Dayton The Kid
Donation protected
Hi my name is Dayton and I am 9 years old.
On March 1st, 2017 I was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma Cancer.
My daddy and mommy are Kyle and Megan Merritt. My mommy and daddy have given me the best life and the biggest family to love me. I also have the most supportive little sister, Daisy, she is 7 years old. She is my best friend, but she's not quite sure why I'm getting all this attention though... My favorite things to do are spending time with all my family and friends, playing baseball with my daddy, going to the beach, and playing video games.
A week ago my mommy took me to the doctor because my knee was in pain. They thought it was a knee injury. They ran some tests but when they did an x-ray, they noticed a tumor just above my knee. Then they did a biopsy on the spot and it came back as a cancerous tumor. That was very scary. The doctors wanted to see if the cancer was localized to my leg or if it had spread throughout other parts of my body. I had more tests done that would take what seemed like an eternity to get the results back. The Oncologist came in and told my mommy and daddy that the CT Scan came back and saw that thankfully, the cancer was localized to my leg. That was a big relief.
We went to the oncology unit at the Miami Children's Hospital on Friday, March 3rd, 3017. They said that because of my age and how aggressive this type if cancer is, I would have to start my first round of Chemo immediately.
My mommy and daddy are utterly devastated. I’m not sure of everything that's going on but I know they are sad. They are scared. They have not left my side. They are all so sad.
Later that day my family had a meeting with all the doctors and the treatment plan is long scary process.
I need at least 8 months of treatment, blood transfusions, antibody therapies and a surgery to remove the tumor. You know it’s bigger then the size of a golf ball!
The chemo treatments have to be in the hospital. I'm there for a whole week. Then I get to go home for 2 weeks. I have numerous doctor appointments during that time and pray I don’t get sick. If I do, I have to come back to the hospital. So I will probably be in the hospital longer than I'm home. The nurses there really try and make me smile.
Hopefully during those two weeks I'm at home between treatments, I can play, I can go to the beach to smell the ocean even just for a few minutes, I can go to my Papa’s to play and even sometimes my Aunt Jessica’s to see my cousin. But I can’t be around any sniffles or I could end up in the hospital. So we have to be super super clean.
On Saturday, March 4th, I started my first chemo treatment. This starts week one, day 1 of many.
I know it will be tough on me but most of all I’m worried about my mommy and daddy. I hope they can still smile through this, I need them to smile, I hope they can be strong because I don’t know what’s exactly going on, and need them to be okay.
I write this to ask for help to keep us strong. Please pray for me that I can fight this, please tell jokes to make us smile, and call so we know you are there. We might not answer, but it helps to know we are loved. The last thing, I want my mommy and daddy to know I love them so much.
Love,
Dayton
Dear donors,
All donations go directly to Dayton's medical fund. He will be admitted to Miami children's hospital at least 3 times for every 6 week cycle for 8 months. Dayton also has a long journey ahead of him as he will continue to receive adjustments on his expandable femur implant as he continues to grow and will have a permanent implant placed in his femur once he reaches full skeletal maturity.
We want to thank all of our donors for your support during this difficult time.
With love,
The Merritt family
My daddy and mommy are Kyle and Megan Merritt. My mommy and daddy have given me the best life and the biggest family to love me. I also have the most supportive little sister, Daisy, she is 7 years old. She is my best friend, but she's not quite sure why I'm getting all this attention though... My favorite things to do are spending time with all my family and friends, playing baseball with my daddy, going to the beach, and playing video games.
A week ago my mommy took me to the doctor because my knee was in pain. They thought it was a knee injury. They ran some tests but when they did an x-ray, they noticed a tumor just above my knee. Then they did a biopsy on the spot and it came back as a cancerous tumor. That was very scary. The doctors wanted to see if the cancer was localized to my leg or if it had spread throughout other parts of my body. I had more tests done that would take what seemed like an eternity to get the results back. The Oncologist came in and told my mommy and daddy that the CT Scan came back and saw that thankfully, the cancer was localized to my leg. That was a big relief.
We went to the oncology unit at the Miami Children's Hospital on Friday, March 3rd, 3017. They said that because of my age and how aggressive this type if cancer is, I would have to start my first round of Chemo immediately.
My mommy and daddy are utterly devastated. I’m not sure of everything that's going on but I know they are sad. They are scared. They have not left my side. They are all so sad.
Later that day my family had a meeting with all the doctors and the treatment plan is long scary process.
I need at least 8 months of treatment, blood transfusions, antibody therapies and a surgery to remove the tumor. You know it’s bigger then the size of a golf ball!
The chemo treatments have to be in the hospital. I'm there for a whole week. Then I get to go home for 2 weeks. I have numerous doctor appointments during that time and pray I don’t get sick. If I do, I have to come back to the hospital. So I will probably be in the hospital longer than I'm home. The nurses there really try and make me smile.
Hopefully during those two weeks I'm at home between treatments, I can play, I can go to the beach to smell the ocean even just for a few minutes, I can go to my Papa’s to play and even sometimes my Aunt Jessica’s to see my cousin. But I can’t be around any sniffles or I could end up in the hospital. So we have to be super super clean.
On Saturday, March 4th, I started my first chemo treatment. This starts week one, day 1 of many.
I know it will be tough on me but most of all I’m worried about my mommy and daddy. I hope they can still smile through this, I need them to smile, I hope they can be strong because I don’t know what’s exactly going on, and need them to be okay.
I write this to ask for help to keep us strong. Please pray for me that I can fight this, please tell jokes to make us smile, and call so we know you are there. We might not answer, but it helps to know we are loved. The last thing, I want my mommy and daddy to know I love them so much.
Love,
Dayton
Dear donors,
All donations go directly to Dayton's medical fund. He will be admitted to Miami children's hospital at least 3 times for every 6 week cycle for 8 months. Dayton also has a long journey ahead of him as he will continue to receive adjustments on his expandable femur implant as he continues to grow and will have a permanent implant placed in his femur once he reaches full skeletal maturity.
We want to thank all of our donors for your support during this difficult time.
With love,
The Merritt family
Organizer
Kyle Merritt
Organizer
Jupiter, FL