Help Becca knock out this cancer!
Donation protected
Hello everyone! A little about myself. My name is Rebecca Ashlock I'm 47yrs old. I've been married for 24 yrs almost 25 this Dec 9th 2018. I have 3 wonderful children who are now all in their 20's, Andrew, Joshua & Dalton. I worked for a great company called JW Power they provide engines/compressor units for Natural gas & build CNG stations. I've been in this industry going on 18yrs. I'm an obsessive animal person I have 5 dogs now 3 poms & 2 pits due to dumping. If I could take in all the homeless, abused animals I would. I love photography, reading & all types of music!
Now about why I'm on a funding site in this time of my life... I will start from the beginning. In June of 2014 I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. It was a large tumor 10cm, Testosterone +, estrogen neg. Due to the size of the tumor I had to do chemo for 4 months to shrink before removal. I did what they called ACT dose dense chemo. After chemo I chose to go with a full mastectomy hoping never to do BC again. We did surgery Nov 24th 2014. In Jan 2015 I was declared cancer free. We have decent insurance, Blue Cross/Blue Shield but what we didn't know is there is a catastrophic medical deductible of $14k that had to be met every year. Some procedures were 100% some were met at 80%. We recently changed to top tier Blue Cross/Blue Shield now my deductible is $5k a year.
March 1st 2017 I went into the doctor for what I thought was a chest cold. They did an X-ray saw something and sent me to talk to my oncologist Dr Robert Reynolds. He did a MRI of the brain & full body cat scan. On March 7th he did a biopsy of lung & right Lymphatic system. On March 9th I got a call at work, my cancer was back with a vengeance. He scheduled me into his office for Tuesday March 14th. I was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer of the lungs, brain & right lymphatic system. Hearing I had cancer the first time was hard, but hearing it was back & had spread was devastating!
I started chemotherapy April 6th 2017. I was doing chemo every Thurs 2 weeks on 1 week off. We started with a chemo called Gemzar. It was tough but I continued to work 32hrs a week. In July we scanned and I got devastating news once again, my cancer had grown. It was time to go aggressive. Along with new chemo came a new schedule. It was now time to go out on disability/Fmla. Unfortunately your income isn't part of that plan! My short term started Aug 3rd when my new chemo Navelbine/Vitrobine started. I am currently doing chemo every week. We are having trouble keeping my blood levels up so a lot of shots called Pro. Crit & a white blood cell booster called Nuelasta which I take in injector form & blood transfusions usually every two-three weeks. We scanned again Sept 2017 and my brain cancer is gone but not the lung cancer. My oncologist Dr Robert Reynolds of Mercy here in OKC told me I had roughly a 32-38% statistical chance to live 5 years. I have now done 6 chemos since April of 2017 and I’m currently on one called Ixempra since June 2018. It is the harshest so far. A lot of nasty side effects. It puts me down for roughly 10 days before I even start feeling better. I get about 5 decent days before next treatment. The only good is the cancer shrunk 15% at my last scan! So this Ixempra seems to be working. I plan on fighting hard to show everyone statistics don’t mean a thing with my God! I re scan Dec 10 2018 and I pray it continues to work and I’m continuing to head in the right direction! Whatever happens I’m grateful for the time I have.
I believe at my age i shouldn't have to ask for help and it's hard to ask. I believe I should be stable but I wasn’t ready for this at all. We cut goin out to eat like we use to, We use lots of grocery coupons & changed our cell phone plans & cut out internet at home. We went to basic TV We aren't too proud to buy cheap movies ☺️ We haven’t taken a vacation since 2013. This year 2018 Has been more difficult especially at the holidays. I used all of my 401k to keep our medical debt to a minimum. So I decided to update the gofundme account and swallow my pride!
. With the financial, medical & emotional toll cancer has taken it's been hard to stay positive and keep fighting. 22 months is a long time and I never thought it would be such a long journey! I have some rough days but my good days remind me why I fight. I try to find the good in every day & stay positive.
I Thank you for listening to my story. If you can help in any way financially it would be a great Blessing! all prayers as well as advice are appreciated! If you have been through or know someone who has had MBC any advice for the nausea, bone pain etc would be very appreciated.
