Payton Brenner | Payton's Posse

Payton Brenner was born on 7/18/18 with CDH (Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia).  Her parents are Mary Kate and Jonathan Brenner -- my sister and brother-in-law.  She was born with a hole in her diaphragm which caused her intestines, stomach, liver, and spleen to move into her upper chest cavity, push her heart to the right side of her body, and compressed her lungs.  Doctors at Children Mercy Hospital in Kansas City were able to successfully repair her hernia, but her lungs never had a chance to develop--she still had quite the fight ahead of her.

The next day Payton was put on ECMO--a lung & heart bypass life support--to help oxygenate her blood, stabilize her vitals, and give her body time to recover from surgery and fight her fight.  She had good days, and she had bad days.  Payton was on ECMO for 25 days before the doctors decided it was doing more harm than good.

My niece is now off ECMO and is fighting every single day.  Some hours her numbers look great, and others they look scary.  Even though she is fighting, we know that this will be a long and extended NICU stay even in the best case scenario. 

I am blown away by how my sister and brother-in-law have handled the situation--the strength they have shown while still finding time to take care of their 2-year-old at home is unbelievable.  They have family in the area which can help juggle the day-to-day needs of daily life, but the medical bills alone are adding up.

Please donate what you can and follow along with Payton's journey.   Every bit will help a young family care for their child.