A 30-year-old teacher who had over one hundred tumors in her body refused to know her prognosis because she wanted to live out the rest of her life without fear.
Ashley Wyss was a dedicated teacher from Clintonville, Ohio, who was just 21 years old when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
As her condition worsened over the years, there was a time when doctors found over one hundred tumors in the young woman’s lungs.
Despite her situation, Ashley refused to find out her prognosis because she wanted to live out the rest of her life without fear.
“It was definitely a shock, but I felt like I needed to be the strong one for my parents and friends since I was so young,” she previously said of her diagnosis.
Ashley was first diagnosed with the disease in 2011 after discovering a lump on her neck. While the teacher went into remission that same year after doctors removed her thyroid and 42 lymph nodes, the disease resurfaced in 2013, resulting in another procedure during which additional 20 lymph nodes were removed.
By the year 2015, Ashley’s doctors discovered over 100 tumors in the then-25-year-old’s lungs. After starting grueling oral chemotherapy to combat the illness, Ashley admitted feeling “miserable” whereas her therapy forced her to spend most of her time on bed rest.
Throughout the years, the teacher refused to find out her prognosis and continued living her life to the fullest.
In 2017, a year after marrying the love of her life, Ashley became one of the first twenty patients in the world to receive an experimental anti-cancer drug known as Loxo 292.
While the drug appeared to be effective at the beginning, the disease eventually returned. After one of the tumors located on her spine caused her vertebrae to crack, Ashley underwent surgery during which metal rods were inserted into her spine to allow her to continue walking.
After resuming her Loxo 292 treatment, Ashley allegedly started “feeling great” and continued her job as a teacher. On the side, she also started working as a fitness and health influencer.
“I’ve never asked what my prognosis is, and it’s not something I will ask. I’m all about living in the present and taking each day as it comes,” she previously expressed.
“I’d rather not worry about the future and the ‘what ifs!’”
On Sunday, the inspirational 30-year-old passed away at her home in Clintonville in the presence of her family. May she rest in peace.
Replaced!