June 20, 2002

It was the night before chemotherapy and all through Dr. Olivia Winter's apartment not a creature was stirring except for celebrity cancer patient Ashley Carlton and her second best husband, Brad.

Mrs. Carlton felt compelled Thursday night to grab some take out food and spend the remaining moments of an otherwise abnormal day with her one true friend and college sorority sister, Dr. Winters. It was after all, the night before Carlton would start a series of chemotherapy treatments which it was hoped would starve off any residual cancer lurking in her aging breasts.

"I want you to know chemo isn’t as debilitating as it once was," Winters assured Carlton as if this were the first time the patient would be experiencing the procedure.

In fact, Carlton had chemotherapy at the end of April. Prior to her date with the cancer devil then she didn't have a need to wallow in self-pity with Winters so what motivated her Thursday night to play the victim can only be attributed to a memory lapse.

"It [chemotherapy] won’t be a picnic [but I] guess I’ll find out soon enough," Carlton said totally forgetting she's been there and done that.

On April 29, when Carlton showed up at the Center 4 Disease, she was asked by her husband, "How are you holding up?" as if she were about to have a heart transplant.

"The sooner this is over the sooner we can get back to a normal life," Mrs. Carlton said on that day as she entered a special hospital room arranged just for her by former husband, Victor Newman.

Other questions came into play Thursday as well. If, as she claims, Carlton is so despondent about having to go through chemotherapy and that God is punishing her, why didn't she summon or visit her father to cry on his shoulder?

Carlton's need to be with a butcher is incomprehensible as is her worry and ghoulish pontificating about something so commonplace as chemotherapy.

June 14, 2002

Cancer - fun for the whole family
by Brent Kellogg

June 12, 2002

Death tape
by Brent Kellogg

May 30, 2002

Carlton stooped so low as to tell her two-year-old daughter to prepare for mommy's death! It was an outlandish display of shtick which over the weeks has grown old and tired.

May 29, 2002

Celebrity cancer patient Ashley Carlton continued milking her breast cancer dilemma here Wednesday when, in a fit of feel sorry for me, whined and sniveled to her father that she has found another lump in her breast.

Too lazy to get off her fat ass, Carlton summoned old man Yawn Abbott to her spacious home to ask the old geezer if he could recall when she was six. To his credit, Abbott acknowledged the time his "beauty" fell off her bike and he was there to kiss the scrapes on her arms and legs to make it all better.

Bawling uncontrollably, Mrs. Carlton blurt out how cancer has invaded her body again causing Abbott to become confused. The word cancer baffled the old fart so much he had to ask for a specific explanation.

Carlton was more than anxious to rattle off the details. While performing a breast exam she discovered a new lump in her otherwise "good" breast. According to Carlton the lump is unlikely related to her "other" cancer. The reality of course is that breast cancer is breast cancer regardless of which breast it is in.

After two biopsies Carlton has no medical proof the cancer has spread but fear of the unknown is driving her mad.

In a dazed state of mind, Mr. Abbott couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. Did the woman he thinks is his daughter want him to tell the other family members? If so, the old guy was prepared. Carlton said no, that wasn't it. What she wanted was for her daddy to hold her hand and spend the night to keep her safe!

Clearly something is askew. Mrs. Carlton is deteriorating into a weak little cry baby. If she needs somebody to turn to during these trying times it should be her husband. If Carlton were a man, there are those who would tell her to get a pair of balls. Be a woman for crying out loud. Stop crying over spilled milk! So she's got cancer - so what? Thousand of other women get cancer every day but they don't retrograde into mindless bouts of sobbing and pleading with people to feel sorry for them.

Women with courage buck up. They accept the reality that cancer happens. Deal with it and move on. Having cancer is no fun but it's not the end of the world either.

May 28, 2002

At her affluent residence Tuesday, Carlton was questioned as to the reasoning for being out of bed, in the kitchen and under the guise of preparing a meal for her loving husband.

"The doctor wants me to move around a bit," Carlton said causing some eyeballs to roll around in their sockets. What doctor - besides those employed at Genoa City's Center 4 Disease - would ever suggest such a thing? Does moving around cause breast lumps to stop growing?

As an afterthought, and in anticipation she could lose a breast to cancer, Carlton asked her husband if he could love a one boob babe.

"I’m madly in love with a bright, beautiful, caring woman. That’s not going to change anytime soon," Brad Carlton said affirmatively.

May 20, 2002

Breast cancer strikes again

Breast cancer victim Ashley Carlton tried Monday to take the discovery of a lump on her breast like a trooper. There would be no slipping into massive denial for the Jabot Cosmetics skunk oil sniffer this time around.

After some - aren't you going to ask why I'm looking so glum - hesitation, Carlton delivered the bad news to her loving husband, Brad. There is no doubt in her mind that something lumpy has invaded her breast. She tripled checked.

