Welcome to Peyton's CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place.
Peyton had been having headaches for a while but recently started having them on a more and more frequent basis. We have been waiting for his referral to neurology due to a waitlist. Then we had to wait again for the MRI. Over the last several weeks his symptoms became significantly worse escalating to extremely painful daily headaches and nearly nonstop vomiting.
On November 28th we took Peyton to the emergency department for an emergency MRI due to papilledema found by a dear pediatrician, and our ophthalmologist. The MRI revealed that Peyton has a large tumor in the middle of his brain. He was admitted to Greenville Children's Hospital PICU until the biopsy was completed on 11/30/22.
On December 12, 2022 we were informed that Peyton's tumor is a Grade IV Diffuse Midline Glioma H3K27M-Mutant. This tumor is considered fatal due to it's location, likeyhood of recurrance, and aggressive fast growing manner. We will be beginning radiation as soon as possible, but the doctors tell us that it will only prolong his life, not cure him. They said that Peyton could have between months and up to 7 years but the average lifespan after diagnosis is horribly short. We are absolutely devastated. There are no words for a diagnosis like this.
We never thought we would have to write a post like this and it's been shocking and terrifying. Right now we are focusing on what can be done and taking one step at a time.
We will try to keep this page updated as we learn more. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement.
Also, thank you to those who have made donations to CaringBridge in honor of Peyton! Because of all the amazing support and generosity that our loved ones (and even strangers) have been showing, we want clear up some confusion around tributes vs donations.
To clarify, tributes go to fund the CaringBridge website, which is a wonderful cause.
However, if you would like to help the family directly with medical and travel expenses then you can click on this link ---> to go to the GoFundMe that their extended family has created.
If you made a tribute to CaringBridge but meant to donate to the family, please call CaringBridge at 651-452-7940 and they will refund your donation.
We are so blessed if you were inspired to share your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement in any way that suits.
So Mandy decided to create a Facebook page for updates on Peyton because it is easier to share links and videos, etc. on Facebook.
Here is a link to that page. Unfortunately, it isn't allowing a live link here so, to access it, press any part of the link below and it will highlight it, click "copy" then go to your browser and press and click "paste".
**You can also go to Facebook and search "Peyton James vs the DMG brain blob".
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