Ashley White: brain tumor treatment and care

It's been two weeks since we've known....before that it had been a few months since one of my dearest friends started actually started voicing the pain she was feeling with constant migraines and neck aches. She'd been doing what always worked to alleviate the pain until...it finally didn't. My friend got orders for a CT of her head and neck so hopefully they could get it figured out. We joked about what could be causing it. Heck, as nurses we even threw out there..."What if somethings growing up there from drinking the water in Alamogordo?" The results came back and to say that they were the kind of results that would knock the wind out of you was an understatement. My beautiful "healthy" 36 year old friend Ashley White: mom to Preston, wife to Tyler, amazing nurse and priceless friend did indeed having something growing in her brain. It's approximated to be almost an inch big and encapsulated by a lot of spinal fluid.

As you can imagine for a moment, I'm sure after receiving this news she felt like her world came to a screeching halt but, if you know Ashley you know she is stubborn and full of fire. There is nothing in this world that would let her stay stuck in fear for long. Ashley is the girl that will do whatever it takes to be there for years to watch her son grow into a man and build a life of his own, relish the days as she and Tyler grow old together, and enjoy the life the Lord has given her.

Things have moved quickly and I don't believe that this is by happenstance. Over the last 20 days she has gotten into appointments for testing, and has even been seen at the Mayo Clinic by neurosurgery and neuro-oncology. These appointments could have taken weeks if not months just to get into, but God. At this point the neuro-oncologist and the neurosurgeon both are in agreement that this tumor is a hemangioblastoma which is likely benign but, can't be confirmed until there is a biopsy. What does this mean for Ashley and her family you ask? It means that over the next month or so they will be traveling back and forth to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona for preoperative appointments. The end of September she is scheduled to have the tumor removed after which there will be about a week long hospital stay followed up with therapy and multiple follow up appointments over the next few months, as well as expensive genetic testing to make sure this is not hereditary. Lord willing, the surgeon will be able to remove the whole tumor at one time so Ashley won't need radiation as well.

What this also means is a lot of gas going back and forth, a lot of hotel stays and eating out, a lot of co-pays and deductables and A LOT of missed work and a lot of unexpected expenses. I think most of us would say we try to be prepared for the "just in case" or "for an emergency" but, I would say that most of the people I know, myself included, would be challenged by these circumstances. Financially it's so much, mentally it could overwhelm the strongest, emotionally one could definitely justify being "a hot mess", and spiritually it could test one's faith or continue to grow it.

You might not know Ashley yet, or maybe you only know her son, or her husband or her extended family. Maybe you've only heard about this young mom and her family that live up on the mountain that are going through a really tough time right now. If you do know Ashley and Tyler you'd know they don't ask for help easily, they're usually the ones helping others but, right now they could use your help.

If you've read this far thank you for taking the time to hear about my friend and her family. Now can I ask you for something else? Can you pray for this family? Would you pray for complete healing, for strength and provision? Can you pray and/or ask yourself how you could bless them in a way you would want someone to bless you or your family if you were going through this? Finally, can you follow through on what comes to your mind or the Lord has laid on your heart even if it's a challenge and might seem scary? You can give on here or if you're local and would like to give in person there is an account set up at First National Bank. Thank you in advance for your generosity, thoughts, prayers and encouragement for this family.

Galations 6:2