Prayers Sought For 10-Year-Old Girl
April 2, 2021 at 10:47 p.m.
Prayers Sought For 10-Year-Old Girl
By Amanda Bridgman-
Payton’s mother, Kim Slaymaker, said Payton will be 21 months post-diagnosis April 11.
Payton was diagnosed in 2019 with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a brain tumor found in a part of the brain stem called the pons. The pons control essential bodily functions such as a heartbeat, breathing, swallowing, eye movement, eyesight and balance.
Because the tumor is on the brain stem, it is inoperable. DIPG commonly affects school-age children between 4 and 11 years old. There are roughly 300 cases of DIPG diagnosed a year.
Payton has gone through 40 rounds of radiation and participated in two different clinical trials, Kim said. The first round of radiation shrunk the tumor 44%.
“So we were very thankful for that, because some kiddos don’t get that fortunate,” Kim said.
In January, the Slaymakers – mom, Kim; dad, Andrew; and 7-year-old sister Avery – spent 21 days at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne.
On Dec. 30, Payton was admitted for respiratory distress.
“We were not given much hope,” Kim said. “She was on a bypass. At one point, she was at 100% oxygen on that bypass, and they did not want to intubate her because they said, according to them, she would not make it out, so we did not intubate, and we ended up coming home with no oxygen, she was breathing on her own and everything. So that was a miracle. The doctors even know it, too. They wouldn’t say it, but they knew it.”
Currently, Payton is at home in Claypool and taking 2-1/2 liters of oxygen. She has a tube to get her food, liquids and medicine.
“Payton is not able to communicate with us,” Kim said Friday. “She still hears us. We know she’s irritated when she sighs like she takes deep breaths. Right now, she’s getting all cleaned up.”
Home Care and Hospice is tending to Payton at home.
“We take it one day at a time, and that’s all we can do,” Kim said. “We’re trying to live in the moment and enjoy it, and, unfortunately, it takes something like this to make you step back and realize stuff.”
Andrew is going to work Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Kim goes to work Tuesday and Thursday, so they can be with Payton but still try to pay their bills.
Avery turned 7 Thursday.
“I think she is doing the best she can being 7, and it’s hard because it’s her sister and she hasn’t been able to, you know, play with her or communicate with her, but she knows she’s there. Yesterday, she told Payton, ‘Today’s my birthday, sissy,’” Kim recalled through tears.
What’s helping the Slaymakers get through the dark times is their faith.
It would be hard to miss the signs around Kosciusko County lately – both yard and business signs asking for prayers for Payton and inviting people to follow her story.
The yard sign idea came to Kim when they were at the hospital in Fort Wayne in January.
“We live in Claypool, and I take 14 to Fort Wayne and there’s this house that has this little yard sign and it says pray for Henry and it has the cancer ribbon on it, and so every time I went past that house, I don’t know who Henry is and I don’t need to know, but I would say a quick prayer for him,” Kim said. “So when we were in the hospital I went past that sign again for Henry, and I told my husband, you know, I feel like we should do something like this just to let people know, because not everybody’s on Facebook ... and if they go past a sign, they can pray.”
The original plan for Kim and a friend was to make 50 yard signs. But when Kim announced what she was planning to do, 100 orders for the yard signs came in overnight.
“So that changed that I was no longer going to make them, and our friend at Northern Indiana Graphics, they created the sign and that’s what you see all over,” she said.
Andrew told Payton there’s a billboard on U.S. 30 for her and the family showed Payton a picture.
“And a little tear came down her eye,” Kim said. “So, she knows. She knew long before the sign that people were praying, but right now we are 29 signs away from being at 550 signs out, and we’re seven states away from having signs in all 50 states.”
Anyone who wants a sign can purchase one from Stafford’s Solid Waste – Kim’s family’s business – for $20. If anyone needs a sign shipped, Kim will do that and the total will be $35.
March 11 is National Payton Slaymaker Day on the official National Archives list. The National Archives is the federal government’s record keeper. The website can be found at www.nationaldayarchives.com/day/national-payton-slaymaker-day/.
Claypool named March 11, 2021, Payton Slaymaker Day.
At 5:30 p.m. April 14, the Warsaw Lady Tiger softball team’s game versus Carroll will be deemed the “Fear Is a Liar Night” for Payton. The game is at the Warsaw Community High School Tiger Athletic Complex, and “Fear Is a Liar” T-shirts will be for sale and donations will be accepted.
Avery will be throwing out the first pitch.
Those donations help the Slaymakers with their day-to-day expenses. But really, it’s prayers the Slaymakers are asking for.
“Just pray,” Kim said. “And just keep holding on no matter how dark it gets and how strong the storms are, that light’s always gonna come through. Just hold on. That’s the only way we’ve made it through. The only way we and do it is because of Jesus and Him helping us through this and our faith. ... He’s got a plan even though we don’t know what it is, He sees into eternity, and we’re just ready to walk through whatever door He may open.”
