ATHENS, Tennessee — This year, Ashley McDonald gained a whole new perspective on life. While 2023 didn't come wrapped the way she expected, it was still a gift.
This wife and mother of two was born and raised in McMinn County. She still lives there and is surrounded by friends and family on an everyday basis. She stays busy but says she has always struggled with anxiety.
"This was the year I was going to overcome fear," McDonald said. She remembers telling her mom at the beginning of 2023 that it was going to be her year. "At that time, I had no clue that I was about to really overcome fear. God had different plans for that, with how I thought I would overcome fear."
In the spring, McDonald noticed a lump that seemed abnormal on her breast. She initially shrugged it off, until her mom urged her to go get it checked out at the doctor.
That appointment was on a Friday in April, and then on Monday, the doctor confirmed she did have breast cancer. McDonald said it was a grade three of three, triple-negative breast cancer.
From that first moment, she let faith take over.
"I had prayed, 'God, please just show up bigger than I could have ever imagine,' and He did," McDonald said.
She traveled to Knoxville almost every week and went through six months of chemo and treatments, surrounded by love, support and healing the whole way.
"My friends and family showed up bigger than I could have ever dreamed of," she said, with a grin.
McDonald reflected on how this diagnosis allowed her to grow closer with so many people, including her teenage daughter Madison. She said she was her biggest cheerleader.
"If anybody could have fought this, it would have been my mom," Madison McDonald said. "She's the strongest woman I know, and she has really shown her strength through this."
The pair would sit in the living room each night and watch movies, play games and talk. There were so many things Ashley had to miss out on during her treatments, with the threat of sickness always looming.
She had to stay isolated away from others, so had to sit out from attending sporting events and performances, even church.
She had a prayer journal, given to her by a friend, that was originally supposed to be a place where she could write down prayers and reflect on how God showed up for her, but she said it quickly turned into an answered prayer journal.
"I remember writing, 'God, thank you for allowing me not to have a fever today, thank you for helping me feel good enough to walk to the mailbox today,'" McDonald said through tears.
Through the whole process of treatment and navigating her diagnosis, she still found ways to give back to others.
She said she and her family would bring treats, like baked bread, desserts and honey to the doctors, nurses and staff at the treatment center every time she came for treatment.
McDonald also noticed a small pile of books on a table at the treatment center, meant for people receiving chemo and therapy to take and read, as a sort of "free library."
She sat up in bed one night and realized she had to do something to build the collection, so she asked friends online to bring her their unwanted books, and she delivered bags of reading materials each week to the center.
One day, she came into the center and the staff had put all the books on a new bookcase because the collection had outgrown the small pile that once sat on a table. The shelves are now filled with all kinds of books, magazines, Bibles, devotions and resource materials.
When it came time for her last chemo, she noticed there was no bell at the therapy center to ring, so her mom and dad made one, put a plaque on it and she rang it to celebrate the end of a long six-month journey. Now, the bell hangs in the hall of the treatment center for others to ring and celebrate too.
Her treatment worked in a miraculous way, and she found out she had a complete response to her care plan. Initially, she was supposed to have a double mastectomy, but with the way her cancer responded to the chemo and treatment, she only had to have a lumpectomy.
She had surgery at the end of November and was declared cancer-free. She will start radiation the day after Christmas and should be done with treatment in April.
"[God] chose a unique way to help me overcome my fears, but I also think that it gave Him an opportunity for me to be able to share with others about Him," McDonald said.
She tied up 2023 with a bow, and a new title: survivor. She has a new ornament with a pink ribbon to commemorate her journey that will hang on her Christmas tree at home.
As for 2024, McDonald said she's just going to enjoy it with a new lens on life.
A regular mammogram didn't detect McDonald's cancer but an ultrasound did. She said if you feel something that doesn't seem right, get it checked out immediately and advocate for yourself.