Ashton's Fight with Leukemia
Donation protected
UPDATE: After spending a month in the hospital at Baptist in Little Rock, AR. Ashton was able to go home as she had entered remission. Our oncologist at CARTI still wanted us to visit MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to do some further testing.
As of today, multiple trips to Houston have been made. After more precise testing at MD Anderson, it was discovered that Ashton still had minimal residual disease and that she had Philadelphia Chromosome Positive ALL. It wasn't the news we were hoping to here as we were leaving Houston. After another trip to the Cancer Center, we found out she qualified for an experimental clinical trial for patients with Ph+ ALL leukemia. The trial began last week. The trial will last for approximately 8 months, with all of the hospital stays in Houston. Ashton will get to make some trips home during the trial, but will spend the majority of the 8 months in Houston. She is currently there for at least 6 weeks before she will get to make a trip home.
After the first months of the trial treatment, we will know whether the treatment is working. If the treatment is working, then we will continue the 8 month treatment and then make 1 trip every month to Houston for the next 2 years for follow up testing. If the treatment is not progressing as hoped, Ashton would then need to have a Stem Cell Transplant.
Please keep Ashton in your prayers as she endures the intense chemo treatments over the next 8 months. Pray for the treatment to work, and for the entire family emotionally as Ashton will be apart from Jared, Brynn, and Cambry for much of the next 8 months.
We are sharing the GoFundMe page again for anyone who would like to donate or help. The extended stays in Houston were not initially on our radar and travel cost, hospital rooms, and the possibility of an apartment lease have totaled up quickly.
Thank you everyone for the continued support and prayer for Ashton!
____________________________________________________________
On Friday, January 26th, 2018, Ashton was unexpectedly diagnosed with ALL-B Cell Leukemia. She had been feeling bad for several months, and doctors were looking at possible autoimmune disorders as the cause. During this time, she had blood work done on several occasions, but there were never any abnormalities. As the new year began, her overall health declined and she begin having a lot of chest pain and difficulty breathing. She worked through some antibiotics and steroids thinking the cause was general upper respiratory issues. On Friday, things just got to point were she couldn't handle the shortness of breath and chest pain any more, so she made a trip to the E.R. thinking she might have pneumonia, or something similar. While at the E.R., blood work was performed again. While waiting in the room, the doctor came in an informed us that her white blood cell count was 20x higher than normal cancer indicators and that it appeared she had Leukemia. To say we were blindsided and shocked is an understatement.
We were immediately transported to Baptist Hospital in Little Rock for continued test and blood transfusions, because she was severely anemic. From continued blood test, it became more clear that we were in fact dealing with Leukemia.
On Saturday morning, we were visited by an Oncologist from the CARTI Cancer Center in Little Rock who confirmed the diagnoses and began more testing to determine what kind of Leukemia we would be facing.
ALL-B Cell Leukemia is commonly found in children and is extremely rare in adults of Ashton's age. Because of this, there is no exact protocol for treatment. After the Oncologist consulted with M.D. Anderson Cancer Clinic in Houston, it was decided that a juvenile protocol would be taken and the treatment process would begin immediately. Later that day, Ashton was officially admitted into the Oncology floor of Baptist Hospital and pre-treatment drugs began.
The Chemotherapy regiment begins February 5th and will last a minimum of 4 weeks, for all of which Ashton will be hospitalized. Once the next month of treatment is completed, more test will be done to assess her progress. An overall treatment plan with monthly hospital stays will last for around 18 months.
Ashton is a loving wife to her husband, Jared, and mother to her two girls Brynn (7) and Cambry (4). Not only will the extensive hospital stay take a toll on the family financially but emotionally as Ashton and her two little girls will be apart for an extended time.
People have been asking for ways to help or give, so we set this page up for anybody who would like. We have been completely overwhelmed with the outpouring of text, phone calls, cards, gifts and most importantly prayer from literally all over the world. We have felt so loved and supported as we begin this long road and Ashton begins her cancer fight!
