August 6th 2018 will always be known as Ashtyn’s third and final lifesaving bone marrow transplant birthday. I emailed her oncologist Dr. Luke Maese in Salt Lake City to check in, update him on how the week went, and rejoice in the fact that she received her bone marrow transplant. His response, “Amazing! Three bone marrow transplants. Unreal. Most people would not believe it possible. And in nearly every case I'm sure that is true. But Ashtyn, as we know of course, is quite a UNIQUE patient. I'm so proud of the both of you. Reflecting on all you've been through is awe-inspiring. You're journey inspires hope. Although not yet complete I hope you both have reflected on how significant an accomplishment today was (I just got goosebumps thinking about it). Stay positive and stay strong. And let me know if there's anything I can do to help.” Like Luke said, although not yet complete, I want to reflect on the blessings that got us to where we are today. Thank you to all of you for reading her updates and for your support, thoughts, prayers, fasts, comments, and heartfelt concern. It’s what gives her the strength to do the things she does. I am extremely grateful for everything that has been done for us. We know we aren’t doing this alone and it’s been remarkable. There are so many difficult things that happen every single day, I would never be able to write them all down. Even more so, there are so many good things that happen every single day, I’d have to write a daily novel to include them all. We truly are blessed.
If you want to give Ashtyn a bone marrow transplant birthday present, you can donate at gofundme.com/ashtynsarmy or Venmo:ashtynsarmy Every single dime goes directly to Ashtyn where she can start looking forward to fulfilling her dreams. I’m positive the money will open doors in her future that will allow her to pay everything forward, using all her experiences to help others. There’s no pressure at all. Ashtyn’s Army has been so generous with support and we feel very loved.
She did everything that was asked of her and more to get to this point. Now she’ll do everything needed to survive the next several weeks, begin recovery, and come home.
