Aid Ashley's Journey with Stage 4 Cancer

In November 2024, our friend Ashley noticed a lump in her right breast. She made an appointment and under guided ultrasound, they performed biopsies of the lump and surrounding lymph nodes. This revealed horrible news at the age of 38; she was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, breast cancer, with lymph node involvement. Doctors did not wait and ordered a PET scan for the end of the month. On Jan 8, we found out that the cancer had spread even further, and she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer with Bone Metastasis (breast cancer that spread into the bones). Her cancer had spread into her spine, shoulders, hips, and legs. In January, she had multiple hospital stays for a dangerously high calcium level and multiple stays for pain control. She found out in February that she had a fracture in her spine at T9 and is now on lifting restrictions, unable to lift anything over 5 lbs, including her girls.

Her cancer is Estrogen and Progesterone positive, and HER2 Negative.

Treatment: She is currently taking hormone blockers and oral chemo along with medication to help prevent bone complications. She is also taking a holistic approach and seeing a holistic medicine provider who recommends medications and vitamins that insurance doesn’t cover. A PET scan in March showed improvement to the initial lump, lymph nodes, and some improvement with the bone involvement. The most recent PET scan this month showed very little bone involvement to complete resolution. Which is a absolutley AMAZING news. Her current treatment and holistic approach is answering all of our prayers Doctors are optimistic too, but this will be a lifelong battle as she will always need to take the hormone blockers and chemo medication to prevent reoccurence.

Ashley had genetic testing in 2019 due to her family history of breast cancer. The blood work revealed she had 2 genes that put her at risk for breast cancer. She was instructed to watch and placed in the “high-risk category.” She had mammograms every year, and her last mammogram in 2023 was normal. We would like to bring awareness to preventative mastectomies. This could have changed the whole trajectory of this journey or put a halt to it altogether.

In December, she was excited to start a new job, but with her new diagnosis, pain, complications, and lifting restrictions to follow, she was unable to do so. Ashley has two little girls, Lennon (7) and Josie (4). Her partner Shawn has been holding down the household duties and taking care of the girls all while working too. With Ashley not being able to work and Shawn being the sole provider for their family, please consider donating to help support this family as they navigate through this journey. The money donated to this fund will help lessen the burden of everyday living expenses: utilities, groceries, and help continue the holistic approach to fight this disease.

Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts, Friends of Ashley.