Payton's Project

Payton is a young girl from rural Alberta. Her family owns a seed farm just outside of New Norway, Alberta. Payton and her younger brother attend school at New Norway School. Ethan is a student in my Grade 2 class and it was his wish I help him set up this fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House in order to support families, like his, staying at the Ronald McDonald House. Payton and her family, Michelle, Dane and Ethan, are an integral part of the New Norway Community. Below are some words from her mom: Just after Payton's 2nd birthday she was diagnosed with a malignant apendymoma brain tumour. It was successfully extracted and Payton underwent 33 radiation treatments. Payton went 8 years cancer free. In May 2021 her MRI Scan showed some swelling in her brain. She wasn’t showing any symptoms of this swelling so Payton continued to be monitored through MRI Scans. The swelling continued to grow so we decided to do a biopsy in September 2021. The biopsy showed that Payton has Radiation Necrosis. It is very rare for Radiation Necrosis to show up this late for cancer patients. Payton’s brain has continued to swell since. We started treatments in February 2022 through the Stollery oncology department to try to stop/slow down the swelling. With these attempts, the swelling has continued to progress which is now causing troubles and additional swelling with her brain stem. Payton had 1/3 of her right cerebellum extracted on June 1st to create more space for swelling and to hopefully reduce the pressure on her brain stem. She is fighting very hard and has been so brave and positive through this whole experience. Payton and her family have been staying at the Ronald McDonald House and will potentially be there for the next few months. Payton's younger brother, Ethan, has decided that he would like to support his and other families that are staying at the Ronald McDonald House. Ethan will be selling ice cream sandwiches at our school's upcoming track meet on Wednesday, June 8th. 100% of the proceeds will be sent to support families that are staying at the Ronald McDonald House. We have also opened an option to donate online through the Ronald McDonald House in order to reach Ethan's goal of $500. It is Ethan's hope to provide some comfort for the families staying there by getting the children some toys and art supplies to use while they are staying with their families. Ethan would like to thank you for supporting him and his endeavor in creating an even more comfortable space for families while they go through difficult times. To see Ethan speak about his project, place this link in your browser! https://youtube.com/shorts/ksirXKLan7A?feature=share