Hi! My name's Ashley and I’m currently undergoing treatment for Osteosarcoma in my spine. Even though I’m 23, I’ve been receiving care in Minneapolis in a pediatric hospital due to the fact that my cancer is primarily found in kids and young adults. This also allows for my mom, who is my primary caretaker, to spend the night with me while I’m inpatient for chemotherapy.

On July 11th and 15th, I will be undergoing a 2-part surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. It’s an extensive surgery where they will remove my cancerous vertebra and replace it with titanium and healthy bone from my fibula. They expect recovery to be anywhere from 2.5-3 weeks in the hospital, possibly more if there are numerous complications. The only downside to this is the surgery has to be done in Rochester by specialists and they will not allow anyone to spend the night with me.

I would love to be able to have my mom spend the nights in a hotel nearby the hospital so that she can help take care of me during recovery and to support me while in the hospital as she normally does. Her job does not have her work summers so that she can help take care of me, which means we don’t have the funds to afford hotels. Commuting to and from home to the hospital would be 2+ hours of driving a day, which is also expensive and tiring.

Any donations would be a huge help in finding an affordable hotel for her to stay at overnight, even if she can’t stay somewhere during my entire 2-3 week recovery. Having that support there during the day would make my recovery smoother and decrease my stress. Extra donations would help go towards food for her to eat while at the hotel and for any parking costs associated with the hospital. We both appreciate any donations if anyone wants to help out our family. Thank you very much for your time, compassion, and well wishes during this unfortunate 2nd go at beating cancer <3.