PEARSON, Ga. (WALB) - A South Georgia woman is cancer-free after a summer that nearly took her life.

In previous reports, WALB News 10 shared how Ashley Chaney’s search for answers, initially believed to be multiple sclerosis, led to a diagnosis of brain cancer. Now, Chaney is sharing the next chapter of her journey: recovery.

Chaney first went to the emergency room at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville on June 3. After multiple hospital stays and rounds of steroids, her condition continued to worsen. Doctors soon discovered the cause.

“By June 13th, I underwent a craniotomy where they biopsied a spot in my brain and found out that I had central nervous system lymphoma—brain cancer, to make it easy,” Chaney said.

Following surgery, Chaney was transferred to inpatient rehabilitation. Less than 24 hours later, she was flown back to Mayo after doctors discovered she was septic and had suffered a febrile seizure. She spent time in the ICU as her medical team worked to stabilize her.

Because of complications, doctors changed her treatment plan.

“For the fourth round, my doctors decided chemo wasn’t safe, so we did Gamma Knife radiation,” Chaney said. “My last MRI was clear.”

Chaney later underwent a bone marrow transplant using her own stem cells. She was admitted in November and is now in remission.

“The summer was very rough, but the Lord has brought me through so much in a short amount of time,” she said.

Throughout her journey, Chaney says community support played a critical role.

“My parents and my husband have been my caregivers most of this time,” she said. “The financial support alone allowed them to take care of me without worrying about how bills would be paid.”

With test results continuing to come back clear, Chaney hopes her story can encourage others facing similar battles.

“You really just have to trust in the Lord,” she said. “Faith in God is all you can really do. Trust Him, and know that ultimately, it’s going to be okay.”

Chaney hopes to return to the classroom in February and says the experience has changed her perspective on life.

“Before all this happened, I had to go to work,” she said. “Now, I get to go to work.”

Chaney will undergo additional testing at the end of February, marking 100 days post-transplant. Until then, she says she will continue to live as a testimony of faith and resilience.

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