About Asher
Asher's Bio
My son, Asher Davis, was diagnosed with Fibrolamellar Carcinoma (FLC), a rare liver cancer, in November 2023. He was 12 years old. For the past year and a half he has been through 3 surgeries, 2 biopsies, several chemotherapy and immunotherapy infusions, and taking a daily prescription of drugs. Despite having his livelihood, and childhood, so affected, he has remained resilient and brave.
The oldest of four siblings, Asher has three younger sisters that he encourages and looks out for; that is, whenever he’s not arguing or bickering with them. One of the first times we asked him how he felt about his diagnosis of cancer, he made the remark that at least it was him and not the girls. Only 14 months separated him from his first sister, so Asher has always been the big brother, and he’s really great at it.
Asher loves gaming, on his Xbox or PC. He likes dressing up as a medieval knight, and owns a helmet, a buckler, and a sword. He likes target practice, whether it’s with one of his bb guns, a sword, a whip, or one of the “weapons” he has made. Then too, it’s not unusual to find him reading a book (probably a fantasy novel) and sipping on some coffee with his favorite cat (Morgana) by his side. He is a very lighthearted and kind soul, and often sacrifices his own happiness for the sake of others.
October 2023 was a big month. We celebrated with cousins at 4D farms, we celebrated Adrienne’s birthday, and we took Asher to the hospital. Asher is an adventurous eater, so after some hot wings at Buffalo Wild Wings one Saturday, his blood pressure shot up. We tried conventional methods to control his blood pressure (rest calmly, drink plenty of water), but by Monday we were taking him to Children’s Hospital of Birmingham, Al. It seemed like forever -- waiting, stopping anyone who came through that looked they had a clue, getting scans, getting labs – more waiting. Nephrology spoke to us because Asher’s kidneys were enlarged. However, after a scan of the kidneys, they found a mass on Asher’s liver.
Later we would learn that a lot of FLC cases are discovered this way, doctors are looking somewhere else for causes of the patients’ symptoms and end up stumbling upon a mass or masses in the liver. This probably occurs because usually FLC attacks otherwise healthy livers, and the rarity of FLC.
Once they found the mass, which was nearly half the size of Asher’s liver already, Asher was given a Hepatology team and the priority was a liver resection. So, November 9, 2023 Asher went in for an over 9 hour surgery where they removed nearly a softball sized tumor, his gallbladder, and approximately 46% of his liver. It would still be over 10 more days before we got the official word that the mass was cancer. Then it would still be another 10 days, November 30, 2023, before we learned that it was stage 4 Fibrolamellar Carcinoma. With no oncologist at Children’s having treated FLC before, and with no standard of treatment, Asher was put on Chemotherapy for treating Hepatocellular Carcinoma and scheduled for port placement surgery.
Those first few months were a blur; there was so little information, and so many questions, so little hope, and so much doubt. Asher’s oncologists had found a clinical trail, and we immediately got him involved with that. However, the chemotherapy was very hard on him. He lost his hair, he seemed constantly fatigued, and even his nerves were affected by the drugs. He was on this treatment once a week until in February 2024 -- after e-mailing, searching online, and seeking help from other FLC patients – we found Tom and Dr. Kent (FibroFighters)
You can read more about FibroFighters in the links, but after talking to them we felt a new hope and encouragement for Asher as he faces this terrible disease. FibroFighters has seen hundreds of FLC patients (whereas Asher was the FIRST that Children’s of Birmingham, AL had even seen), and they were able to give us better information and a place to start with treating the cancer. While there is still no standard of treatment, we were able to get Asher on a better treatment regimen that was easier on his body overall and that only required every other week infusions.
Asher was on this treatment until September 2024 when scans indicated a lesion on his left knee. After a biopsy confirmed that it was FLC, he was scheduled for a knee resection. Due to a fracture found on his knee, the surgery was moved up and on November 1, 2024 Asher had approximately 16cm of his femur and his knee replaced with internal prosthetic.
Scans in March 2025 indicated a tumor in his lower abdomen, and on April 10, 2025 it was biopsied to confirm an FLC diagnosis and send off samples for genetic testing. Scans in May 2025 indicated new growth and lesions in his lungs.
For more recent updates follow Asher’s Journey on Facebook
My name is Zach. My wife, Adrienne, and I have four children:
Asher (14 years old)
Zayli (13 years old)
Zyla (11 years old)
Zella (6 years old)
We juggle the chaos of Asher’s treatments, Zayli’s ballet classes, Zyla’s neurodivergence, Zella’s silliness, my full-time job, and Adrienne’s part-time job. We can almost never agree on a movie for movie night, or a game for game night, and we have no concept of what “going to bed on time” actually means. We survive through it all with God’s love and grace, love and prayers for each other, and the prayers, love, and support of family and friends.