Had the common woman in Genoa City experienced a similar event it could have taken weeks to get an appointment with a doctor. Not so for the elitist Carltons. They sped off and were allowed access to Dr. Nora Thompson without so much as thinking about calling ahead or seeking a reservation.

Never too busy to see a cash-paying customer, Dr. Thompson's eyes glazed over at the thought of sticking Carlton with one of those $86 B12 injections and any number of other overt medical charges patients pay without challenging.

The less fortunate patients were made to wait and thumbed through 3-year-old magazines as Thompson performed an exam on the walk-in patient. Sure enough, Carlton's fingers hadn't been playing tricks on her. The lump was confirmed and an ultrasound ordered.

In a way, Carlton was fortunate. Had she gone to just any doctor an ultrasound would have required she travel to a radiology specialist. But the good doctor Thompson had a team of radiologists standing by with the ability to produce conclusive reports in about an hour.

Before their car engine had cooled off, Mrs. Carlton was on her way out the door with the bad news. Something - the doctors presume it's cancer - is in her breast and will have to be removed.

Typical of the helpless, whiny woman, Carlton shed a few tears and belted out the predictable "why me" lament.

Why? Some would say it's payback for all the lying and deceit. Others would conclude it's part of life. Cancer happens. Be a woman. Deal with it.

May 17, 2002

First annual breast cancer awareness campaign chairperson Ashley Carlton announced Friday the campaign will hold its awareness gala in three weeks. Carlton intends to be the keynote speaker, will plead with women about the need for early detection and pay tribute to the mammogram.

Committee members Dr. Nora Thompson, Kitty Roberts, Theresa Barton, Shelly Thurma and former chairwoman, Celia Reynolds are expected to be in attendance along with Carlton's husband, Brad.

Mrs. Carlton has been repeatedly told what an "amazing" woman she is for having successfully battled barbaric cancer, has undergone radiation treatments and is looking forward to living a long and prosperous life.

However, Carlton has been unnecessarily stressing over matters not within her control and advised that worrying about her brother, whom she has stabbed in the back more than once, is not within the realm of acceptable risk management.

What Carlton wasn't told is that monthly self-breast exams should not be done when one is rushing off to work.

Strange as it may be, Carlton was doing just that Friday. In a hurry to get out of the house, Carlton sprinted up the stairs at her multi-million dollar home, entered a plush closet, looked around for her designer bag of the day and then - as if the devil himself had stuck her with his fork - remembered she hadn't done her monthly exam!

The oddity was further complicated by the fact that Mrs. Carlton, on her way out the door, was still wearing a robe. Slipping off the garment, Carlton ran her fingers around one breast. Before she could get excited her hand moved to the other breast and panic set in when she discovered what felt like a lump.

It is unlikely Carlton will take any immediate action such as informing her husband of her discovery, demanding to be seen by a doctor in about an hour and then having another mammogram in an equally unreasonable amount of time.

History would dictate that before she does anything, Carlton will go into denial. It'll be the same old song and dance. Should she tell her husband? Her family? Once a decision is made Carlton should - if she's smart - make an appointment with a real doctor. Not one of those quacks at the Center 4 Disease but a cancer specialist.

Unlike dizzy Izzy Brana, who suffered a stroke with no adverse effects, Carlton may find this time that breast cancer is not a walk in the park.

April 29, 2002

April 23

Carlton's flippant remark was an affront to the thousands of female breast cancer patients whose breasts glow painful shades of red after each radiation treatment.

April 22, 2002

April 15, 2002

Most notably, Carlton has no known parents who can be told even if they had wanted to tell them.

Unless she plans to call or send a Hallmark card, Carlton has no immediate plan to tell the sister she loves to hate, Traci Connelly. Then again, the way people in the city operate it wouldn't be out of the ordinary should Connelly fly in from New York for the occasion.

Breaking the news to her family better late than never is one thing. But as the Genoa City News has previously pointed out, for Carlton to continue espousing she's as good as new after a lumpectomy reflects her twisted logic and lack of medical knowledge.

For all the concern that butcher Carlton considers a friend has shown, there has been not so much as a peep from Dr. Olivia Winters about the need for monthly checkups and that a watchful eye should be kept for ovarian cancer which is the next tragedy in 86-percent of breast cancer cases.

If Carlton escapes further complications from cancer she may go down in history as the only person in Genoa City who has truly "moved on" with her life and this, to quote Brad Carlton, would make her an amazing woman indeed.

April 8, 2002

by Brent Kellogg

Remarks in a published report this week would suggest that some of the Y&R actors are pleased with how the show botched an important issue like breast cancer. From start to finish the story line was filled with errors. The most glaring was when the patient had surgery under a local anesthetic.

This week Ashley Carlton popped out of the emergency room after undergoing a lumpectomy and got a big old bear hug from her husband. Ouch!

