About Peyton

On September 4th 2008, after 42 weeks of a seemingly picture perfect pregnancy, my first child, Peyton Elizabeth Binder, came into this world with bright blue eyes, and full pink cheeks. Within moments, my world came crashing down. During her routine post birth exam by the pediatrician, it was discovered that none of Peyton's injection sites could stop bleeding. My "beautiful, perfect little girl" had, unbeknownst to us, been born with an extremely rare form of Congenital Infant Leukemia (ALL w/ MLL rearrangement) the odds of which fall around 1 in 50 million. 

The name Peyton means "warrior" and a warrior she was, fighting for 28 days through chemotherapy, countless tests and transfusions, procedures, and operations, all the while blessing us with her beautiful smile and unguarded love, and never letting on just how sick she really was. She fought for life with the heart of a prizefighter, and I, as her mother, held onto the hope that she would beat the cancer & the odds.

Her fight was valiant, but the battle was too great. Only a small percentage of children born with ALL live to see their third birthday. Sadly, on October 2, 2008, at just 28 days old, Peyton left this world for the next, and everything I thought I had known about myself up until that moment, left with her.