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On September 11, 2006, at the age of 3, he was diagnosed with leukemia. His mom, Carrie, had noticed many red spots on his arms and legs as wells as a lot of bruising and she just did not feel right about it. So, Peyton's pediatrician did blood work. Once the blood work came back, the pediatrician said he thought Peyton probably had leukemia and that they needed to leave immediately, pack a bag, and head straight to Texas Children's Hospital.
"My mind did this... Leukemia = Cancer = Death," Carrie said, "I had no idea this was a blood cancer. I had no idea what the statistics were for survival. I had no idea what it meant that he was considered high risk. I went home crying with him and packed our bags."
Peyton's dad was on a plane coming home and had no idea all of this was happening until he landed and found out his wife and son were at the hospital where his little boy was already having blood and platelet transfusions.
"In the beginning the treatments were horrible," Carrie said, "For the first year and a half, I had to hold Peyton down to get his port accessed. He would kick and scream and hit me and cry and ask why I was letting them do this to him." He cried when they took the dressings off his port when he finished chemo. He spit the oral medicines at his mom saying they tasted "yucky" so she tried hiding them in his food. Finally, the nurses taught him how to swallow pills so they could get the medicines in without a fight.
In January 2010, after four years of chemotherapy, Peyton was done! His port was removed one week following his seventh birthday. Today, he doesn't really talk much about his cancer journey. He just lives a normal young boy's life. He has minor issues with his heart from the damage done by treatments, but fortunately, he is cancer free and now only has to return to TCH once a year!
Carrie has gone on to participate in many events with TNT. She runs, swims, bikes and raises thousands of dollars to fund a cure for leukemia so that someday young mothers won't have to endure the painful experience of having a child with cancer. "I felt when I became a mother I finally had a purpose in my life- to raise and protect my children to the best of my ability," she said, "When Peyton was diagnosed, I lost the ability to protect him. I had no control over what the outcome was to be or how the treatment was to go. I had to turn it over to God and let Him take care of Peyton."
"I was just there to delegate the obnoxious pill schedule and to stay on top of his treatment schedule. And try to make things as normal as I could for Peyton, Braden, and myself. That was really hard."
There are many young parents every day who discover the same horrible fact Carrie did, that their child has cancer. "I would tell someone whose child has been diagnosed that it is going to be a long hard road, but that there is so much good that comes out of something so bad. I have met other great families through our journey that truly understand my fears and concerns and emotions. I have my TNT family."
Carrie's continued support of the mission of the LLS through TNT is phenomenal. She proudly wears her son's name on her race jersey and continues to fight not only for Peyton, but for other men, women and children with blood cancer. "I want this disease to go away," she said, "I never want another family to hear those words: 'your child has leukemia'. I think the world needs to know how little funding goes to childhood cancer research. There needs to be more so they can find a cure and better treatment methods for little ones."
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