Payton’s mother, Kim Slaymaker, said Payton will be 21 months post-diagnosis April 11.
Payton was diagnosed in 2019 with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a brain tumor found in a part of the brain stem called the pons. The pons control essential bodily functions such as a heartbeat, breathing, swallowing, eye movement, eyesight and balance.
Because the tumor is on the brain stem, it is inoperable. DIPG commonly affects school-age children between 4 and 11 years old. There are roughly 300 cases of DIPG diagnosed a year.
Payton has gone through 40 rounds of radiation and participated in two different clinical trials, Kim said. The first round of radiation shrunk the tumor 44%.
“So we were very thankful for that, because some kiddos don’t get that fortunate,” Kim said.
In January, the Slaymakers – mom, Kim; dad, Andrew; and 7-year-old sister Avery – spent 21 days at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne.
On Dec. 30, Payton was admitted for respiratory distress.
“We were not given much hope,” Kim said. “She was on a bypass. At one point, she was at 100% oxygen on that bypass, and they did not want to intubate her because they said, according to them, she would not make it out, so we did not intubate, and we ended up coming home with no oxygen, she was breathing on her own and everything. So that was a miracle. The doctors even know it, too. They wouldn’t say it, but they knew it.”
Currently, Payton is at home in Claypool and taking 2-1/2 liters of oxygen. She has a tube to get her food, liquids and medicine.
“Payton is not able to communicate with us,” Kim said Friday. “She still hears us. We know she’s irritated when she sighs like she takes deep breaths. Right now, she’s getting all cleaned up.”
Home Care and Hospice is tending to Payton at home.
“We take it one day at a time, and that’s all we can do,” Kim said. “We’re trying to live in the moment and enjoy it, and, unfortunately, it takes something like this to make you step back and realize stuff.”
Andrew is going to work Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Kim goes to work Tuesday and Thursday, so they can be with Payton but still try to pay their bills.
Avery turned 7 Thursday.
“I think she is doing the best she can being 7, and it’s hard because it’s her sister and she hasn’t been able to, you know, play with her or communicate with her, but she knows she’s there. Yesterday, she told Payton, ‘Today’s my birthday, sissy,’” Kim recalled through tears.
What’s helping the Slaymakers get through the dark times is their faith.
It would be hard to miss the signs around Kosciusko County lately – both yard and business signs asking for prayers for Payton and inviting people to follow her story.
The yard sign idea came to Kim when they were at the hospital in Fort Wayne in January.
“We live in Claypool, and I take 14 to Fort Wayne and there’s this house that has this little yard sign and it says pray for Henry and it has the cancer ribbon on it, and so every time I went past that house, I don’t know who Henry is and I don’t need to know, but I would say a quick prayer for him,” Kim said. “So when we were in the hospital I went past that sign again for Henry, and I told my husband, you know, I feel like we should do something like this just to let people know, because not everybody’s on Facebook ... and if they go past a sign, they can pray.”
The original plan for Kim and a friend was to make 50 yard signs. But when Kim announced what she was planning to do, 100 orders for the yard signs came in overnight.
“So that changed that I was no longer going to make them, and our friend at Northern Indiana Graphics, they created the sign and that’s what you see all over,” she said.
Andrew told Payton there’s a billboard on U.S. 30 for her and the family showed Payton a picture.
“And a little tear came down her eye,” Kim said. “So, she knows. She knew long before the sign that people were praying, but right now we are 29 signs away from being at 550 signs out, and we’re seven states away from having signs in all 50 states.”
Anyone who wants a sign can purchase one from Stafford’s Solid Waste – Kim’s family’s business – for $20. If anyone needs a sign shipped, Kim will do that and the total will be $35.
March 11 is National Payton Slaymaker Day on the official National Archives list. The National Archives is the federal government’s record keeper. The website can be found at www.nationaldayarchives.com/day/national-payton-slaymaker-day/.
Claypool named March 11, 2021, Payton Slaymaker Day.
At 5:30 p.m. April 14, the Warsaw Lady Tiger softball team’s game versus Carroll will be deemed the “Fear Is a Liar Night” for Payton. The game is at the Warsaw Community High School Tiger Athletic Complex, and “Fear Is a Liar” T-shirts will be for sale and donations will be accepted.
Avery will be throwing out the first pitch.
Those donations help the Slaymakers with their day-to-day expenses. But really, it’s prayers the Slaymakers are asking for.
“Just pray,” Kim said. “And just keep holding on no matter how dark it gets and how strong the storms are, that light’s always gonna come through. Just hold on. That’s the only way we’ve made it through. The only way we and do it is because of Jesus and Him helping us through this and our faith. ... He’s got a plan even though we don’t know what it is, He sees into eternity, and we’re just ready to walk through whatever door He may open.”
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