Hello, friends! Meet Ashton! He is a 5-year-old boy who is full of energy, is wild and crazy, and loves dinosaurs, puzzles, Roblox, and playing with his older brother, Aedan. We know - all 5 year olds are crazy... but this tiny human is rambunctious enough to have earned the name "Smashton" before he even turned 2!

Ashton had a seizure with no history of seizures. We went to Grove City Methodist Hospital, who discovered a mass in his brain. They quickly transferred us to Nationwide Children's Hospital (NCH). While in the emergency department, Ashton had another seizure. We were sent to the PICU and had MRIs and other testing completed. He underwent surgery on July 1st, and by God’s grace, they were able to do a full removal of the tumor. Since then, he has been home recovering from surgery and acting like his normal self. He has been healing at a remarkable rate, and we are thrilled to see his progress! Ashton had a follow-up MRI as well as a Lumbar Puncture last week, and the MRI showed no sign of any growth or concerns for tumor growth, along with the LP coming back negative for malignancy.

After the biopsy and molecular testing, it was determined to be CNS neuroblastoma with FOX-R2 alteration. It's a newer diagnosis category and fairly rare. This is an embryonal tumor, though that really only matters for the oncology team for the exact treatment plan. The good news is that research has changed in the last couple of years, and treatment can have very good results. As high as 85% chance that after treatment, Ashton will stay disease-free for 3 years. This was the best possible result, and we feel so blessed that this is our path.

Now what? Now we start treatment, and finding our normalcy for the next 10 months...

Ashton will get 6 weeks of radiation treatment, then 6 weeks of recovery. After that, he will have 6 cycles of chemotherapy that will last 6-7 months. Each chemo cycle will be done inpatient, then of course navigating the side effects of it. This will require a lot of changes as we adjust. Funds will be used to offset expenses, and cover any medical items that are needed along the way.

Thank you for any help you're able to offer, even positive thoughts and prayers go a long way in a journey like this. Our "Super Smash" is ready to tackle this head on!