Help with Dayton's Medical Bills

Dayton (they/them pronouns) is a funny, talented, and incredibly kind 20-year-old kid who, back in October of 2021, was a full time student and had just started a new job. They went to the doctor thinking they had bronchitis or some similar ailment due to some episodes where they had difficulty breathing, nausea, lightheadedness and other similar symptoms. A few blood tests and a chest x-ray later and we learned that Dayton had a tumor the size of a lime in the left atrium of their heart that was sitting on a valve and causing blood to back up into their lungs. Shortly thereafter Dayton had emergency open heart surgery to remove the mass. Within an hour of the first surgery, a huge blood clot had formed on Dayton's heart so the doctors had to open Dayton's chest up again to remove the blood clot. So for their first ever serious medical event, this young adult with no prior health conditions ended up having 2 consecutive open heart surgeries in one day.

 

A few weeks into Dayton's recovery, we got the news no one ever wants to hear - the tumor was cancerous. Technically speaking, it's called a primary high-grade undifferentiated cardiac sarcoma and it's fast-growing and very rare. It's not hereditary, nothing Dayton did caused it (Dayton has never smoked, vaped, drank alcohol or used street drugs) and it only took less than 2 months to grow. It's one of those cancers that strikes randomly and only .001% of people who get cancer will get this particular type of sarcoma.  However, it most often strikes people in their early 20's. Due to the high risk of it returning (approx. 50-60% chance despite the amazing job their surgeon did removing the tumor) Dayton has started chemotherapy and is headed to Mayo Clinic shortly to be further evaluated and considered for a heart transplant. Because the drugs for this particular chemotherapy are so severe it has to be administered on an in-patient basis, so each chemo session equals a 5 - 6 day stay at the hospital about an hour away from home.

 

We're incredibly lucky to have been so well taken care of by the amazing cardiac surgery and cancer teams at Marshfield Clinic. We're also beyond thankful that I have health insurance through my employer that has covered all of Dayton's care so far, as the bills have added up to over $200,000 since that first dr. visit about 2 months ago. I mainly set up this page for family and friends who wish to help with travel expenses and the several thousand dollar deductible that I will be responsible for once my insurance coverage period restarts on the first of the year. Thanks so much for visiting our page and for all of your love, support and encouragement.

 

Mary, Dayton's Mom

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