For Payton

this is for a very special lil guy, one of my cousin's, he was born with complications that resulted in cerebral palsy. ill post his mom's letter for his story and i ask that you just read it, if by reading his jouney you feel compelled to donate to his fund the family would greatly appreciate it. if you cant but still want to help, please pass this information on! thank you!

Payton Dale Camp Fund

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing this letter in faith that it will make you interested in sponsoring my son for an upcoming clinic in Minnesota that will change the outcome of his life physically and developmentally.
Let me introduce myself a little. For as far back as I can remember there were two things I wanted most in this world. One was to become a Nurse and the second was to become a mother. The first goal wasn't that hard to accomplish but the latter was a little more complicated than I expected. I obtained my LVN nursing license in 1998 and got married in 1999. In my mind I thought I would start expanding my family in the next year or two however it wasn't in the cards that way. After many unsuccessful attempts I decided to return to school for a Bachelors in nursing. I graduated in May 2006 and finally delivered my first and only child on June 7th 2006. As you can imagine being fresh in nursing school and having wanted a baby for so many years I took every precaution imaginable to make sure things would go smoothly. Sometimes it's just not enough. It was a sharp realization that God is in control of my future, not me. There were complications at birth, Payton was born in Congestive Heart Failure, his blood sugar was really low and wouldn't stabilize, and they couldn't get him breathing correctly. He was careflighted to Methodist in Dallas where he stayed the next 3 weeks. We never really found out why or how things happened the way they did but early MRI's showed there was lack of oxygen to his brain at some point. The MRI's before leaving the hospital showed Periventricular Leukomalacia which is highly associated with Cerebral Palsy later on. With that being known the Neonatologist set us up with Early Childhood Intervention upon leaving the hospital. By the time he was 6 months old it was very clear that he was severely delayed developmentally, not reaching for toys or rolling over, and many other things, so he started Physical and Occupational therapy. He was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at age one. I now believe that everything happens for a reason, I realize God had a plan when he made me wait to have a child. I didn't have the wisdom or the patience to be able to care for a child like Payton five years ago. Payton is the most lively, precious child I have ever known. You can ask anyone that knows him and they will mention that he is always so happy and smiling. His attitude amazes me. He is a very hard worker and has such a strong spirit. Everyone that meets him just falls in love! In the beginning I remember thinking "Why did you let this happen to me God, what did I do wrong?" Now I think, "Wow God how can I ever thank you enough for letting me be in this child's life?" Payton will be 3 now in June, he still can't sit by himself or crawl on fours, but he can roll and scoot on his tummy. He has come a long way since the beginning and has worked very hard for everything he has accomplished.
As you may know, all babies are born with certain reflexes that help protect them and also serve with functional things. You never realize how complicated they are until they don't work the way they should. These reflexes are supposed to disappear by certain ages or it's not considered normal. With Cerebral Palsy their reflexes are usually hyperactive or hypoactive and/or they don't follow the correct pattern. If the reflexes don't grow to their matured state it affects later development. So the goal is all about turning the brain on in this aspect and finding what works to teach the reflex the proper pattern. This is where Svetlana Masgatova comes into the picture. She is a Russian Psychologist who has spent years studying reflexes and learning how to integrate them into everyday life so they are functional. She has a University in Poland and now has 3 camps over the United States. The camps are one week long for the child and parents and many practitioners from all over the world including Dr Masgatova herself work with the child for 6 hours a day that week. The camps are limited to only 20 children so they are able to spend adequate time with the children and parents showing them how to do the work once they get back home. They have had outstanding improvements in children that have been told they would never sit, never walk, and never talk. I have had the recent privilege of attending one of her 4-day classes in Houston, Texas called "Children with Challenges". I learned a lot of information and felt it will be very beneficial to Payton's prognosis. I was also able to have an hour of private lessons for 2 days for Payton with Dr. Masgatova. Just with those 2 days of hour lessons I can tell his arms are less spastic, his vision seems more focused, and he is using his arms more while doing the crawling/scooting motion in the floor. She also instructed me on an exercise program to be working with at home. Week after week the therapists and I notice he is doing better and better. With all of these improvements I am so excited to see the possibilities with 7 days of intense therapy by professionals that have spent so much time working and studying with this. I understand that there is nothing that will be a quick fix with Payton's condition and it will require a lot of work on my part even after we return home from this clinic, but I know this will give him the jump start he is needing.
I invite you to be a part in changing the outcomes for this precious child. He has such a happy spirit! You should see his face light up and the excitement he shows when his dad asks him "You want to ride the motorcycle?" Unfortunately his posture doesn't allow him to be safe on it so I haven't let him ride it yet. However his grandparents saw how much he loved his dad's motorcycle and they bought him a small battery operated one for Christmas. They tried to make alterations and they added a seat belt to it so it is safer but it's still too big for him. It doesn't stop him from loving it though. It takes 2 people right now for him to ride it, one to push the go button and one to hold him on and run along side it. Although it wears you out and it's a funny site it's worth it to see him having so much fun. My goal is that one day he will be able to ride it by himself. It is very difficult for me to ask for this kind of assistance but as you can imagine you will do things you never thought possible to help the ones you love. Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing your response. The next scheduled camp in the United States is in July 2009 in Minnesota. The cost of the camp alone is $8,500. Any help you could provide will be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to contact me anytime by phone or mail. My cell number is 903-340-7443, Home number is 903-469-3615. Address is PO Box 575 Murchison, Tx. 75778. Email address is forevermine05@hotmail.com

Sincerely,

Kathy Feagin (mother of Payton Feagin)


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