Fight For Her Life

Hello all! 

My name is Sedrick Prude, Donna Payne's first cousin organizing this fundraiser on her behalf.

 

Donna Payne is affectionally known as “Angel Eyes,” “Mom,” “Grandma,” “DonnaPayne”, “D”, "DP" and  Payneinthebutt”, by family and friends. Donna has a way to light a room up!  She has always had an outgoing personality that never met a stranger.   She is a person who has never judged a person before meeting and interacting with them.   She makes people laugh and have plain old fun and is always willing to help anyone.  Her sisters-in-law have described her as a compassionate person who always love to have fun and if you don’t know her you're missing out!

 

Now Donna is in a fight for her life:

 

On May 18, 2022, She was working as she usually does each day inspecting homes for the family business. On this particular day, she was walking back to her vehicle and felt something come over her where she felt lethargic and then became dizzy.  She had fallen to the ground unable to walk.  She crawled to the side of the road where she was able to flag down someone to help her.  Unfortunately, two grown men had driven by and looked at her face and refused to stop to help her.   

Then thankfully her angel stopped! An older lady had assisted her by calling 911 and providing comfort until an ambulance arrived. Donna was rushed to the LaPorte hospital where she was lethargic, confused and her blood pressure was skyrocketing.  

Doctors ran several blood tests, X-rays, and a CT Scan of her head.  When the CT Scan results came back it was found she had a lesion on her brain from the left temporal to the back of her head.  The attending physician immediately ordered an MRI to confirm the lesion.   The MRI confirmed the image was a large lesion in her brain.  She was immediately placed in ICU.   

The attending physician believed she had a bacterial or viral infection of the brain.   Doctors then ordered a lumbar puncture to determine what type of infection she had.   Doctors started her on antibiotics to treat a bacterial infection first.  Results from the lumbar puncture would take several weeks to come back so the doctors thought they would get a head start on infusing the antibiotics early.   Donna spent several weeks in ICU receiving these antibiotics and seeing several doctors from various specialties: an Infectiologist,  Neurosurgeon, Nephrology, and a Oncologist doctor.  The first results from the lumbar puncture came back negative for a bacteria infection, so the antibiotics were stopped and the doctor started treating her for a viral infection, with antiviral antibiotics.   

The Doctors were 90% sure it was a viral infection.  The neurosurgeon arrived to visit Donna and told her he has never seen anything like this regarding her MRI image.  The neurosurgeon stated he was taking her image to the University of Chicago in front of a tumor board to discuss her MRI image.  She was sent home on her IVs where a PICC line was placed and over the next three weeks, her husband had to hook up her IV meds three times a day.  After almost finishing the antibiotics her husband received a call from the infectious disease doctor advising that Donna was negative for the viral infection and all antibiotics could be stopped.  

The neurosurgeon contacted Donna's husband and stated that he was referring her to the University of Chicago to see a neurosurgeon and oncologist.   

She was immediately set up with an appointment on June 8th to get an MRI and see the Neurosurgeon and oncologist.  After the initial consultation with the Neurosurgeon, it was determined that a brain biopsy would need to be performed.  On June 10th Donna underwent three hours of surgery to have some of the matter removed to be tested and she stayed in ICU for a few days.     

After a grueling 33 days, test results were back and she was set up for an appointment with the oncologist to go over the results.   

It was at this time she was diagnosed with a brain tumor called Glioblastoma that is inoperable.   The concern was how to treat this tumor due to some cell mutation found in her DNA from the brain biopsy.  The oncologist believed she may have inherited this from her father who died of colon cancer when she was just a little girl.  So the biggest concern was how to treat this tumor and if she had what is called lynch syndrome, that could be passed down to her two children.  So on July 21st, Donna went through genetic testing which consist of a blood draw.  

Then on August 11th, she had a follow-up with the oncologist and it was reported that Donna had inherited this cancer.  She was positive for a condition called lynch syndrome, which can be passed down from generation to generation.  She now is in the process to have her son and daughter tested for this.  The Oncologist revealed Donna was not a candidate for radiation or chemotherapy, due to the germ-line mutation in her DNA which could cause cancer to spread with radiation or chemotherapy. The treatment she will be receiving is immunotherapy and she will be receiving a drug called “Keytruda” which is administered through IV. Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that helps the immune system fight cancer. 

Donna will be receiving her first infusion at the University of Chicago on August 26th.  

 

She will have to travel back and forth to the University of Chicago to receive these infusions.  The cost of gas, parking, medical expenses, and normal monthly bills will be immense.   She had to quit/close the business, and her husband taking off work to ensure she receives these infusions can be overwhelming! We are asking you to help support Donna and her family by donating to this GoFundMe campaign.  No amount is too small and will help relieve some of these burdens Donna and her family currently face.   If you are unable to donate please share, share, share and pray for her full healing.   Donna is staying positive, and strong and although nervous, she has a positive outlook on her upcoming infusion treatment.  Thanks for everyone's support to my cousin this far and to this campaign! Blessings to you all. 

       Sedrick Prude