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GFL for Team Jayde and St. Jude

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Please JOIN THE FIGHT!

Whether you are here because a friend or family member shared this link with you, or you and your family are participants in the GFL Toilet Bowl Challenge.... 
The Germantown Football League would like to invite you to Join the Fight against childhood cancer by supporting our cause to raise funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, on behalf of 9 year old Jayde Gordon, who is currently battling medulloblastoma, a type of cancerous brain tumor.

Watch ABC 24's coverage of The 2014 GFL Toilet Bowl Challenge and Team Jayde & St. Jude Fundraiser Kickoff:
http://www.localmemphis.com/story/d/story/friends-rally-to-help-9-year-old-fight-cancer/27039/gqZtwUfCO0SmhKL3FFAQuA#.VCt7lX4uSJ5.facebook

You can follow along in the Toilet Bowl Challenge on the GFL facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/GermantownFootballLeague
(In payment options, TBC= Toilet Bowl Challenge)


JAYDE'S STORY
, written by her Mom, Kristy Pelt:

The words, "She has a mass" spoken to me from the Pediatric Radiologist at Germantown Methodist Hospital around noon on August 19th, 2014 will forever resound in my mind. WHAT????????? WHAT???? What do you mean???? I'm looking at this young, sympathetic doctor like I know what you're telling me is true, but OH DEAR GOD!!!!!!!! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! It just can't be!!!!! So hysterically I say, "a mass, like a tumor"? He says yes. I start to grasp for air, fall into a chair close by, and just sob. Complete disbelief on my part. This is the part where time stood still for me. How could my very healthy, spunky, athletic, smart, energetic, funny, sweet-spirited, God-loving, precious little 9 year old daughter, Jayde Kalin Gordon have a tumor in her brain? She rarely got a sniffle, and had not missed a day of school for 3 years straight due to any illness.

About a month prior to the diagnosis, Jayde complained of headaches. They seemed to have gotten pretty bad while she was on a girls trip with close friends of ours. She complained that night upon her return of headache, and said that she had them in Florida as well. After speaking with my friend, Bridgette, she did confirm that Jayde complained a few times that her head hurt. Being the exceptional Mom that she is, she made Jayde take a break from the sun and gave her Tylenol. I decided then that she needed to wear her glasses at all times, and take at least a 3 day break from her ipad, phone, and home computer. I thought perhaps her eyes were being overly strained. A few days later she said that her jaw was also hurting, so I made a dental appointment thinking perhaps she was grinding her teeth which could lead to headaches. The dentist said perhaps her jaw muscle is tight. He instructed me to give her Ibuprofen every 6 hours for a few days and buy a night guard. We did as directed, but the headaches still persisted.
On Monday, August 11th, Jayde woke me up around 7am saying that she had just finished throwing up. I jump up out of bed with concern, and go back with her to her room. I took her temperature, she did not have fever. She said her head and stomach both were hurting. Of course, I decided to keep her home from school, and gave her Tylenol. She never threw up again the rest of that day, and seemingly felt better as time went by. I concluded that she must have eaten something the night before that didn't agree with her.

The next morning, around the same time as the previous morning, she wakes me up to let me know that she had just thrown up. I was still concerned, but surprised. She was crying from head pain. So, I called our pediatricians office, confident in knowing that they would get us in to see someone, even if our favorite pediatrician, Dr. Lelon "Bubba" Edwards, wasn't available. I was so happy that Dr. Edwards himself was available that day! We are so very thankful that Dr. Edwards answered God's calling for his life. He's got a way with the kiddos for sure; but it's his 6th sense that sets him apart from other Pediatricians. After examining Jayde, and asking a few questions regarding the history of migraines in my family, he diagnosed Jayde with migraines. He also ordered an MRI (just as a precaution) for Jayde, and informed me that someone from Germantown Methodist would be calling to give me date/time of the appointment. Later that day, I received the call regarding the MRI that was scheduled for August 19th at 10:30 am.
The next morning, August 13th, I got to wake Jayde up at 8 am to get ready for school. I thought, "the bug" has left her system. Glad she didn't throw up this morning, and I can send her to school! I cringed at the thought of her getting behind after already missing 2 days in a row. However, I still worried about her that day, so I surprised her during lunch to see how she was doing. She was happy to see me, and I was relieved that she looked good and happy herself.
The next morning, August 14th, Jayde woke me up around 6:30 stating that she had just thrown up. I follow her back to her room, she climbs back into bed, and begins to throw up more. She threw up about 6 times in all. Now, I'm very concerned. I'm thinking I need to take her to Lebonheur, but call Dr. Edwards first. He agrees with me in that we should just go to Lebonheur. I knew that they could give her IV fluids in order to prevent dehydration as well as run some type of tests. Both urine and blood tests came back normal. She told the doctor that she was feeling better and her head was not hurting at the time. The doctor's diagnosis was a virus. She knew that we were scheduled an MRI for that coming Tuesday, so they did not feel it necessary to order one there. I was told if she kept throwing up for the next few days to simply bring her back there. So we left with medicine for nausea.

