A Langdon family is trying to keep a positive outlook whilst in the middle of a difficult year.
Desiree Paton, 15, has been plagued with health problems since she was born.
At birth, Paton was blue, unable to properly circulate oxygen throughout her body due to a hole in her heart.
When she was six months old Paton underwent surgery to fix the hole in her heart.
“Before she had her surgery as a baby, she wasn’t allowed to cry otherwise she would go blue, and faint,” said Paton’s mother Samantha Scheiber.
“Simple things like bouncing in a bouncer she would pass out,” Scheiber added.
When Paton was 10-years-old her family found out she had Scoliosis, which has now curved her spine 73-degrees.
Both conditions continue to need surgeries to correct and manage, causing Paton to miss school and Scheiber to miss work to be with her daughter while she recovers.
In August, Paton had another heart surgery at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton.
Next month, she will be having another surgery, an eight-hour spinal fusion.
After the spinal fusion surgery, Paton will miss a month of school for her recovery.
She also won’t be able to lift anything that is over 2 lbs for six months or play any type of sports for one year.
Even without the surgeries and recovery, Paton’s day to day life isn’t quite the same as her peers, for one thing she has to wear a back brace 22 hours a day for her Scoliosis.
Her day typically begins with aspirin to manage her back pain, and anxiety medication before she catches the bus to go to school.
“Sometimes I have to take pills to manage the pain, it’s hard. If I walk for too long my lower back cramps up and it hurts,” Paton said.
“I can’t do a lot of the things that normal teenage girls do, it’s frustrating, it’s not what you want your typical day to look like,” she said.
After school, Paton catches the bus home, goes to her bedroom and tries to relax on her bed with an ice pack while watching a program to get her mind off of any pain she is experiencing.
When not in school or recovering from her latest surgery, Paton likes to draw, listen to music, play the piano, go for walks or sit on the front porch and get fresh air.
“When I was still in the hospital, that’s where I learnt my passion of piano, so now I play piano,” Paton said.
She added, “I love the sound, what I hear when I’m playing a song makes me feel better about myself, it makes me feel like I can accomplish things.”
While recovering from her latest heart surgery, Paton was unable to wear her back brace.
“It didn’t make my self-esteem go up that’s for sure, I did get bullied,” Paton said.
She added, “Words [are] just words, it only hurts if you believe them.”
Scheiber said, “You have to buy different clothes to fit around it, girl’s care about that kind of stuff, she wanted to hide it. Girls are mean in school.”
Despite the challenges she has faced since birth, Paton tries to keep a positive outlook on life. She also tries to raise awareness among others.
“I want to make it, so people know, sometimes you have different things that people don’t always have,” said Paton.
“Just because you have an illness, or just because you have something physically straining or makes you feel like you can’t do anything, doesn’t mean to can’t, you can do anything you want too, you just really need to believe in yourself, and just keep going,” she said.
However, getting to this point of being comfortable enough to talk about her challenges has not been an easy journey.
“When I did have the brace, I didn’t feel very comfortable talking about it.
“It took my self-esteem down, when I had my brace off I felt really skinny, and brittle, I was in a very depressed state because of it,” she said.
Wearing her brace wasn’t any easier for Paton.
“I felt uncomfortable because I felt like I was being shoved inside a box, I always wore shirts that were big for me.
“It didn’t make me feel very good, there wasn’t really a time where I felt like myself in that situation,” she said.
“I just felt like I was trapped between feeling like I was not good enough because I was skinny, or that I was not good enough because I was different,” said Paton, “it really played with my emotions, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
Scheiber encourages her daughter to look at the positives of everything.
“I know it’s hard, I’m just trying to stay strong for her, she’s a strong girl herself, it’s not easy.
“I would take it away if I could in a heartbeat. I’m just going to stroll along, skip and hold her hand.”
The challenges for the family extend beyond Paton’s health.
While Paton recovered from her last heart surgery, her mom took time off work to be with her.
Scheiber has only been back at work for two months, which hasn’t been enough time to catch up on the family’s bills and make ends meet.
When Paton goes for her spinal fusion surgery in January, Scheiber will be taking time off work again to help her daughter in her recovery.
To help make ends meet, the family has decided to look to the community for help with a GoFundMe page.
With the holidays fast approaching, Scheiber said that she can’t help but feel guilty for asking for help.
“I feel horrible, it’s a hard time of year for people trying to get gifts for their kids, and we’re asking for help outside of that.
“We’re not the only ones that are going through a hard time right now,” she said.
To date, the GoFundMe has raised $1000 which Scheiber is extremely grateful for.
“It’s insane, I didn’t think it would honestly work,” she added, “it’s going to help us a lot.”
“When I found out about the GoFundMe page I was a little shocked, but it spreads awareness, that’s what I’m going for,” Paton said.
The money that is raised will be used to pay Scheiber’s mortgage and allow for her to take the time off of work to be with her daughter in the hospital and while she is recovering at home.
With any of the donations that are not spent, Scheiber and Paton have decided to donate the remaining amount to the Ronald McDonald House, and to Heart Beats.
Both of the organizations have helped Scheiber be close to her daughter while she is in the hospital.
“We just want to give back and return the favour,” Paton said.
For more information on Paton’s story, or to donate visit their GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/spinal-surgery-for-desiree?member=1224426&fbclid=IwAR39080NQ1qHTLYFL1c6DCaROsaiIKI_s-XpLpEJ6BV74Am10_ML7b0mj8I.
