In January 2023, 29-year-old Peyton McCulloch and his girlfriend Olivia Jenkins, both natives to Zachary, Louisiana, decided to leave the heat of the south for the mountain air and beautiful views of Wyoming. By July, Olivia had agreed to be his bride, and the couple looked forward to the future with eagerness and joy. Little did they know, their journey had yet to begin.

Mid-November 2023, Peyton was preparing himself for the fierce Wyoming winter, when a local nurse practitioner diagnosed him and several of his coworkers with “the flu.” He, along with his coworkers, lost his voice as an effect of his illness, or so they thought. Suspiciously as time passed, Peyton was the only one to not recover his voice. After months of battling day to day life with a hoarse, broken voice, he was referred to an ENT in Rock Springs, Wyoming, for further tests and treatment.

Since that initial diagnosis of the common flu, Peyton, Olivia, and all who love them have lived through a whirlwind of uncertainty and pain. In April 2024, a large tumor was found on his larynx, or voice box, blocking approximately 85% of his airway. In attempts to save his life and his voice, Peyton has had three surgeries to remove the fast-growing, aggressive tumor. What was thought to be a common illness turned out to be an aggressive, resilient Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

After thought and many prayers, Peyton and his fiancé decided it would be best for their health and overall well-being to relocate back to south Louisiana for his cancer treatment, including his last two surgeries and 6 weeks of intense radiation. On top of everything else, after 5 months of treatment, Peyton has now burned through his vacation time, sick time, and short-term disability and is therefore facing an overwhelming financial hardship.

Therefore, Peyton’s family and friends humbly ask you to do three things:

1) Pray for Peyton.

2) Prayerfully support him in his time of need to offset the mounting medical and travel expenses.

3) Please share this GoFundMe far and wide.

Below is Peyton’s timeline of events:

• November 2023- Diagnosed with flu & lost voice

• Early December 2023- local nurse practitioner gave him another Z pack and steroid shot to fight the flu

• Late February 2024- referral to an ENT

• March 8, 2024- ENT scoped his throat, found the large mass and scheduled him for his first surgery to have it removed

• March 14, 2024- first surgery in Rock Springs, Wyoming to remove tumor and get it biopsied; he was referred to a Cancer Specialist in Salt Lake City, Utah

• March 29, 2024- CT of head and neck

• April 5, 2024- appointment with specialist in Salt Lake City; CT reports show a “precancerous lesion”

• April 10, 2024- Salt Lake City’s Huntsman Cancer Institute reassessed CT findings, determined he was misdiagnosed, and re-diagnosed him with Squamous Cell Carcinoma

• April 19, 2024- Peyton and his fiancé made the decision to come home for treatment, loaded up a vehicle, and drove over-night cross-country from Wyoming to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

• April 24, 2024- initial appointment with larynx oncologist specialist and radiation oncologist to determine treatment moving forward

• April 29, 2024-2nd surgery was performed to remove his tumor that had regrown by 115% since the previous surgery

• May 16, 2024- started his 6-week radiation treatment

• June 26, 2024- completed his radiation treatment ended

• July 25, 2024- appointment with larynx oncologist specialist to check progress of his tumor post radiation, tumor appeared have shrunk; however, results were not conclusive; follow up scheduled in two weeks

• July 26, 2024- Radiation Oncologist seemed impressed with his physical recovery post radiation; recheck scheduled in two weeks

• August 6, 2024- Tumor regrew from previous follow up on July 25th by about 30% when it should be shrinking post radiation; rush surgery scheduled to remove tumor

• August 12, 2024- 3rd surgery was performed to remove the tumor from his vocal cords; approximately one-fourth of his left vocal cords and over half of his right vocal cords were removed in order to remove the tumor that was visible to the naked-eye.

As of now, they must wait; only time will tell if his surgery was successful.