Ashley Hallford is a mama, a wife and a warrior.
Today, the 35-year-old mother of three is happy, healthy and living life with her beautiful tribe. But 10 years ago, Ashley’s life looked much different.
Ashley Hallford
A young wife, Ashley was ecstatic to learn that she and her husband, David, were expecting their first child. The Georgia couple was overwhelmed with joy, and could not wait to meet their little blessing.
Just before getting pregnant, Ashley had discovered a knot in the back of her head. It wasn’t bothersome, and she really had no reason to think about it, so Ashley just “wrote it off as a lymph node.”
But as she progressed through her pregnancy, the knot became painful, and the symptoms worsened. Joy quickly turned to worry as the Hallfords learned that the knot was not only serious, but also cancerous.
“Pathologists from all over the country studied the lump,” Ashley explained. “They all agreed that it was a rare and very aggressive, possibly hormonally fueled, cancer. But nobody could diagnose it.”
Ashley was induced early at just 33 weeks so that she could begin treatments.
God worked a miracle.
“We were preparing for our son to spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit. But when he was born, he didn’t have to. He got to go home two days later. The NICU doctor came in to see us, and he said that never in his career had he seen a 33-week term baby not go to the NICU, even for evaluation. That was just a miracle.”
Just four days after giving birth to her son, Ashley was rolled into surgery. Doctors removed the mass from her head and performed tests on it to determine what they were dealing with.
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Five weeks later, after what must have seemed like a lifetime of waiting, test results concluded that the cancer had spread. Ashley’s brain, both of her lungs, as well as her liver showed traces of the killer. Doctors diagnosed her with stage 4 cancer.
They performed a full-body scan and learned of cancerous spots throughout her body. Experts said that her brain tumor was inoperable, and they were quickly running out of time.
“At that point, they stopped trying to figure out what it was, saying, ‘We need to start treating her, or she’s gonna die.’”
Over the course of six weeks, Ashley’s poor body took on the maximum lifetime dosage of radiation. But the treatments weren’t working, and the tumors continued to progress.