Ashley's Fight Against Melanoma
Donation protected
UPDATE 5/14/2019: After mostly clean scans in January, Ashley found a lump in her left leg again on 4/2/2019. Her radiation oncologist dismissed it as just a bruise under the skin, so she put it out of her mind. When she saw her medical oncologist, Dr. Lufkin, for a medication check up on 4/22/2019, however, it was still there so she had him check it out. He was immediately concerned and ordered a PET-CT scan to help find out if it was a problem. The scan came back showing the spot lighting up, as well as her T7 and T9 vertebra lighting up in her spine. Dr. Lufkin recommended that they watch-and-wait the lighting up of the spine, but that they do an ultrasound-guided biopsy on the lump. Ashley will be biopsied this week and the results of that biopsy will determine what happens next. If it comes back positive for melanoma, she will undergo a round of the immunotherapy drug, Keytruda, followed by surgery.
This is a fairly new idea (treatment before surgery), but is showing increased outcomes for even stage IV patients with metastatic melanoma. If it comes back negative, a watch-and-wait method is likely for both the spine and the lump. Between $40 co-pays every time she sees one of these doctors, gas to get back and forth to Portland for all of these visits, 2 PET/CT scans in the last 3 months, possible immunotherapy and surgery costs and never fully catching up on all of her medical bills from 2018, Ashley needs our help.
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Ten years ago, Ashley was diagnosed with melanoma stage 1b. She had surgery and was declared cancer free, with little chance it would ever return. In April 2017, however, she discovered that the cancer had in fact returned and had spread to her regional lymph nodes meaning she had progressed to stage 3a. She had surgery to remove the cancerous lymph nodes followed by a very intense immunotherapy regimen, in the form of a drug called Yervoy. The Yervoy caused her to become very ill, landed her in the hospital and caused drastic weight loss in a short period of time. It took months for her to fully recover.
In April 2018, Ashley discovered that once again the cancer had returned and spread to more of her regional lymph nodes. She underwent another surgery and had the infected lymph nodes removed. Her pathology from that surgery revealed that the cancer had also spread to her soft tissue this time, which means a more intense treatment is in store for Ashley. On July 16, she adds another oncologist to her care team in the form of a radiation oncologist. She will undergo weeks of radiation before meeting with her medical oncologist to go over what treatment will look like. It is likely to be more immunotherapy in the form of a different drug combination that is approved for people with her specific melanoma mutation. The timeline for the immunotherapy is unknown at this point.
Unfortunately the bills are already piling up for her, even with insurance. Between copays and coinsurance and traveling to and from all of these appointments, it sometimes feels overwhelming. She deserves the ability to focus entirely on getting well for her sweet little kiddos, and not worrying about how she is going to afford her medical bills.
If you know Ashley (or even if you don't!) and have been wondering how you might be possibly be able to help her during this difficult time in her life, your support is wonderfully appreciated.
This is a fairly new idea (treatment before surgery), but is showing increased outcomes for even stage IV patients with metastatic melanoma. If it comes back negative, a watch-and-wait method is likely for both the spine and the lump. Between $40 co-pays every time she sees one of these doctors, gas to get back and forth to Portland for all of these visits, 2 PET/CT scans in the last 3 months, possible immunotherapy and surgery costs and never fully catching up on all of her medical bills from 2018, Ashley needs our help.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ten years ago, Ashley was diagnosed with melanoma stage 1b. She had surgery and was declared cancer free, with little chance it would ever return. In April 2017, however, she discovered that the cancer had in fact returned and had spread to her regional lymph nodes meaning she had progressed to stage 3a. She had surgery to remove the cancerous lymph nodes followed by a very intense immunotherapy regimen, in the form of a drug called Yervoy. The Yervoy caused her to become very ill, landed her in the hospital and caused drastic weight loss in a short period of time. It took months for her to fully recover.
In April 2018, Ashley discovered that once again the cancer had returned and spread to more of her regional lymph nodes. She underwent another surgery and had the infected lymph nodes removed. Her pathology from that surgery revealed that the cancer had also spread to her soft tissue this time, which means a more intense treatment is in store for Ashley. On July 16, she adds another oncologist to her care team in the form of a radiation oncologist. She will undergo weeks of radiation before meeting with her medical oncologist to go over what treatment will look like. It is likely to be more immunotherapy in the form of a different drug combination that is approved for people with her specific melanoma mutation. The timeline for the immunotherapy is unknown at this point.
Unfortunately the bills are already piling up for her, even with insurance. Between copays and coinsurance and traveling to and from all of these appointments, it sometimes feels overwhelming. She deserves the ability to focus entirely on getting well for her sweet little kiddos, and not worrying about how she is going to afford her medical bills.
If you know Ashley (or even if you don't!) and have been wondering how you might be possibly be able to help her during this difficult time in her life, your support is wonderfully appreciated.
Organizer and beneficiary
Sarah Stapley
Organizer
Ridgefield, WA
Ashley Beck
Beneficiary