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'Princess PayPay' doing better in Seattle

From an alert baby sister to a loving family and caring community, Payton KillEagle seems to have many guardian angels watching over her.

Sue Hungerford, Payton's daycare provider, noticed a bump underneath the 9-month-old's ribcage and quickly alerted her father, Wesley KillEagle Jr., who called the detection of the lump a "miracle." From Hungerford noticing the lump on January 23 of this year to now, Payton - known affectionately as Princess PayPay - has been zipped back and forth between hospitals and is now in Seattle, Wash.

Wes said that Payton was first taken to Fort Belknap Hospital, then to Havre for a sonogram and then were back to Fort Belknap for blood tests over the span of two days. The KillEagle's had to wait through the weekend and most of that Monday before finally hearing from the hospital.

"The doctor told me to get to Seattle as soon as we could," KillEagle recalls. "The doctor on Friday told us to expect cancer and I was numb all weekend, like a zombie."

KillEagle got to Great Falls with Payton and his mother, Iris, as quickly as he could and got on the airplane to Seattle on Tuesday, January 24 (Ivis, Wesley's 2 and half-year-old daughter, would join her father and sister later in the month.) The KillEagles got to Seattle Children's Hospital and werer told to get Payton to the emergency room immediately for more blood work, spending most of the day in the ER.

"They didn't really know what was going on so neither did we," Wesley said. Wes was told that Payton was going to be admitted to the hospital and given a room number. He and Iris got on an elevator, went to the appropriate floor.

"We walked through these doors and up above the doors it said 'Cancer Unit'," Wesley remembers. "I started freaking out. I had gotten my hopes up that it wasn't cancer."

Wesley said that four days after the bump on Payton's side was first noticed the doctors finally confirmed his worst fear, Payton had cancer. Hepatoblastoma is a malignant (cancerous) tumor of the liver that usually occurs in the first three years of life, according to the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

"If Sue hadn't of noticed that bump, it could have spread," Wesley said.

Wesley, talking to the PCN via telephone last week, said that Payton started her second round of chemotherapy and once every three weeks is admitted to the hospital for a couple of days (Wesley and Ivis are staying in the Ronald McDonald House and Payton joins her family when not in the hospital.)

"That is when she gets her big dose of Chemo," Wesley said. "That is the one that really makes her sick, drops her immune system down. Once a week, she has a smaller dose of chemo that doesn't really make her sick."

Last Tuesday, Payton underwent a CTSCAN and on Wednesday, the KillEagles got a bit of good news.

"The tumor is now only half the size it was," Wesley said. "So now they're preparing her for surgery next Wednesday (March 22) to take the tumor out. They are going to take out a little more than half her liver. It's awesome, but I am nervous."

Wesley said when Payton's liver was biopsied, a little portion of her liver was taken out and the procedure wiped her out. He said following the biopsy, Payton was void of her typical smiles, instead laying in her crib in noticeable pain.

"That was pretty hard on us and this time they are cutting her open more and taking more away," he said. "It's good news, but it makes me cringe."

Far from their home and family, Wesley and his two daughters initially spent a lot of their time sitting around the Ronald McDonald House. Since then, however, Wesley's brother, Clayton, drove Wesley's vehicle to Seattle so now the three can be more mobile and get out into the fresh, Northwestern air. Also joining Wesley in Seattle last week was Wesley's sister Deserae and her two daughters.

Wesley, a long-time Seattle Mariners fan, found out he might be able to attend the team's home opener against the Houston Astros on Monday, April 10, but he wouldn't attend if Payton couldn't.

"That is about the time when she should be recovered from her surgery and it will work out perfectly for her to go," Wesley said. "There was no way I was going to go without her."

Since it was first announced that Payton was diagnosed with cancer, people and businesses across the county have stepped up and donated money to help Wesley and his two daughters in their time of need. From area school's donating money generated at basketball games, to bars and restaurants holding auctions and feeds to other businesses donating money associated with certain sales, the support Wesley and his daughter have received and the love they have felt from the place they call "home" has overwhelmed the Dodson graduate.

"I didn't know I had so many tears in me," Wesley said. "It's just...wow. I feel blessed about where I came from and the community we live in. Everyone's support is just so awesome. It's just amazing and I have a hard time finding words for it. It really chokes me up."

Contributions to Princess PayPay can be made at First Security Bank in Malta or at http://www.gofundme.com/princess-paypay-medical-care or contact Francine KillEagle at Dodson School.v

 

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