Power Up The Tower For Payne

Officer Payne and his wife, Carrie have been married for 28 years.  They have three children, two of which are adults and Ariana who is in high school.  Officer Payne cares for his mother-in-law, Carmella who lives with the family in their home.  He has a close relationship with his mother, father and siblings.  Patricia Payne, Officer Payne's mother, was diagnosed with Alzheimers and her health has declined rapidly;  she has lost her ability to speak, walk  and has suffered a series of strokes, which placed her in hospice.  Officer Payne recently received a phone call that his brother James Payne II who lives in California had a catastrophic stroke and was in the hospital on life support.  Although, Officer Payne has shown great strength and has overcome what sometimes appears to be impossible, his faith has kept him going.  

On April 26, 2019, Officer Payne came home from work to find Carrie in tears; she notified him of the results of her mammogram.  Doctors discovered that she had a large tumor which was malignant and she was told she had breast cancer.  Carrie started chemotherapy on June 3, 2019; the chemotherapy shrunk her tumor significantly.  On November 20, 2019, she had a double mastectomy which gave Officer Payne's family hope that Carrie was on her way to a full recovery.  

The news from the post-surgical pathology report was a huge blow. During surgery, the doctors learned that the cancer had spread to the lymph node more than they had initially thought. The had to remove eleven lymph nodes in total. It was noted that the cancer broke through the lymph nodes; furthermore,  they wanted to start Carrie on aggressive radiation treatment. Their hope was that radiation would kill any disease that might have landed somewhere else.

While Officer Payne was providing post surgery care, he noticed that her incision was not healing properly.  He described what he saw, as an open wound allowing him to see inside her chest cavity.  He promptly took her to the doctor and it was determined that she would need home health as well as a device called a wound vac in order to help her large incision (armpit to armpit) properly heal.  

The insurance approved both, but her doctor was unable to find any home health agency to come to our house. While waiting for the wound vac to arrive, he continued to care for Carrie’s wound, which was now completely open. Dealing with this wound was not for the faint of heart. The wound was so large that he could almost stick his arm inside.  Once the wound vac arrived, Officer Payne still did not have anyone who could put it on Carrie.  He  decided that he would take a stab at it and installed the machine himself.  "It broke my heart because Carrie would yell in agony, but it had to be done."  

On December 24, 2019, Officer Payne was getting Carrie ready for a doctor’s appointment. Carrie was weak and often could not walk without his assistance. There were times he would put her back in bed and call to reschedule her appointment. Their daughter happened to arrive in town on December 23, 2019 and was helping him care for Carrie.  Their daughter suggested taking Carrie's blood pressure; furthermore, they discovered that her blood pressure was a life-threatening 63/30. They immediately knew that Carrie needed to be seen ASAP.  She was rushed to the hospital where they learned that Carrie had become septic; "We almost lost her."  Officer Payne spent the next seven days in the hospital with Carrie, where she was receiving strong IV antibiotics. Carrie was eventually discharged from the hospital and able to go back home. The hospital was able to secure a home health agency who would be able to monitor Carrie’s progress.

Their concern now is the time they have to wait for her wound to heal, as she still needs to begin radiation therapy. Every day that goes by without attacking the cancer can allow for it to grow and spread to other parts of her body. Carrie has not been able to work since her surgery, and her ability to return to work is to be determined.  Even though Officer Payne has his other ill family members on his mind, his priority is his wife Carrie.

SALETC Class 20-1 will be fundraising by running towers to raise money for Officer Payne and his family to help with any expenses they may have incurred during Carrie's fight.  The "POWER UP The Tower for Payne" event will be on March 5th; each class member of 20-1 will be running their maximum amount of towers to gain funding and to show support for Carrie's fight.