As of today, multiple trips to Houston have been made. After more precise testing at MD Anderson, it was discovered that Ashton still had minimal residual disease and that she had Philadelphia Chromosome Positive ALL. It wasn't the news we were hoping to here as we were leaving Houston. After another trip to the Cancer Center, we found out she qualified for an experimental clinical trial for patients with Ph+ ALL leukemia. The trial began last week. The trial will last for approximately 8 months, with all of the hospital stays in Houston. Ashton will get to make some trips home during the trial, but will spend the majority of the 8 months in Houston. She is currently there for at least 6 weeks before she will get to make a trip home.
After the first months of the trial treatment, we will know whether the treatment is working. If the treatment is working, then we will continue the 8 month treatment and then make 1 trip every month to Houston for the next 2 years for follow up testing. If the treatment is not progressing as hoped, Ashton would then need to have a Stem Cell Transplant.
Please keep Ashton in your prayers as she endures the intense chemo treatments over the next 8 months. Pray for the treatment to work, and for the entire family emotionally as Ashton will be apart from Jared, Brynn, and Cambry for much of the next 8 months.
We are sharing the GoFundMe page again for anyone who would like to donate or help. The extended stays in Houston were not initially on our radar and travel cost, hospital rooms, and the possibility of an apartment lease have totaled up quickly.
Thank you everyone for the continued support and prayer for Ashton!
____________________________________________________________
On Friday, January 26th, 2018, Ashton was unexpectedly diagnosed with ALL-B Cell Leukemia. She had been feeling bad for several months, and doctors were looking at possible autoimmune disorders as the cause. During this time, she had blood work done on several occasions, but there were never any abnormalities. As the new year began, her overall health declined and she begin having a lot of chest pain and difficulty breathing. She worked through some antibiotics and steroids thinking the cause was general upper respiratory issues. On Friday, things just got to point were she couldn't handle the shortness of breath and chest pain any more, so she made a trip to the E.R. thinking she might have pneumonia, or something similar. While at the E.R., blood work was performed again. While waiting in the room, the doctor came in an informed us that her white blood cell count was 20x higher than normal cancer indicators and that it appeared she had Leukemia. To say we were blindsided and shocked is an understatement.
We were immediately transported to Baptist Hospital in Little Rock for continued test and blood transfusions, because she was severely anemic. From continued blood test, it became more clear that we were in fact dealing with Leukemia.
On Saturday morning, we were visited by an Oncologist from the CARTI Cancer Center in Little Rock who confirmed the diagnoses and began more testing to determine what kind of Leukemia we would be facing.
ALL-B Cell Leukemia is commonly found in children and is extremely rare in adults of Ashton's age. Because of this, there is no exact protocol for treatment. After the Oncologist consulted with M.D. Anderson Cancer Clinic in Houston, it was decided that a juvenile protocol would be taken and the treatment process would begin immediately. Later that day, Ashton was officially admitted into the Oncology floor of Baptist Hospital and pre-treatment drugs began.
The Chemotherapy regiment begins February 5th and will last a minimum of 4 weeks, for all of which Ashton will be hospitalized. Once the next month of treatment is completed, more test will be done to assess her progress. An overall treatment plan with monthly hospital stays will last for around 18 months.
Ashton is a loving wife to her husband, Jared, and mother to her two girls Brynn (7) and Cambry (4). Not only will the extensive hospital stay take a toll on the family financially but emotionally as Ashton and her two little girls will be apart for an extended time.
People have been asking for ways to help or give, so we set this page up for anybody who would like. We have been completely overwhelmed with the outpouring of text, phone calls, cards, gifts and most importantly prayer from literally all over the world. We have felt so loved and supported as we begin this long road and Ashton begins her cancer fight!
Organiser
Jared Eakin
Organiser
Alexander, AR
