Payton prepares for bone marrow transplant, return to school

Red-headed, freckle-faced, with a ball cap pulled low over his face, Payton Overton projects the mischievousness of many nine-year-olds, not the air of a boy fighting for his life.

Payton, the son of Nancy and Jon Overton, finished the third grade at Knight-Enloe Elementary. He has a simple wish: to go back to school and see his friends.

Maybe not this upcoming year though, as he faces a July 28 bone marrow transplant at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham that may put him out of commission until October. He was diagnosed with lymblastic leukemia in February.

Watching him zip around his yard on his four-wheeler last week with his sister, Paige, it is obvious he shouldn’t be counted out, because little slows this youngster down.

Everything depends on the transplant and how well his body adjusts to it. Teachers at the hospital will get his lessons from his teachers and will school him if he feels up to it, his mother said. Then he will have teaching at home. A number of teachers and substitute teachers have offered their help, Nancy said, admitting she is overwhelmed by people’s kindness.

Payton Henry Overton is named after Indianapolis Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning, though the name is spelled differently, and his great-grandfather, Henry Johnson.

His dream is to be a professional quarterback. His mother tells him to keep his dreams and he can accomplish any goal.

Payton will be in the hospital for six weeks after the transplant and then they will have to stay within 30 minutes of the hospital for 100 days, including the six weeks.

Nancy’s job during her absence is not guaranteed, she said, but her son is her main concern. She is going to work to help him get better and has faith this will all work out, she said. Her husband, Jon, will be there the week of the transplant and then he and others will swap out being there for Payton.

There is no room for Payton and Nancy at the Ronald McDonald House but they will be staying in an apartment affiliated with the hospital, she said.

“It’s been absolutely amazing to me. I knew before he got sick there was something amazing about him. He was always asking questions about God—some questions I didn’t know the answers to,” she said.

Coaxing him away from his computer game to talk, he said he was leaving Sunday, July 11, for Birmingham. He will be at the hospital for four months.

He has been a really good patient, his mother said. Once when they were driving from Birmingham he told her he knew why God chose him. He said his big sister, Paige, 14, or his half-brother Mason, 7 couldn’t handle it but God knew he could. Sept. 25 Payton will be 10 years old.

Paige was a transplant match but a complete stranger was a better match. The person was an “absolute perfect match for the bone marrow,” Nancy said.

“We are very, very thankful for that. I know a lot of people out there are waiting on a match. The doctors have told us they have never had a better match than this,” Nancy said.

Fortunately, she had insurance on Payton through ALL Kids, a Blue Cross-Blue Shield plan administered by the Alabama Department of Public Health. It provides low-cost healthcare coverage for children and teens under age 19 who live in Alabama.

“It was a blessing I tell you,” she said. Payton, a healthy 10-pound baby has always been a healthy child but she is so thankful she had the insurance on him.

He has had the pre-transplant tests and is ready.

“I’m very proud of him. He is my hero. He’s an inspiration to me. I wish I was as strong as he is,” Nancy said.

“I’m so very thankful he has the attitude he does have with the medicine and the things he has to do. He doesn’t give me any trouble,” she said.

She said she really believes God has a purpose for everyone on earth and that he has a purpose for Payton.

“We have a long road. He’ll be doing this for three and a half years and we never know if it will come back,” she said. The doctors cannot say they can cure it but that they will give him a better chance. The likelihood of cure is about 80 percent, she said.

He has been through a round of chemotherapy and after the transplant will go through radiation. His mother said he had really been amazing, rarely sick or vomiting. Several entrances or ports have been placed in Payton’s body so medicine can be introduced, blood drawn and radiation given without having to puncture his skin everytime.

He explains: “I’ve known a lot of nurses. They’re very nice.”

That is since he started getting sick in February.

“I went to a doctor in Roanoke; they had to take my blood. I had too many white blood cells,” he said.

