Ashlee & her young family during cancer treatment

Hi everyone, I’m James & I’ve decided to do something a little crazy. Swim 20km to Rottnest solo to raise funds for my old mate from Northam whilst she undergoes the battle of her life. I’ve told her these funds can be used for whatever her young family needs, whether that’s to go towards medical bills or to take the whole family to Bali once all this treatment is over & done with

Her story

In May 2022, Ashlee was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. Ashlee was diagnosed at the age of 31 and has a husband, Lindsay and three beautiful children Reagan, Bianca and Tyson who at the time of diagnosis were 5, 3 and 1 years old.

Ashlee’s husband, Lindsay, had found the lump in her breast. Breast cancer wasn’t something they considered it to be. Having a young child who had recently been breastfeeding, they assumed it was perhaps a blocked milk duct. To put Ashlee’s mind at ease, she decided to get it checked out at the local hospital in Port Hedland where she lives. They sent Ashlee for an ultrasound and urgent biopsy. At this point in time the lump was already over 5cm.

Ashlee has ovarian cancer in her family, in October 2021 she started the process of genetic testing to determine if she was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene mutation. After a long 7months, Ashlee received the news on 9th May that she tested positive and is indeed a carrier for the BRCA1 gene mutation putting her at increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. This was the moment that time stood still and it finally hit that this could be serious… really serious! The next day on 10th May, 2022 Ashlee’s world was shattered as she heard ‘we’ve got your results, it’s not good’. Ashlee describes the next 10days as a blur. Having to navigate and organise work, home, children, school, appointment planning and everything in between to depart their family home in Port Hedland on a 1 way ticket to perth to face the unknown.

Given the aggressive nature of Ashlee’s breast cancer, she commenced IV chemotherapy a week after arriving in Perth. She underwent 8 cycles of chemotherapy totalling 4months. After a lot of planning and reviews, Ashlee and her family were able to return to Hedland with Ashlee doing solo FIFO chemotherapy to perth. An impressive 3300km return trip.

In October, Ashlee underwent a bilateral mastectomy and commenced daily radiation in November which consists of 25 sessions (approx 5weeks). Again, Ashlee did FIFO radiation and would spend 5days away from her family and travel home for the weekends.

But… it doesn’t end there. On 27th December, Ashlee will commence 6 months of oral chemotherapy and will be required to have further breast surgery in April 2023. Given a positive BRCA1 gene mutation, this puts Ashlee at increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. As a result, Ashlee will undergo a full hysterectomy at the end of her breast cancer treatment journey to ensure her risk of developing ovarian cancer is eradicated.

https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-self-exam