9/16 – Peyton E.

About a year after Tillery’s diagnosis, my cousin was working as a nurse in her local ER when a child about Tillery’s age came in. The symptoms he was having reminded her of the symptoms Tillery had and she began to feel that this child was going to go down a similar path. My cousin was there when the MRI results came back and was there as the family was transferred to the larger children’s hospital. Read what Peyton’s mom wrote about her son…

“Peyton was born on October 15, 2013. A healthy 6lb 7oz baby boy. A couple of hours after having Peyton the doctor came in and told me he discovered during my c-section that my ovaries were never formed correctly and he was shocked that I was able to have a child let alone 2 of them. He advised me to have my tubes tied because it was too dangerous to conceive another baby. I complied as I was blessed to have two. Peyton grew very quickly, going to 75% on the growth chart in just two months after being born. Fast forward 1 1/2 years later and Peyton started throwing up at random times during the day and night and started losing his balance. We took him to the doctor 3 times and were told he had an ear infection, acid reflux, and were even told it was from him growing so fast! This went on for 3 weeks with him getting progressively worse. On the morning of August 22, 2015 my husband went to work and my step children were asleep when Peyton started throwing up again. I asked my stepson to watch my daughter while I ran to the E.R and that I would be back shortly. Peyton didn't return home until 2 months later. The doctors at the E.R listened to his symptoms and did a M.R.I which showed a large tumor in 2 of the 4 ventricles of his brain. After being rushed to Children's hospital in Birmingham and having a shunt placed and the tumor 99% successfully removed we learned the he had an ATRT brain tumor, the most aggressive childhood brain tumor that less than 11% of children survive. The chance of recurrence is 90% in the first year of removal.

We lost our precious son on February 9th 2017. Now, we fight even harder for the kids that have cancer and for the hope and prayer to prevent further cancers in children!”

Peyton’s family has kept his story alive by joining with Children’s Miracle Network to include Peyton in their fundraising drive in Wal-Mart. Peyton’s mom is a manager at Wal-Mart and her store has signs and t-shirts in memory of her son to help raise awareness and funding for the local children’s hospital that helped their family.

#superman #peyton #tilleryisloved #TILfoundation #alexsmillionmile #GoGold2017

To support childhood cancer research in honor of kids like Peyton, make a donation to our team (TIL Foundation) with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. https://www.alexslemonade.org/mypage/1314958