Ashly & Zoey’s Journey

On September 4th Ashly was admitted to the hospital for pregnancy complications. She was diagnosed with placenta previa, but the baby was stable. Steroids were given to help with the baby’s lung development just in case the baby would need to be delivered early. The next couple of days Ashly’s own personal health started to unexplainably decline. 

After days of examination and testing, a CT scan revealed enlarged lymph nodes in her chest and lung area and an ultrasound showed a blood clot in her jugular. At this point it was decided to do a biopsy of lymph nodes in her under arm and breast tissue. 

The baby had remained stable thru all of the testing, except for one time when the heart rate dropped and came back up.

On Wednesday September 9th Ashly’s health was worsening. The doctors determined that preeclampsia was the cause of many of the concerns and decided an emergency c-section was necessary in order to keep both Ashly and the baby safe. 

Beautiful Zoey Renae Carter was delivered shortly after the decision. She was born at 25 weeks and 4 days and weighed 1lb 13 oz.  She was immediately taken to the NICU for further care. She amazed us all by her strength and progress immediately! Zoey knew she had to be strong for her mom.

At this point Ashly had her own team of doctors working non stop to figure out what was causing Ashly to be so sick. They were constantly looking at results and numbers for something that would point them in the right direction. While waiting on the results from the lymph node biopsies Ashly’s hemoglobin dropped again. She was struggling with a cough, shortness of breath, and was relying on the support of 4 liters of oxygen. 

Zoey continued to do great, and Ash even got to hold her! Just one day after she was born, Zoey got to have her breathing tube out and was breathing on her own!

On September 10th, Ashly got the results from her doctor that she had breast cancer, and it had spread to her lymph nodes. She was sent for further scans to determine if there were any other areas that needed to be biopsied. 

The results showed nothing in her bones, but did show spots on other organs. Her lungs were filled with fluid, so they drained them and tested the fluid for cancer. 

On Saturday September 12, Zoey continued to wow everyone. She was breathing on 22% air (we breathe on 21%) and she even pooped (that’s HUGE news in baby world!!)

Overnight that night Ashly’s blood levels dropped and she had to have a blood transfusion…but she got to see her family outside of the hospital that day!!!!

On Wednesday, after battling high blood pressure, Ash got the results from the lung aspiration. The results came back as inconclusive. This meant that there is something in the fluid but not enough to tell what it is. 

Since the results didn’t clearly show if there was or wasn’t cancer there, a liver biopsy was ordered on the spots that showed up in her scans. The doctor assured her that the liver biopsy would be the last test. It was done on Thursday September 17th.  After 13 days in the hospital Ash and her husband Donovan FINALLY got to go home to their 6 year old girl, Mia and their almost 2 year old girl, Riley!

As of right now Ashly will go back the week of September 28th to go over the results of the liver biopsy and discuss her treatment plan. Chemo and a mastectomy are in her future, and she is going to fight and beat this terrible disease!!! Zoey will also continue to fight and get stronger every day in the NICU!

Please continue to send prayers to Ashly, Zoey, and their family has they continue their healing journeys.

Any help with donations would be greatly appreciated!! No amount is too small.

For those who would prefer Venmo-   you can send it to @ashheikes