knobby Posted October 21, 2010 Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 After many spells of headaches, nausea and dizziness; in July 2007 our cousin Ashley who is 25 years old, was diagnosed with a brain tumor the size of a softball. She immediately underwent a craniotomy to remove the tumor, however 10% could not be reached without causing more damage. At the time, her neurosurgeon thought her tumor to be slow growing and she was diagnosed with a Grade 2 Oligodendroglioma-Astrocytoma. In September 2008 Ashley underwent a second craniotomy due to the tumor doubling in size. At that time, Dr s took biopsies and slides and sent them all over the United States for testing and second opinions. The tumor had progressed to a stage III (of which there are only IV) Anaplastic Astrocytoma. This time Ashley took both radiation and chemotherapy treatments in order to stop the growth of the tumor. After starting to have problems again Ashley was able to secure an appointment with Dr. Parney at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. In July 2009 she underwent an extremely aggressive craniotomy and again they were able to remove a substantial amount of tumor, but not completely. Unfortunately, since January of 2010 she has made 11 trips to Mayo due to complications from the treatment of the brain tumor. Many of these trips have included surgeries and lengthy hospital stays. At present she is awaiting surgery for a skin graft to close the open wound on her head. However, she was told that after having an MRI, they are seeing significant changes and they need to perform a biopsy to confirm what they believe to be the cancer showing aggressive growth again. Ashley is an amazing, strong, courageous young woman. She continues to fight this battle on a daily basis not only for herself, but her 5 year old daughter Haylee and her family. To us, our production company is a way to express our love for waterfowling and hope that each and everyone of you enjoy watching what we do. We are currently filming our second DVD, "The Reality of it All" and are having a blast doing so! Just like every waterfowler, we have a burning passion for what we do, but we also strongly believe in putting our family first. In some way, shape or form, everyone of us have been affected by cancer, and at this time Ross and I are seeing first hand the effects it is having on our cousin, our familys and their lives. Our cousin Ashley is our hero and really gives us a reason to give it 100% everyday, because on our worst day we have never experienced what she is going through. With that the financial stress that is put on a person and their family is sometimes hard to cope with. Ross and I have decided that we will take $5 from every DVD sale we make, being online or from a retail store and it will go towards Ashley and her family, to help with whatever they need help with. Like I have always said, what we do isn't about making money for us but helping those in need, and we will continue to do so as long as we can! Go to http://www.lochmin.com to purchase our latest DVD, "Working for Waterfowl", we appreciate all of your donations! Sincerely, Ryan and Ross Knobloch Loch'M In Waterfowl http://www.lochmin.com (Moderators, this does not benefit Ryan and I financially, I hope we can keep this post up, she needs all the help we can gather up.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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