I want to send out a Thank you to all our supporters and family if I did not have you this would be almost impossible! All my love & gratitude. I hope one day I'm here cancer free and able to pay the Blessings forward. May God Bless you always!
Now about why I'm on a funding site in this time of my life... I will start from the beginning. In June of 2014 I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. It was a large tumor 10cm, Testosterone +, estrogen neg. Due to the size of the tumor I had to do chemo for 4 months to shrink before removal. I did what they called ACT dose dense chemo. After chemo I chose to go with a full mastectomy hoping never to do BC again. We did surgery Nov 24th 2014. In Jan 2015 I was declared cancer free. We have decent insurance, Blue Cross/Blue Shield but what we didn't know is there is a catastrophic medical deductible of $14k that had to be met every year. Some procedures were 100% some were met at 80%. We recently changed to top tier Blue Cross/Blue Shield now my deductible is $5k a year.
March 1st 2017 I went into the doctor for what I thought was a chest cold. They did an X-ray saw something and sent me to talk to my oncologist Dr Robert Reynolds. He did a MRI of the brain & full body cat scan. On March 7th he did a biopsy of lung & right Lymphatic system. On March 9th I got a call at work, my cancer was back with a vengeance. He scheduled me into his office for Tuesday March 14th. I was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer of the lungs, brain & right lymphatic system. Hearing I had cancer the first time was hard, but hearing it was back & had spread was devastating!
I started chemotherapy April 6th 2017. I was doing chemo every Thurs 2 weeks on 1 week off. We started with a chemo called Gemzar. It was tough but I continued to work 32hrs a week. In July we scanned and I got devastating news once again, my cancer had grown. It was time to go aggressive. Along with new chemo came a new schedule. It was now time to go out on disability/Fmla. Unfortunately your income isn't part of that plan! My short term started Aug 3rd when my new chemo Navelbine/Vitrobine started. I am currently doing chemo every week. We are having trouble keeping my blood levels up so a lot of shots called Pro. Crit & a white blood cell booster called Nuelasta which I take in injector form & blood transfusions usually every two-three weeks. We scanned again Sept 2017 and my brain cancer is gone but not the lung cancer. My oncologist Dr Robert Reynolds of Mercy here in OKC told me I had roughly a 32-38% statistical chance to live 5 years. I have now done 6 chemos since April of 2017 and I’m currently on one called Ixempra since June 2018. It is the harshest so far. A lot of nasty side effects. It puts me down for roughly 10 days before I even start feeling better. I get about 5 decent days before next treatment. The only good is the cancer shrunk 15% at my last scan! So this Ixempra seems to be working. I plan on fighting hard to show everyone statistics don’t mean a thing with my God! I re scan Dec 10 2018 and I pray it continues to work and I’m continuing to head in the right direction! Whatever happens I’m grateful for the time I have.
I believe at my age i shouldn't have to ask for help and it's hard to ask. I believe I should be stable but I wasn’t ready for this at all. We cut goin out to eat like we use to, We use lots of grocery coupons & changed our cell phone plans & cut out internet at home. We went to basic TV We aren't too proud to buy cheap movies ☺️ We haven’t taken a vacation since 2013. This year 2018 Has been more difficult especially at the holidays. I used all of my 401k to keep our medical debt to a minimum. So I decided to update the gofundme account and swallow my pride!
. With the financial, medical & emotional toll cancer has taken it's been hard to stay positive and keep fighting. 22 months is a long time and I never thought it would be such a long journey! I have some rough days but my good days remind me why I fight. I try to find the good in every day & stay positive.
I Thank you for listening to my story. If you can help in any way financially it would be a great Blessing! all prayers as well as advice are appreciated! If you have been through or know someone who has had MBC any advice for the nausea, bone pain etc would be very appreciated.
I want to send out a Thank you to all our supporters and family if I did not have you this would be almost impossible! All my love & gratitude. I hope one day I'm here cancer free and able to pay the Blessings forward. May God Bless you always!
Organizer
Becca Ashlock
Organizer
Oklahoma City, OK