The next morning, August 15th, Jayde woke me up around 7 am to let me know that she had thrown up. I comforted her, and gave her Tylenol. I let her rest for another hour. Now, I'm worried that she has already missed 3 days of school and thinking how that is going to affect her studies. I felt horrible, but told her that maybe after she ate something that she might feel better. She reluctantly cooperated. With tears in my eyes, I told Mrs. Brocato that she did throw up earlier that morning, but felt like she needed to be in school. Again, I felt horrible, but Mrs. Brocato took my phone number and promised to call if she got sick or started to feel bad. I left with a torn heart and felt like an awful Mom, but also kept thinking that she was only throwing up in the mornings. She seemed to be fine after the morning vomiting spells and for the rest of the day. I remember her walking towards me that Friday afternoon after school let out, she looked tired. First thing out of her mouth was, "my head hurts." I was happy she made it thru the school day and was now ready to baby her. I decided that she and I would have a slumber party that night and sleep together in the guest bedroom. I knew it would make her happy to sleep with Momma, and I felt extra protective of my strong little soldier after the long, difficult week she endured. She did not throw up the next morning or Sunday morning. She did complain Sunday morning of a headache, but stuck it out for Sunday school as I helped lead the 4th grade class at our church home, Highpoint.

The next morning, August 18th, Jayde woke me up around 6:30 am saying that she just threw up. I'm thinking what is going on? No vomiting over the weekend, it's Monday now and time to start the school week. Is someone bullying her at school? Is she just having anxiety that I haven't picked up on? I asked her a few questions to make sure everything was ok at school. She did say 4th grade is really hard, but that no one was threatening her or being mean to her. This was a relief, but I was baffled. I made her eat 3 bites of something, and then we were out the door for school. I went to surprise her for lunch, and she was her happy, smiling little self.
The next morning, August 19, Jayde woke me up around 6:30 saying that she just threw up. I followed her back to her room, gave her water and Tylenol. She fell back asleep. I contemplated sending her to school from 9-10, and then checking her out to make it to her MRI appointment. I changed my mind, and let her sleep until necessary for us to leave the house and head to Germantown Methodist. We were told that we wouldn't get the results of the MRI for a few days, so Chris stayed home to work. I know that was the most shocking phone call from me that he has ever received. We were told that we needed to get to Lebonheur right away. They were expecting us. I asked the doctor before leaving Germantown Methodist if I could feed Jayde. He said yes, so we got her exactly what she wanted at Wendy's. I knew we would need to pack for a few nights. I didn't know it would be 7 nights though.

Once Jayde was admitted into Lebonheur and we were put in a room, our Neurosurgeon, Dr. Paul Klimo Jr., came in to speak with us. He was mild-mannered, meek, direct, confident in his abilities, and able to put us at ease with his history of success as an experienced and highly successful neurosurgeon. Jayde would have been prepped for surgery not long after we arrived had she not eaten. I was grateful for those hours that evening with our friends and family who came to love on us, and brought many smiles to Jayde's face. I did tell her after we left Germantown Methodist that she was sicker than we thought. I told her she had a brain tumor and was going to need surgery. She asked a few questions, but seemed to accept her diagnosis with much strength.
Dr. Klimo told us that she would be taken around 6:30 the next morning for a spinal tap and another MRI of the entire brain which would take about 2 1/2 hours. Since she would be sedated for this procedure, she would go directly into surgery for removal of the tumor. I remember telling Dr. Klimo, that I was in shock and had to see what the doctors were seeing for the tumor to be "real" to me. I saw it alright, and it was a large white mass. Still can't believe Dr. Klimo said it was the size of an orange! Goodness, my poor child must have a high threshold for pain. No wonder she was suffering from headaches.

