Help Shaffer family with medical costs

Hi, my name is Heather Holdsworth. This is a story about a girl named Ashley; not just any girl, but my sister and my best friend.

Last year after trying for months, she was blessed with being pregnant with her third child. Everything was going well until she was 9 weeks pregnant. She came home from working a midnight shift in the ICU to find her ankles extremely swollen. After visiting with her OB, they found that she had very high blood pressure and very low potassium levels. This led to more doctor appointments with specialists and more tests/procedures. They also found that the genetic testing they had on the baby came back inconclusive; diagnosing Ashley with another rare disease “Copy Number Variant”; this usually means there is blood cancer or a tumor; so, more tests and more procedures.

May 11 she had a full body MRI which showed a 14cm mass on her right adrenal gland and she was told she needed to have surgery immediately to remove it.

Her surgery was May 31, 2023 and after nearly 10 hours of surgery she was sent to the surgical ICU. The surgeon had removed the tumor, which ended up being the size of a football, but Ashley was incredibly unstable, lost 21,000ml of blood, left on life support, and left partially open.

The next day, June 1, 2023 at 8:17am, Ashley delivered her son. He survived the surgery, but being put on bypass and losing all of the blood was too much for his little body and he gained his angel wings. Justin and Ashley will forever be grateful to beautiful Baby Noah because he saved her life; without him, she would not have had all the tests and procedures performed as quickly as she did.

Ashley went back for a second surgery June 2 to wash out and close up her incision. Although successful, she had complications for the next few days with her heart rate and oxygen levels. A CT scan showed a part of her tumor broken off and was blocking her pulmonary artery, making her breathing more and more difficult. She went in for a third surgery on June 9th, open heart surgery this time. She was placed on cardiopulmonary bypass and they successfully removed the tumor.

On June 13 the doctors confirmed their worst fear. Ashley was diagnosed with Adrenocortical Carcinoma. A very rare and aggressive form of adrenal cancer, affecting 1 in one million people per year. She was diagnosed Stage 3 due to the size of the tumor alone. After 15 days in the ICU, Ashley was finally discharged home.

She spent the next 2.5 months recovering at home and on August 1st she had a post op/pre chemo scan which unfortunately showed that the cancer had returned but was now in her liver. She was now diagnosed Stage 4.

She began treatment at the University of Michigan after finding a specialist in her cancer. Her Chemotherapy started August 30 with EDP + Mitotane. They also found out during this time, after more genetic testing, that Ashley is positive for Lynch Syndrome, which means her chances of getting cancer are higher than the general populations.

After completing her first round of chemo she began losing her hair. Losing her hair was an emotional rollercoaster and felt like another thing being taken from her. She lost her baby because of the surgery, she lost her job because of her condition, and now she was losing her beautiful long hair.

After 2 months of chemotherapy, the doctors changed her treatment to immunotherapy because the tumors on her liver were still growing.

She has undergone 2 rounds of immunotherapy with her third round due January 31st. The doctors have also discussed adding an additional medication if her current scans are worse than before. This medication costs $28,000.00 for a one month supply.

Like all cancers, there is no cure for Adrenocortical Carcinoma. Unlike other cancers, there is no cut and dry treatment for ACC because of how rare it is. A lot of medications are not covered by insurance because there is not enough research available to show whether or not treatment can be effective.

Ashley is currently applying for assistance programs to help cover the costs of this medication and her immunotherapy. The Shaffers are not ones to ask for help, but trying to keep my sister alive and well, should not put them into debt.

I’m making this GoFundMe for her, Justin, and their two sweet girls Charlotte and Eleanor. To help them with this battle, please donate if you are able. Thank you.

To read a more indepth version of Ashley’s story, please visit her facebook page. She posts updates about her current condition and the plans that the doctors come up with after every appointment.