Ashley was born a healthy 9'11'' baby girl on January 4, 1995. She loved to eat just about anything and was vibrate and happy. She definitely marched to a different beat and was her own self. She made me laugh everyday. I couldn't wait until the day she was able to look at me and talk to me about anything. Her dad and I divorced when she was 2 years old. I remarried when she was 5 years old to Dave. Ashley loved him and wanted him to be her daddy. When Ashley turned 7, she says she woke up one day and she was different. She could no longer eat without stomach pain. She was having terrible stomach aches every time she ate so she stopped eating over time. I got an appointment with Children's Hospital in Kansas City in the Gastrointestinal Clinic. They ran test and found that she has a high WBC count. They continued to run test and put her on 8 medicine's at once. She couldn't go to school because she was so drugged out and couldn't stay awake. Throughout the next year, we were in and out of the ER only to be sent home with no diagnosis. One time, Childrens Hospital sent two big burly guys in the room to accuse Ashely of getting in the medicine cabinet. I told them if they thought they were gonna scare me, they picked the wrong person. Ashley begged for a feeding tube, but they said that was nothing wrong. This went on for a year without anything being done except her losing weight and getting sicker and sicker. At this time all she was taking in was Ensure and nothing solid. She was 61 lbs and you could see her ribs. I faxed a letter to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MI asking for help. They called me the next day with an appointment scheduled for the next day. We drove there and spent the day visiting clinics and doctors. They have one of the best gastrointestinal doctors there. She was very instrumental in getting the test we needed quickly so they could determine the problem. They determined that she is 100% lactose intolerant and allergic to everything outdoors and many foods. We came home and a week later drove back to see a Psychiatrist and Eating Disorder Specialist. They said she was not far from death as some of her organs were already damaged. They immediately put her on an IV to nourish her. She was on the IV for 2 days then started the eating program to teach her to eat again. She was in the unit for 6 weeks. When we came home, she weighed 70. At home, I continued the eating program with her until she reached the goal weight. I had to home school her as she was not able to set in class. She was home schooled for 3 years and just this year, went back to school in the 9th grade. She started eating on her own and is now 90lbs and healthy. She still suffers from EOS and has a very limited diet that she can eat without getting a stomach ache. Today, her knees are very frail and she cannot participate in anything that involves impact on her knees. Her favorite sport is swimming which has no impact on her knees. We feel very fortunate that we were able to get help just in time. My heart goes out to the kids who aren't so lucky or are still suffering. EOS invloves a long learning process of what you can and cannot eat. It also changed the way I cook. We never know when we go somewhere if she will get sick and we have to go home. She cannot go to restaurants because it makes her sick (the smell) and she turns white as a sheet with red splotches and can't stand up. She has learned to use breathing exercises to get through the stomach aches which has enabled her to go back to school. Her resilience and strength is unbelievable.

On October 26, 2009 I came home to find my daughter dead. She had committed suicide. She left plenty of reasons why and the number one reason was the pain and that no one would listen to her or her mother.