The next morning as Chris and I knelt by her hospital bed to pray, I prayed that God would give her back to me. I told Him that He gave her to me to begin with, and now I had to entrust her back to Him, but I/we wanted her back. I also had to relinquish control to the one who loved her way before she was even a thought to me. I started to think and believe that I had to let God know that if He needed her more than I did then He could have her, BUT I WANTED HER BACK. I could not begin to imagine my life without her, since I wholeheartedly feel that my life didn't truly begin until the day she was born. The 12 hours that she was gone from me were the longest 12 hours of my life. I gasped every time the phone rang with our hourly updates, until Chris hung up the phone and repeated the good progress. The best and last phone call was the one that told us all was complete and they believed that all of the tumor was removed. Hallelujah!!!!!! Praise be to God in the highest!!! Thank you Lord Jesus for hearing our cries out to you. Thank you for being the ultimate Physician and for sending your angels charge over Jayde to guard her. Thank you my Heavenly Father for giving Jayde back to me/us! I was so anxious to see her after surgery. I had no idea what to expect once walking into her hospital room on the neuro ICU floor. I know that hearing her cry out "Mommy" was the greatest relief I had experienced since I last laid eyes on her. Once the relief was over, the heart-ache for my baby took over. She was so mad, hurting, and just wanted to go home. It didn't take long to realize that these were actually positive expressions. I was just so elated that she could speak and move, especially after being given worst case scenarios by Dr. Klimo.
Her next 6 nights in the hospital flew by. We had the absolute best care in Lebonheur from surgeons, doctors, nurses, medical assistants, interns, etc possible. We had prayed that the medulloblastoma of the WNT grade would be benign, but it was malignant. Hard to hear that your 9 year old seemingly, extremely healthy and vibrant child has cancer. However, we continue to thank our Lord Jesus Christ that Dr. Klimo believes that he removed all of the tumor, that there were no evidence of cancer cells in the spinal fluid, and that the post-op MRI showed no signs of a tumor.

Now we are at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital 5 days a week. St. Jude is the best place that you never want to be! We feel so very blessed and fortunate that we get to drive there Monday-Friday, as many have to completely relocate. Our main clinic at St. Jude is the E clinic. This is the clinic where the brilliant and compassionate Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist, known as Dr. Amar J. Gajjar and his staff take exceptional care of Jayde. Dr. Gajjar has over 30 years of research regarding brain tumors, and has helped to save countless lives. Although the E clinic is our main clinic, we also hold Dr. Thomas Merchant and his team of medical physicist in high esteem since he is over the Radiation Oncology department where Jayde receives her radiation treatments now daily. We have completed 3 of the 6 weeks of recommended radiation. We are looking forward to the completion of Jayde's radiation on October 17th! She will receive about a 3 week break and then begin her chemotherapy. Jayde requires 4 rounds of chemotherapy. A round consists of a 4 nights/5 days at St. Jude. This will occur once a month, so if we begin just after Thanksgiving, we are looking to be done with all treatment around or before Spring Break 2015! Yippppppeeeee. Jayde gets to choose where we are going to celebrate her beautiful life.

GFL, thank you SO very much from the bottom of our hearts for choosing Jayde, our newly added daughter to the St. Jude family to sponsor this year. We feel so very fortunate and thank God for giving Danny Thomas a servants heart! Because of his love for God, and a desire to help others in need, no family ever receives a bill from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I overheard the other day as a man was giving a tour of the hospital that the daily cost to run the hospital is $2 million. It's so difficult for me to grasp that is costs that much daily to run St. Jude, and it's because of your generosity that the doors stay open and the research is thriving. Thank you Father in Heaven for St. Jude Children's Hospital and for all who have, will, and continue to give no matter what the dollar amount. We know little is much in the hands of God. Thank you and God bless you and yours always!

Chris and Kristy Pelt

Jeremiah 29:11
Proverbs 3:5-6
Psalms 84:11
John 15:5
II Corinthians 9:8






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Donations 

  • Monica fenton
    • $50 
    • 9 yrs
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Organizer

Cara Inman McCommon
Organizer
Germantown, TN

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