Back in September, when Ashleigh Massey was preparing to head back to school for the fall, she complained to her mom about some discomfort in her right leg. Because Ashleigh is only 12, her mom though her daughter was simply going through growing pains as a preteen.
But just a month later, her mom found Ashley collapsed on the sofa at home, in tears because her leg was causing her so much pain.
The Massey parents rushed their daughter to the hospital, where doctors did a preliminary assessment and allowed Ashleigh to return home.
The Masseys believed this to be a good sign – until they received a follow-up call from the doctors, asking Ashleigh to come back.
They wanted to take an X-ray, run an MRI scan, and complete several blood tests to be certain.
Once these results came in, doctors were able to tell the young girl and her parents the truth: Ashley had osteosarcoma, bone cancer.
Ashleigh’s father, Chris, remembered, “'My wife and I looked at each other with one eye on our daughter and we were absolutely devastated.”
The doctors immediately put Ashleigh on chemotherapy treatment, in hopes of keeping the tumor from growing too quickly and even potentially reducing its size.
Ashleigh admits that she was “quite shocked and a little bit worried” when she first got the news. “The scariest thing for me has been losing my blonde hair because of the chemotherapy, that really upset me,” she confessed.
Now, Ashleigh is scheduled to have an operation to remove the tumor later this month.
Doctors are hoping that this operation will be precisely what Ashleigh needs to overcome the disease once and for all, and as for the Massey family — now that it’s been a while since Ashleigh’s diagnosis, they’re immensely grateful that the doctors were so persistent in getting to the root of their daughter’s problem.
“If that registrar had not made that call on this gut feeling…then we wouldn't have been this far on. If he had not have spotted it then it might only have been picked up if she had broken her leg or something like that and at that point, we could have been looking at an amputation or even worse,” Chris said.
Our hearts go out to the family during this difficult time. If you can, please donate to help with Ashleigh’s medical funds here.
