Payton McDaniel fights Leukemia #prayforpay

Who this will help

My name is Candice and I am friends with Amanda McDaniel. I have put this fundraiser together to help Amanda with expenses while Payton is going through treatment and help with medical bills that will soon be piling up.

Why I'm fundraising

UPDATE 12/29:

Last night we got promoted! Finally moving out of the pediatric ICU and to the oncology unit. Payton’s WBC count was 119k for this morning… which is huge considering it was 650k when we got here. The chemo is working! The results from his original lumbar puncture showed that unfortunately he has some of these cancer cells in his CSF.. This morning he is getting another lumbar puncture with intrathecal chemo injected into his spinal cord. This afternoon he is getting another “heavy hitter” chemo. We will monitor his response from this one and if his electrolytes stay within normal limits they will take the dialysis/pheresis catheter out of his groin tomorrow which will give pay a lot more freedom with mobility then he’s had. They’re worried about “tumor lysis syndrome” which happens when these unstable T cells die off they can release potassium and phosphorus into the blood stream causing kidney failure.. if it happens they can use the catheter they placed for his leukapheresis treatments for dialysis instead. Please continue to pray for my sweet baby boy.. I truly believe it’s helping so much #prayforpay

12/26:

On Christmas Eve we found out my baby has leukemia. What we thought was just a bad case of RSV turned into our absolute worst nightmare. I can’t even form words to explain the complete shock and pain our family is experiencing. Today we got more answers though, we found out it’s T-cell Acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Pay has gotten really sick really fast and is experiencing a lot of pain from his body trying to fight off these aggressive T cells. Yesterday (12/25) he recieved a treatment through a special catheter in his groin called leukapheresis and is receiving it again right now. He also had a lumbar puncture done today (12/26) where they grabbed a sample and injected chemo into his CSF fluid, a bone marrow biopsy and a central line placed. After his leukapheresis treatment he will begin an aggressive chemo regimen starting tonight. My PayPay has a long hard fight ahead of him. Please pray to whatever God or spirit you believe in. This is gonna be a really long hard 2.5 years of treatment but we WILL get my boy back on that baseball field, back on that dirt bike and snowboard and I know he will be okay. I’m forever grateful to my friend Dr. Doni Rivas at LICH who found this and arranged his transfer to stony Brook to receive the best care possible. I’m thankful to my friends/co workers who were there for me when I found this out and to my ex husband, pay’s step mom Liz, my entire family support system, SBUH Children’s PICU and oncology team and of course Jesse who has been my rock through it all.

The impact of your support

As you know Amanda is an ER nurse. A US Marine and is always selflessly giving and doing for others. Your donation will help with medical expenses that will be piling up over the next few years.