Skip to main content

Our Normal Life

Sometimes it amazes me how normal things can be.  Our daily life is much like everyone's, the kids go to school, Joey and I go to work, Brad plays baseball and Ashley dances.  School started here a few weeks ago and Ashley is loving all of her classes and her teachers; she is the top dog, an 8th grader.  We got so involved in the normalcy of our life that we I completely forgot that Ashley has a trip to the Shands Liver Clinic next Friday.  To prepare for our two hour trip to Gainesville, Ashley needs to have blood work done this week, she needs to see her pediatrician for her 13 year old physical (I think I will schedule Brad's 15 year old physical as well).  So as normal as our life seems with school, work, dance and baseball, it really isn't all that normal when compared to others.

We are excited about Ashley dancing/competing again this year.  She will be doing two solos, a duet and 3 group numbers.  I am looking forward to NOT having to fundraise to keep her dancing. I work the first UCF Knights Football game this Saturday.  I am praying that we make some good money.  The more money I make for Ashley that less I have to fundraise and the more time I have with my family.  We are still looking at getting people to sponsor Ashley with dance competition.  Ashley said if we can get 5 people to sponsor $100 that would be very helpful. (Ashley likes to dream, she dreams big). This may be Ashley's last year competiting so we want to make the best of it.  We hope it's not but with her starting high school next year, she is going to be even more busy with academics not to mention a high school social life. Don't worry though, Ashley will always be dancing somewhere, it could be at her current studio, or at a workshop, a masters class or even her high school dance team.   Dance is in Ashley's blood, her great grandma was a beautiful ballerina.

Ashley and some of her friends after a dance competiton.
From left to right:  Ashley, Kylie, Alexa, Delaney and Ari



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ashley's Story

“Although Ashley’s liver is failing, she isn’t sick enough to be placed on the liver transplant list. We were told that Ashley would need a new liver by the time she reaches puberty." Ashley was born at the end of July in 1998, but her story doesn’t start there;her story begins when she was just a little peanut in my womb. At 24 weeks gestation we learned we were having a girl, but our little girl had something wrong with her. Imagine sitting in the examining room, and the excitement of learning you are having a girl, then at the same time you hear the silence in the room when something is just not right with the baby. We were told that Ashley possibly had an ovarian cyst. It was normal and not to worry. But something told us it was more than just an ovarian cyst. As soon as Ashley was delivered she struggled to live. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice, and she was blue. Thankfully the doctor cut the cord immediately and although Ashley was still blue; she was b
7 comments
Read more

Answers lead to more Questions

In great Ashley fashion, she did very well with her trip to the hospital and recovered well from the procedure. Right now, Ashley is off with her Grammie getting spoiled by shopping. With no one in the house but me and the pets, I am off to my own devices which usually means I have to much time to think, to research, to worry, to vent, to hope and to pray. Today Ashley had a broncioscope to find out why she has been coughing for six months. After getting up at 4:30 am and at the hospital at 6 am, the scope began at approximately 7:30 am. The procedure itself took less than 30 minutes. The outcome of the procedure left me with more questions than answers. We do know why Ashley is coughing, Ashley has a vocal cord dysfunction, enlarged adnenoids and tonsils. Finding out why Ashley is coughing is good news, however, we also learned that Ashley may have other issues involving her lungs. There was 60mL of fluid in her lungs. Some samples of her lungs were sent for a cell count, bacterial cu
3 comments
Read more

All About Ashley - Dance, Liver, Life.

Ashley has been busy this year with dance.  She is simply amazing and has grown so much as a dancer this year. I am very proud of her.  Each year as Ashley continues to dance, it has become increasingly hard to pay for her love of dance.  However, some how by the grace of God we are able to continue to support her talent and love. I mean really how can you possibly say no to this. and this... and of course this.... and this too.... Amazing isn't she? Remarkably or miraculously dance seems to be what is keeping Ashley so healthy.  Her doctors are in firm belief that her dance is providing her with healing powers that they just don't have.  Ashley's liver disease is stable after 13 years of fighting this beast called biliary atresia.   Note: I said stable not cured.  Her liver function appears to be normal...for now.  The only issue we are dealing with is Ashley's platelet count is continuing to drop.  At present time, her platelet count is
3 comments
Read more