January 26, 2015 A day In the cold at Mayo!

Hi everyone! It's Keely- Payton and Samantha's mom. The girls have given me permission to blog while we are at the Mayo clinic. Yes we are freezing the pain away in Rochester, Minnesota! Well, we are literally freezing, but getting the pain to go away isn't that easy!

As most of you know, Payton will be officially starting her 15 day program with 15 other kids from ages 14-22 tomorrow. Yesterday and today, we spent time with numerous nurses, doctors and therapists telling them Payton's story but this afternoon was amazing! Payton and 7 other kids shared their stories with each other and all of us parents. After hearing the 7 stories, we realized that their pain, their medical journey to get a diagnosis and their struggles were very similar. There is only one area that is different- friendships! Most of the other kids have lost all of their friends, because their friends do not understand how you can be in pain one day and not the next or for days at a time without a true injury. But God placed many people in Payton's life so she did not have to experience this total loss. "Friend therapy" helped to motivate Payton to get up and walk and do things that we could not motivate her to do- and we are thankful that she has such wonderful friends!

God has opened a new door for us to learn from these families, kids and staff at Mayo and we can't wait to share our journey with you!

We will update you daily- so be ready, our journey to recovery is beginning!!