Interview with ashlyn ramey

In an interview with CHS sophomore Ashlyn Ramey was asked what it was like for her and her family when she first got diagnosed with cancer. Ramey stated, “The first few weeks were very overwhelming. There were a lot of new medications and uncertainty that came with it.”

What helped you stay strong during your treatment?

The main thing that helped me stay strong was keeping myself busy. I focused on schoolwork, crocheting and calling my friends. Staying occupied helped me keep my mind off the hard parts and reminded me that life was still moving forward.

What was the hardest part of treatment for you—physically or emotionally?

Physically, I was weaker and sick for a while, which definitely wasn’t great. Thankfully, there were medications to help manage the side effects, so it wasn’t unbearable. Emotionally, the hardest part was not being able to see my friends or feel “normal.” I couldn’t go to school or many places for a long time because I didn’t really have an immune system. That isolation was tough.

Did you have any doctors, nurses or caregivers who made a big difference in your recovery?

Honestly, all of them made a big difference. Everyone I met was kind, patient and always willing to help. A few stand out in my memory—like Dr. Evans, Tessie, and Jenny Liu—but after a while, everything starts to blur together. Still, I’m incredibly grateful for all of them.

How did your friends and classmates react or support you while you were going through treatment?

I remember my friends made a video to support me. They told me I could do this and that I was going to beat cancer. I watched it so many times during treatment; it always lifted my spirits. 

As for my classmates, I heard through my friends that many of them wondered why I’d been gone for so long. That meant a lot to me because it showed they cared, even if they didn’t always know how to show it directly.

When you hear about scientists working toward a cure for cancer, how does that make you feel?

It makes me feel hopeful and excited about what could be discovered in the future. Only fifty years ago, most people thought cancer was untreatable and always fatal. While it’s still a tough disease, we now have so many treatments—like chemotherapy, radiation, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy.

I don’t think there will ever be a single “cure” for all cancers since there are hundreds of different types. For example, leukemia alone can be lymphoblastic or myeloid, acute or chronic, and even divided further into B-cell or T-cell types. Still, I believe that over time, we’ll keep finding better treatments and keep improving survival rates.