Hello everyone! I am starting this GoFundMe on behalf of my sweet friends Capri and Preston Payton and their beautiful kiddos Rocky, Camri, and Mila as they prepare for Mila to undergo a life-changing open-heart surgery on Oct 27th. This surgery requires an extended hospital stay (estimated 7-14 days if no complications). I have included their story in more detail below, but the Lord laid it on my heart to do this in order to ease the extra financial burden and stress they will be facing so that they can focus on caring for their children during this long surgery and recovery without worry over finances. If you have met Capri & Preston, you know what rock star parents they are and how well they care for their children through severe special needs! Their faith in Jesus is inspiring and such a blessing to those around them! First and foremost, please pray for their family, then consider donating to help carry them through this. Thank you so much!!

About the Paytons:

Mila was born with a severe heart defect, called Ebstein’s anomaly. This causes the right side of her heart not to function. She was in the ICU at Riley for 5 months when she was born, in critical condition. Due to her heart condition and the severity of her illness, it impacted other areas of her health as well. Mila has cerebral palsy and major respiratory struggles. Despite all this, she is a spunky 4-year-old who is as happy as can be! Her joy is unmatched.

Mila fights to be where she is every single day. Her typical day is full of therapy, nurses, appointments, medication, respiratory treatments, and G-tube feedings. Yet despite all this, she’s so insanely happy. Nothing can break her spirit.

Although doctors said she may never sit, walk, or talk independently… God has moved mountains and shown them so many miracles through her. Not only is she doing all these things, but she’s RUNNING! She does ballet, plays soccer, and is learning to ride horses. She is a precious living miracle!!!

Mila has her next big battle ahead. She just turned 4 and has already undergone 3 heart surgeries, G-tube surgery, and countless procedures. She needs one more open-heart surgery, called the Fontan, to finalize the structure of her heart that helps it function while only using the left side. Completing a Fontan procedure is done in 3 open-heart surgeries, and this will be Mila’s final step.

This is how a Fontan surgery works:

The inferior vena cava (IVC), the large vein that carries blood from the lower body to the heart, is disconnected from the right atrium.

A tube (conduit) is inserted between the IVC and the pulmonary artery, the blood vessel that carries blood to the lungs.

This creates a new pathway for blood to flow directly from the lower body to the lungs.

In short, a main artery of the heart is being disconnected and reconnected to fully bypass the use of the right side of her heart.

As you can imagine, this is a very complex and scary surgery. We are leaning on the Lord more than ever, to perform yet another miracle, and pull our girl through this and beat all the odds as she always has! Even if this goes smoothly, Mila will have lifelong struggles living with only half a heart functioning. The Fontan is hard on other organs and can do major liver and kidney damage, as well as possibly still needing a heart transplant down the road.

On top of taking care of Mila at the hospital, they also have two other kiddos at home and some high needs there as well. Their oldest, Rocky, who they adopted through foster care at age 5, is an amazing big brother and loves his sisters fiercely. Their middle daughter, Camri, has autism, severe cognitive delays, and is non-verbal. They will be trying to make sure all needs are met both at the hospital and that the other kids can still maintain as much of a normal life as possible, which is going to be really tricky. They are blessed with amazing family, friends, and their church family to help out.

We know she desperately needs this surgery, as her oxygen levels are dropping. And as scared as they are, they know God has a purpose for every struggle and that they can *always* trust Him. If these struggles have taught them anything, it’s that they couldn’t do any of it without Jesus!

With Preston needing to be off work and Capri missing her home health aide hours this month due to being at the hospital, that will leave them missing the majority of a their income for a month. And on top of missing work and income from this surgery, they’ve had several health emergencies involving hospital time with both girls this year, adding to financial stress. We have the opportunity to stand in the gap with much needed financial support. We as a church, would love to rally around them and relieve that stress so that they can focus on their family!! Please pray about this and give whatever you feel lead to!