Ashleigh's Story
written by mom Sherry

Ashleigh was born 6 weeks and 1 day early. The doctor was a little worried because they considered 6 weeks the cut off date for lung development, etc. So as soon as she was born, she was carefully monitored. Ashleigh's birth weight was 4 lb. 10 oz., but within 24 hours she was off of oxygen, and functioning on her own.

Ashleigh was a perfect baby and toddler. She loved to play and sing, and her favorite phrases at the age of 18 months were "I pretty" and "I love you". She has always had a way of gravitating to hurting people and making them feel better.

At the age of 3½, Ashleigh, her daddy and I were in the front seat of our car on the way home. Ashleigh had complained of not feeling well and suddenly she vomited. She had been so healthy all her life, that after she did it, she said "What was that?". We just figured she had a stomach bug, took her home and put her to bed. Over the next year, Ashleigh would have occasional bouts of sickness, usually a headache followed by vomiting, then feeling fine. It happened so infrequently that we didn't think much of it. We mentioned it to her doctor and he said they were probably just some of the many illnesses that children deal with.

At the age of 4½, we took Ashleigh to a new pediatrician. We mentioned the headaches and vomiting, along with the fact that migraine headaches run in my family. The doctor agreed that that was probably all that it was but made us an appointment for a CT Scan just to rule out "other things". The day we went for Ashleigh's CT will always be remembered as one of the worst days of my life. After sending us for an MRI also, the doctor called me in to tell me the news that broke my heart and changed our lives: "Your daughter has a brain tumor". Up until that point in my life, that was the worst thing anyone had ever told me. All I could think was "No! Not my baby!", but denial could not change the facts.

Ashleigh had surgery at the age of 4 years and 9 months to remove a malignant brain tumor from the 4th ventricle of her brain. It was called an Ependymoma. Because of the fact that they thought they got it all out, no follow up treatment was done. We had follow-up MRIs every 3 months, then every 6 months. The weeks leading up to each one of those was nerve wracking for us, then the weeks following each clear scan were wonderful.

Thirteen days after her 6th birthday, we finally provided Ashleigh with her dream come true - a baby sister, Emma. She was immediately in love with Emma. To see the love she had for her so quickly was amazing. When Emma was 3 months old, we had another follow-up MRI. It was 3 days after that MRI that our doctor called to tell us the horrible news... Ashleigh had another tumor. Two days later she underwent another brain surgery, this time to remove a well differentiated Ependymoma Grade 2, followed by 3 months of chemotherapy and 7 weeks of radiation. Once again we were back to the every 3 month MRI and the wait and see, wait and see.

On July 28th, 2000, Ashleigh had another follow-up MRI. Once again, our world was shattered. Her cancer had returned, this time an Anaplastic Ependymoma Grade 3, back to its original spot, along with a new spot at the top of her brain and one at the base of her spine. Our precious angel was given a 20-30% chance of beating this evil disease.

Despite all of this, Ashleigh did not let anything get her down. Physically she was feeling fine, and mentally she was stronger than any of us. She said "Mommy and Daddy, don't worry about me. Jesus is already healing me." She was a wonderful child, full of optimism and love. She was truly a light in an otherwise dark world.

So much has happened since Ashleigh was featured on MACS. Right after she was featured, in November 2000, we were contacted by the Maury Povich Show because they had been looking for a child to do a story on. We flew to New York City where we were on the show. Ashleigh was presented with all kinds of gifts and surprises. Probably the best was that we got to meet Alex, founder of MACS! That was great!

Ashleigh and I also got to do quite a bit of sightseeing, and while we were shopping at FAO Schwartz, we met Joey Fatone from *NSYNC! It was a great trip for us and made some very good memories.

The month after we went to New York, in December 2000, we had a house fire in which we lost almost everything we had. Our community was wonderful, as well as our insurance company, and we were able to replace most of our material belongings. We lived in a series of rental homes until August 2003 when we bought the home we now live in

The saddest part of our story (and our lives) is that on March 28th, 2001, Ashleigh passed away. She was 8 years, 3 months, and 27 days old. I cannot put into words the loss, sadness, and disbelief that we felt, and still feel. She was an Angel here on Earth, and nothing can ever fill the void she left. I am glad to say, though, that she passed very peacefully in her sleep, while I was holding her in my arms. I would not have wanted it to happen any other way.

It is hard to believe so much time has passed since Ashleigh left us. In a way it seems like she was just here, and in a way it seems like forever since I have gotten to hold her. We miss her like nothing I can explain.
I would just like to say a big "Thank You!" to the whole Make A Child Smile community, and everyone who showered Ashleigh with love. She was a treasure, and I am so glad you all got to be a part of her life.