April Anthony, nurse-practioner with Southern Family Health Care, came by his house and told him he had leukemia. He said he had to go to Randolph Medical Center and was subsequently airlifted to Birmingham. “I was walking across the room and would get tired. I started eating ice cubes. I had never done that before,” he said.

His mother said he had a fever, vomiting, was complaining of his legs hurting, almost in tears from the pain. Doctors worked to find the problem. They found he had a white blood count of 750,000 while a normal count is 10,000.

But things have improved, she said, adding Payton is getting around a lot better, eating a lot better and he’s doing very well. He’s not been getting sick for about six weeks.

“There’s a woman who gave me platelets,” Payton said of a teacher at Handley Middle School, De’ Lambert. She has the unusual blood type he does, A positive.

“Everybody I mostly knew was trying to give platelets for me. All the churches have been giving fundraisers and raising a lot of money for me. This man came in yesterday with the motorcycle club,” he said, with about $560 from fellow motorcyclists who could not participate in the July 24 ride for him. Other people are selling cakes, like Paran Missionary Baptist Church. Payton was impressed when one man laid down $50 for a cake and did not want any change. Paran matched what they sold at the bake sale, totaling about $1,120, which church member Chris Taylor brought to them.

The money will help with the expenses of going back and forth, eating meals, and for a new home, Nancy said.

“This community, these churches, we will never be able to thank these people enough,” she said.

“A lot of people care about me and want me to get better. That’s why they raise money for me,” Payton said.

Nancy, a retail specialist at Goodwill, said there is a life lesson in this for “all of us. You never know. You take a lot for granted but then find out what is really important.” Her husband works at O.K. Tire.

The family attends Center Chapel Baptist Church most of the time but sometimes goes to Roanoke Church of Christ, Nancy said. Payton is the grandson of Charlotte and Charles Overton, and Nancy said there is family all around to help out when needed.

Due to the damage to their mobile home from rain and a leaking air conditioner which caused mold and mildew, the Overtons are temporarily living in a mobile home next door to Payton’s grandparents. His immune system is compromised by the leukemia and the mold and mildew is dangerous for him.

Earlier there had been discussions about remodeling the trailer but with Payton’s illness and his need to be in a clean environment the Overtons decided they either need a new mobile home or to build a house, Nancy said.

But, her son is insistent that “we really need” a new home so after the transplant he won’t get sick, he said.

Lynn Sheppard started the July 24 fundraiser because she is trying to help raise money for a new home. Nancy said she is a relative but has really gone out of her way to help raise money for Payton.

Nancy hopes the days return when her son is playing football and baseball with a yard full of children until dark. His friends still come by and visit with him. He is proud he has more than 5,000 friends on his Prayers for Payton Facebook page.

His mother said she did not realize how many lives he had touched among teachers and fellow students, but added, “He’s a very loving child and always has been.”

She takes it one day at a time, not looking to the future or the past, she said. Her son helps with that. It was really hard when she put on her khaki uniform to go back to work when she wanted to stay with him. But he told her she looked good, making her feel better about returning to work.

Payton Overton Day will be Saturday, July 24, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Will’s Way between Roanoke and Wedowee on U.S. Highway 431. Payton won’t be there but some family members will be. Fun Day will be from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Highlights will be live music, dunking booths, concessions, cake auction, classic car show, door prizes and games for the kids. Bring your lawn chair. Activities will also include a turkey shoot from 7 to 10 a.m.

The same day area motorcyclists will register at 9 a.m. and leave Lakeside Marina at 10 a.m. for Mt. Cheaha State Park and later end at Will’s Way. Registration is $15 per rider and $5 per passenger and includes lunch. Like the other fundraisers all monies raised will go for Payton. Anyone with questions can call Scott Sheppard at 256-283-9173 or 770-834-9917.

Pre-ordered T-shirts may be picked up Friday, July 23, at Rock Stand Kwik Stop or on the 24th at Will’s Way.

Anyone who wants to donate can do so at a Bank of Wedowee branch to the Nancy and Jon Overton Leukemia Fund. Checks may be made out to Payton Overton.