddy's job. Many days missed from work later Mommy was back at it, and we had what we needed that ultimately saved Peyton's life, the cord blood from Hailey that contained the necessary stem cells to produce new, working, bone marrow cells in Peyton's bones.
As lucky as we seemed to be at this point, we weren't. During one of the brief stents when Peyton was allowed to go home she developed a fever, which is a big no-no for patients with a compromised immune system like Peyton's. We took her back to the hospital where we learned that she had developed a fungal infection in her lungs. This infection was something that would not usually be a problem for someone with a normal immune system like the rest of the family, but to Peyton it was a big deal. It took from February, when we were almost ready to do her transplant, to June of the year following her sister's birth before we were able to use her stem cells.
We finally licked the fungal infection and moved forward to perform Peyton's transplant. Once Peyton was post transplant we stayed in the hospital for many more months in a sterile room to ensure that nothing could cause her to get sick, and destroy the new stem cells that we had just transplanted.
Finally, we got to go home, Peyton was a successful transplant, and was ready to start her road towards being a regular kid. That all sounds good, but we were far from done with the hospital, we were required to make clinic visits 3 times a week, for a long long time, and after the long long time was over we got to go once a week, then once bi-weekly, then once a month, then once every other month, then once every 3 months. We went once every 3 months for about a year, before we were told that her blood's iron content was too high and that we needed to come in more often. No problem, gas is cheap and work will be there when I get back right? We have been going once a month now for the last 2 years, and have gotten pretty use to this schedule and have seen little success with the treatment for the iron overload.
Through the course of all of this treatment the insurance was instrumental in success, we couldn't have done it without it, but it didn't cover everything. What insurance companies dont consider are the little things (which are big things over time). No considerations are taken for things like gas to go back and forth, vehicle maintenance and repair (which happened a few times), AAA membership to combat untimely repair needs, food for everyone while at the hospital, housing during long stays, babysitters for the now 3 additional children we have, food for the kids, special medical supplies necessary for home care, distractions for Peyton (games, cards, stuffed animals, learning material etc...), data and cell phone plan overages, parking fees (whos idea was it to charge the parents of sick kids to park?), and bank fees when we can't cover all of the previously mentioned stuff. Daddy is pretty good at balancing the check book and keeping up with where the finances go, but with the sheer volume of additional expenses that occur with this type of lifestyle, it is difficult to really put an exact number on what it cost us to make it happen. What we can tell you is that it cost well over $20,000, and it nearly bankrupt us. We have a list of collections on our credit at this point from ignoring the trivial and handling the needs for our daughter, but priorities are what they are, and Peyton is #1.
This go fund me is in response to recent events, Peyton did well for nearly 5 years, but has recently relapsed. She is not doing so well right now guys. Peyton's first stay in the hospital was last week, and she was immediately placed in the ICU. Her Severe Aplastic Anemia is back, and honestly we don't know what we are going to do financially. We know that we have some financial hurtles to jump here in the future, as well as some new ones that we didn't have last time. This time we have 4 kids instead of 2, and we also have a better grasp on what needs to happen to make things as smooth as possible for Peyton. (I.E. having the house professionally sterilized and purged of any mold or fungus, because as clean as we could make it on our hands and knees with bleach last time, we missed something).
We are asking for your help to save the life of a beautiful and vibrant child, one that is sure to be an asset to the world and do great things. Peyton is a gift to the world, and anyone that has ever met her personally can attest to that, she truly is wonderful. We cannot think of any other way to bare the financial burden that is before us, outside of asking for help.
Peyton is our world, as are the rest of our children. I cannot bare the thought of losing any of them, and honestly I dont know what we would do. Our biggest fear is that we will fail her as her parents to provide her with the absolute best there is available. I know that it is not realistic to think that I can give her what the child of a millionare would receive, but I most certainly will break my back trying to. There is nothing in this world more important to us right now than our baby girl.
Peyton is actively going through this, and the financial burden has already started to be felt. Daddy has taken the last 2 weeks off to spend with Peyton, and the bill collectors have made it clear that their sympathies lie elsewhere.
I don't expect everyone to give a huge donation, but even the smallest donation is appreciated. My hopes are that this will restore my faith in humanity, and the ability of people to care for one another, and a simple penny would say, "I care" So no matter the size of your contribution, thank you so so much. No amount is too small, and in the end if I can gather a smile from Peyton for something as small as handing her a dime to put in her piggy bank, you have earned my eternal gratitude, and thank you greatly and eternally.
