Medical Miracle

My name is Ashley and I am someone that has had a first hand lesson on how tough and cruel this world can be......

I first arrived in Australia in 2008 to attend my sister’s graduation. I was mesmerised and impressed with what I saw and I told my parents that I would return to Australia as a University student, I was 14 at the time.

6 years later..... I kept to my promise and I passed my final high school exams. I made my way to Melbourne Australia where I would begin my journey as an international student.

The reason why I chose Australia is because I liked the environment, and ,most importantly, I liked the strong tennis culture. I myself am a staunch tennis fan and I contemplated the idea of playing tennis professionally, but I realised that I was not a Roger Federer in the making, so I chose IT. That in my opinion was a foot fault, but I pursued it.

As 12 months passed, I was fully immersed into my new life in Australia. Everything was going the way I wanted it to go, I was playing tennis, had a job , and a steady dating life. Long story short, my life was great, nothing in my mind could go wrong and I believed that I was invincible! However, as time went on...... I started to discover a few symptoms.... that were persistent and not going away.

In January 2014, I was beginning to feel numbness in my left arm, then that numbness extended to my legs and fingers. I began to experience difficulties with walking and began to experience ataxia. I experienced headaches that would last all day and would never wane off. I was losing my appetite and feeling quite lethargic. Even with these alarming symptoms, I ignored them up until July. I thought that they would go away eventually and I didn’t want to stress my family. However, during my late night shift at work, I fell asleep and that’s when I knew it was time to visit a doctor.

On the 10th of July, I had a ct scan at 8 am in the morning and I departed for work afterwards. Within a few hours, I received a call from my doctor requesting an immediate appointment. Internally, I knew that something was wrong with me, but I wasn’t ready to accept the truth and I wasn’t ready to disappoint my family, in particular, my mother. As I arrived, my doctor sat me down told me that the ct scan revealed that there was something in my brain...... I was devastated and cried my eyes out. I called my brother and sister, and we drove straight to the hospital where I would be undergoing tests. Little did I know that this would be the place where my story and journey begins.....

Affer several tests during a 4 day investigation period, I was scheduled for an appointment with my surgeon, who I shall not name. My surgeon diagnosed me with a pilocycstic astrocytoma. In English, it was a brain tumour that measured 11 cm in length, which was located under my brain stem and on top of my spine. My tumour was declared inoperable. As a first measure, I had to undergo a biopsy to grade my brain tumour.

On the 15th of July 2014, I had my first brain surgery performed, which took 9 nine hours. After extensive tests, my brain tumour was declared a grade 2, Non cancerous tumour. Even though I didn’t know what my future was going to look like, I was happy and grateful.

A few days later, I started my first course of chemotherapy. I went through my first appointment and I can only describe it in one word, exhausting. A few weeks passed by and I was beginning to experience the side effects of my treatment and there were many. However, things in my world took a turn for the worse, due to the fact that my tumour was located under my brain stem, it was blocking the normal flow of cervical fluid in my brain. So, that's when it was decided I needed a second brain surgery to install a permanent vp shunt. My chemotherapy was ceased and cancelled because of two reasons; firstly, I had an upcoming surgery, and my chemotherapy results showed that it was not working.

After my second surgery which lasted 2 hours, I was sent back to my ward where I would continue my isolated life where I only became well acquainted with my TV remote and the buzzer to readjust my bed. After a few weeks, it was decided that I would be undergoing radiation for 6 weeks and this might be able to fix my issues. After coming to an agreement, I was scheduled to start radiation in January 2015. After hearing this, my parents flew over to Melbourne to help me with my recovery. This would be their first time seeing me as they were waiting for their visas.

In December 2014, my parents met me for the first time as a sick man. They collapsed onto their knees and cried till their tear ducts became either disabled or dehydrated. They couldn't believe what was in front of them. I don't blame them as I was a different person. Another reason why my parents were crying was because I was due to celebrate my birthday within a few days. This was my 21st....

After celebrating my birthday in hospital, I was discharged from hospital and allowed to go home, which I did. Fast-forward to January 2015, I was nervous about my radiation therapy, and disappointed about missing the Australian open for the first time. My radiation course lasted 6 weeks and I improved drastically! I was able to walk and felt a lot stronger even I lost my ability to taste for 2 months afterwards.

The reports showed that my tumour was now 5 cm long from 11, which is not what I wanted, but it’s a start and possibly a sign for good things to follow. I was feeling so strong that I was no longer on my wheelchair and I returned to uni after a few deferments. My parents even flew back home thinking that im now okay, but as time ticked away, so did my health and I inevitably returned to the comfort of my wheelchair. This prompted my parents to return once again and help me find a solution.

It was discovered that I had a cyst pressing against my brain and I had to have a third surgery to remove the cyst. After 9 hours, it was gone, but my tumour still present.

In December 2016, I was reaching a state where I was fully dependent on my carers as I lost the ability to stand, write, feed myself, use the bathroom, shower myself, cook , and dress myself. This prompted a serious discussion with my medical team.

After witnessing my gradual decline in health, in January 2016, I was officially placed in Palliative care and given 12 months to live. My family and friends were internally destroyed and didn’t know what to do..... except for my dad. He took the opportunity to look for a different surgeon hoping that we could find a solution. We met 4 Surgeons, the first 3 all refused to offer any assistance. I was mentally already prepared to accept my imminent accension into the inevitable, but my father wasn’t. Then came the 4th surgeon, who unlike the others, was kind empathetic and patient. He looked into my scans and requested to take more scans, I happily accepted. A few days passed and he returned to me with the words” I believe I can remove your tumour.” Initially, we were skeptical and not truly convinced, but we were in no position to judge as we had no other options. As usual, I accepted the risks involved including the possibility of never being able to walk again, and on the 17th of April 2016, I had my 4th brain surgery, which lasted 10 hours.

I finally woke up after my surgery and I was met with the news.... MY TUMOUR WAS GONE! I couldn’t celebrate as I was in so much pain, but excited and happy.

After staying in hospital for 2 more months, I was eventually allowed to go home. My surgeon gave me strict orders and requested me to focus on my rehab. What my surgeon didn’t know is that I am an international student that is studying. He STRONGLY advised me to defer a year of uni and focus on rehab.

As everyone in my family knew, I was not going to listen because I love IT and nothing was going to stop me,not even a tumour. I went against my doctors wishes and I was studying, recovering and attending rehab at the same time.

Initially I was not strong enough to attend lectures. So, for one semester, my mother would push me in a wheelchair and attend my lectures with me.

During my rehad, I had to learn everything such as how to walk, write, cut food, tie my shoelaces, brush my hair and dress myself. All of this, plus my rigorous gym routine helped me.

As time went on, I started to move more freely and I became even stronger. I was eventually able to walk on my own and attend my own lectures alone. I was able to attend rehab alone, too.

After writing my final exam in November 2019, I was invited to attend a graduation event! I was over the moon and truly excited. After a week from graduation, I was able to land a job in IT support.

Now that I have graduated and landed a job, I really believed that sharing my journey could not only inspire my fellow disabled people, but to change society’s perception of people within the disability spectrum. We may have an altered gait, but our careers don’t have one.

Lastly and most importantly, even though I will never be able to drive, and I will never be the pro tennis player I dreamed of becoming, there’s one thing I will never do.... and that IS GIVING UP!!!

Thank you for reading 😁