Ashley Cain from The Challenge has given an update on his 5-month-old daughter Azaylia‘s brave cancer battle.
In October, Azaylia was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia and has been fighting for her life ever since. In his most recent update, Ashley has revealed that her cancer has returned after two rounds of chemotherapy.
The silver lining in this story is how Azaylia just underwent a stem cell transplant.
In a new Instagram post, Ashley posted a picture of his little girl in a hospital bed, along with clips of her medical team prepping her for the procedure at Birmingham Children’s Hospital in England.
“Today was by far the biggest day of our lives. One that we have been hoping, wishing and praying for. The day Azaylia received her stem cell transplant and begins the toughest journey imaginable to save her precious life,” he wrote in a caption. “We believe in you princess. You are strong, you are mighty, you are courageous and God is with you. You got this, Likkle Lion.”
Ashley went on to explain how Azaylia’s cancer relapse would make her more prone to developing serious complications from said transplant.
“She will have to go into transplant with leukemia, which is far from what we wanted. We were also told that because of her age and the aggressiveness of her cancer, she is in the high-risk category for transplant complications and the poor-risk category for transplant success. Hearing that news was absolutely devastating,” he wrote.
After the transplant, Ashley went on to express how he was relieved the procedure was successfully over. In an update to his Instagram story, he went on to describe the day as “absolutely nerve-racking,” and spoke on the days to come.
He then revealed how Azaylia’s recovery will take between four and nine months.
“We have been told that it’s going to be incredibly tough, that she is going to be very very poorly, and it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” he said.
He then added how Azaylia’s mom, girlfriend, Safiyya Vorajee, are attempting to stay positive for their daughter.
“She made it past the first stage of treatment against the odds, and we truly believe that she will do the same this time around,” he wrote. “She is a fighter — she will do this — and we will be by her side every step of the way.