We are heartbroken to hear that our Cancer Cutie for the month of June passed away on May 24th. When we received Afton's story we knew we needed to feature her and share her positivity and courageous fight with cancer. Afton was one remarkable beautiful lady. We are sharing her story and will continue to collect donations for her family. All our love and prayers are with the Wallace family at this difficult time.
This month of June lets pay it forward. Live each day as if it was your last. Keep Afton's memory alive and pay it forward.
Afton Wallace is a vivacious young woman, full of life and full of vigor. She faces each day with a smile and her influence has been great! With thousands of followers on her Facebook page and thousands more in her local community, she has touched so many lives. She says, “when you have a video and it’s been viewed 5,000 times or it’s reached over 20,000 people… it’s very impactful,” she said. “It’s like wow, something that is happening in my life is — well people comment and say how much it impacts them and how much it inspires them, and it’s really cool for me.” Afton said the feedback she’s gotten from social media reminds her to stay positive. “It helps me a lot to be like ok, I need to put a smile on my face because this isn’t just about me,” she said. “I’m helping other people with my trials and my willingness to stay positive about this.”
The initial diagnosis:
May 25 2014. Another gut wrenching day. After 8 weeks and 8 doctors trying to solve the cause of her pain in her hip, Afton received the diagnosis that she has a form of bone cancer named Ewings Sarcoma.This cancer is very aggressive and has spread throughout her body. Although treatable, it metastasized and spread throughout her entire abdominal region with spots in her liver, spleen, and other internal organs. The main cancer is in her pelvic bone but has spread to the skull, and spine as well. Those in the skull are the most worrisome. One is pressing on the top of the brain and the other near the pituitary gland, causing slurred speech and potential endocrinological issues. Treatment started immediately to try to reduce the tumors so she could be free of the pain….
Since Afton was diagnosed, she has spent
120 days in the hospital, undergone 45 radiation treatments and received 70 doses of chemotherapy. Regardless that many of these treatments took place nearly 3 hours from her home, She's had hundreds of visitors.
May 2015: After being crowned homecoming queen, named Miss Warren Central High School, chosen as class favorite and voted captain of the swim team, we got the devastating news that not only was the treatment not working, but in the past 6 weeks her tumors have tripled in size and have dramatically increased in number. There are no further standard treatment options available and the tumors are growing so fast they do not believe we will have enough time for her body to recover enough from the latest chemo and radiation treatments for her to qualify for a clinical trial. In fact, they feel that she less than 3 months to live.
Even with this heart-wrenching news, Afton kept on at it. Her motto has been "Just Keep Swimming". When she first went to the hospital and was paralyzed, she immediately started doing dips on her walker. She should have been paralyzed, but she fought through the pain and is walking.
Her dream is to attend college this fall. Cancer hasn't stopped her from taking numerous AP classes, scoring a 33 on her ACT and receiving a full-tuition scholarship from Brigham Young University.
We pray for her to find release from the pain and to know that we've done all we can do to take care of her and that she will be happy.
You can donate here www.psiaodreyou.com and every penny of your donation will go to her family. Afton,Thank you for teaching us courage and strength.
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