It was November 2022, and ASK mom Ashley was gearing up for her one-year-old son Easton’s second Christmas. The family was excited to be together again, ready for a holiday season filled with joy and celebration. However, Easton started having medical issues, and his mom was worried he may have a fractured knee. She took Easton to several doctors appointments throughout November and December to determine what was wrong. It wasn’t until January 2023 that they finally received an answer.
Ashley and her family's entire world immediately turned upside down. Now, the start of winter brings Ashley right back to the day she heard those chilling words: “Your little boy has cancer.”
“It was like we were in a tunnel and our ears were ringing with all of the medical terminology and testing,” Ashley remembers. Once they received Easton’s official diagnosis – B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia – he immediately began chemotherapy treatments, spinal taps, and hospital stays.
“ASK was with us from the first day of diagnosis when we were inpatient and in the ASK Clinic. Our first Christmas immediately after diagnosis was really hard because we couldn’t be with our extended family and do the typical Christmas activities, but ASK arrived with presents and good cheer for the entire family and saved our holiday,” - Ashley, ASK Kid Easton's Mom
While Easton currently faces as many as three years of active treatment, ASK will be at his family’s side to provide them with the resources, services, and community they need to get through it.
Now that he is in the maintenance phase of treatment, Easton and his two older siblings can expand their participation into more events like ASK Night at the Diamond, programs like Summer Camp, and sibling-only socials. Being the sibling of a medically complex child can be isolating, and these events help them feel special and build relationships with other siblings who have similar life experiences to theirs. Ashley is looking forward to a time when things return to normal for her family.
“My biggest fear is that Easton will be developmentally delayed because of the really strong treatments at such a young age. At one point, he stopped walking and had to relearn how to crawl, walk, and run, but his resilience amazes me,” Ashley continues. “The silver lining in this diagnosis is that he received it at such a young age and he thinks taking medicine daily is normal. He’s a fighter, so we fight with him. He will have photos of when he was bald, but now he has long, curly hair hanging in his eyes. He won’t remember all of the hard days.”
This year, the holidays will be filled with extended family once again, as well as lots of fun and togetherness with their ASK community at the upcoming Holiday Party.
“ASK celebrates the entire family at Christmas and we are so grateful that they see and hear our older children as well as Easton. We could never say thank you enough!”