Ashley's "Butt Cancer" Battle

I hate to start this with something that sounds like hyperbole, but Ashley is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. She is nice almost to a fault. She is “that girl has to be faking it” or “she definitely just took six happy pills” nice. Maybe her kind nature developed from growing up with an extremely pesky younger brother, or maybe she just wanted to set a good example for her three younger sisters, but whatever the cause Ashley is just a very kind, loving person who exudes vibrancy and positivity. A prime example: when Ashley received the news recently that she had an advanced stage of colorectal cancer, leaving her in a very real fight-for-her-life where the odds of victory are lower than they are higher, her response to the world was, “I have BUTT CANCER,” hence the title of this campaign.

Ashley is a 31-year-old mother of four: Ethan and Katie, 9-year-old twins; Wyatt, age 5; Griffin, age 3. She has been married to her husband, Matt, a Mesa SWAT officer, for 12 years.

After experiencing some troubling symptoms, on May 28th Ashley went in for a colonoscopy. During Ashley’s colonoscopy, her doctor found a quarter-sized tumor, which he immediately believed to be cancerous. After a few weeks of countless tests, specialists, and what seemed like bad-news after bad-news, Ashley’s situation is difficult. Here is the current run-down:

Best case scenario Ashley has stage-3 colorectal cancer. Based on the size of the tumor and the fact that it has expanded through the intestinal wall, her best-case treatment will include a full year of several rounds of chemo and radiation, along with surgeries.

Worst case scenario Ashley has stage-4 colorectal cancer. The tumor seems to be significantly affecting Ashley’s lymph nodes in the area. The tumor is dangerously close to her uterus and ovaries, likely requiring Ashley to have a complete hysterectomy plus the “best case” treatment above.

In either case, Ashley is indeed in a fight for her life. It has been heartbreaking to see my sister progress from, “it would be nice to not lose my hair” to “it would be nice to not have to have a colostomy bag the rest of my life” to “I hope I survive” as she has learned new information.

Ashley is insured through Matt’s employer, and it is good coverage. That said, a minimum of one-year of battling an advanced stage of cancer is not cheap. There will be costs that are not covered under their insurance plan. Ashley was doing an amazing job supplementing their family income from home which is no longer a possibility. Although we don’t have all the information yet, I have made a diligent effort to estimate Ashley’s costs, which is represented in the goal of this fundraiser. In actuality, when Ashley wins this battle, her ultimate cost of care will far exceed the scope of this campaign. There has already been such an amazing amount of love shared from friends and family, so I felt this would be an appropriate way to help this amazing family to relieve the concern of how they were going to finance this battle.

Ashley is the last person that would seek help from others and the first to offer help to others. Many of us feel powerless to help her and her family through this long scary journey. I know Ashley and her family would greatly benefit physically and mentally from any financial help we could provide as she fights and beats "butt cancer."

You can get more information directly from Ashley and her husband at www.http://brownribboncancer.blogspot.com/.