"The situation has reminded her of how precious life is, especially now that she has a child," says Eileen Davidson (Ashley Carlton) adding "My grandmother on my father's side had breast cancer, and she had a mastectomy. She lived, but still it's in my family."

In her real life Davidson recalls, "I actually found a little lump in my breast last summer and ignored it."

But, when the breast cancer story came along Davidson says she went to a cancer specialist who told her "it was nothing" and that "it's more common than not that women just ignore these things."

Other women on the show had similar tales to tell.

"The intensity of the last few weeks has made us, the women on the show, all more aware of how important it is for early detection, and we're even double-checking ourselves," said Tonya Lee Williams (Olivia Winters).

Don Diamont (Brad Carlton) tossed in his two-cents. "My sister had a scare with breast cancer and, at times, it's almost worse for the people who are on the sidelines. I sincerely hope that people will find some sort of comfort, learn something, or take something of value from this story."

Think about that statement for a moment.

Who were the people on the sidelines in this story? Mrs. Carlton's father? Her brother? Hell, her sister, Traci Connelly wasn't even notified. Other than her husband, Carlton refused to tell members of her immediate family.

The message - that it is important for women to have yearly mammograms - was the only item of value which could be taken away from this superficial story loaded with misinformation.

April 8, 2002

by Brent Kellogg

The medical debacle known as Mrs. Ashley Carlton's breast cancer appears to be drawing to its easy out conclusion. Once sprung from Genoa City's Center 4 Disease after a successful operation Carlton will undergo a few days of radiation and she'll be fine. She may even wear one of those pretty pink ribbons on her lapel for a few days and happy smiling faces of those who go regularly to get their mammograms or survivors who caught the beast early and are now cured may be seen.

But the sad thing is that there is no cure for breast cancer at all. Yes, the statistics are better for someone who got it at an early stage but even then, it can always come back and often does. Once a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, even with the most aggressive treatment, the threat of recurrence will forever hang over their heads.

Carlton's bout with cancer was obviously a gimmick to drive home the message that early detection is the key to survival. And there's nothing wrong with that.

But there is something wrong will delivering only a portion of a much more serious story.

The horror of diagnosis with the realization that Mrs. Carlton will never again know when it can strike her down should be explored. Carlton wanted so desperately to get out of the C4D so that should could go home and hug her daughter. But what of the woman whose child may never remember her because the child will be too young when the mother dies?

Carlton is unlikely to experience the overall feeling of un-wellness that consumes the body upon experiencing radiation treatments or the tremendous fatigue, the nausea and the depression. The bone crushing exhaustion that ensues after radiation, the burns that turn the skin into an open wound. The hormonal treatment that shifts a woman's body into immediate menopause with anxiety, insomnia, hot flashes, and of course sterility.

Nor will Carlton experience the fear that comes from never knowing where the cancer will pop up next - will it strike the bones, the liver, the lungs, the brain? It can in fact go anywhere and especially into the ovaries with a hysterectomy common in women who have been treated for breast cancer.

In fact, the younger a woman is when diagnosed with breast cancer, the greater the risk of developing ovarian cancer.

As they have done with almost every medical disease I can recall, Y&R has screwed up. If I had to guess - I can't stomach going back to recall the specifics but it all started with Dr. Nora Thompson - I'd say almost 90-percent of the events surrounding Carlton's cancer was unbelievable quackery.

The one thing that continues popping into my head is when Carlton said she has breast cancer and that it "wasn't a big deal."

Breast cancer is a big deal and Y&R should be ashamed if - unlike its unbearable teen stories - Carlton gets off easy.

April 5, 2002

Against the odds, cancer patient Ashley Abbott has survived breast cancer surgery at Genoa City's infamous death house, the Center 4 Disease.

A snip here, a snip there, three shakes of a lamb's tail and before she knew it Carlton was out of surgery and all but walking around.

Prior to the wondrous news, Carlton's husband, Brad wrung his hands and questioned notorious C4D butcher, Dr. Olivia Winters.

"Why is this happening to Ash of all people?" Carlton asked.

While no woman deserves cancer of any kind, the reasons Mrs. Carlton should contract the deadly disease are too long to list. This woman is by no means a Saint.

In an effort to keep Mr. Carlton under control Dr. Winters spewed a few words which only served to reinforce the ideology that there should be a law against stupidity.

"We don’t know why these things happen. Sometimes bad things happen to good people," Winters said.

Perhaps Winters, the butcher she is, doesn't know why women get cancer. But real doctors do.

To say that bad things happen to good people is pure ignorance. Things happen to good and bad people alike.

Further stepping her moronic feet in deep doodoo, Winters proceeded to tell Mr. Carlton, "In this case we know the tumor is small. It’s in the duct area and is probably contained."

Since Winters didn't even know why Mrs. Carlton was admitted to the C4D until she was told by the surgeon, how would she know the minute details?

Bordering on the absurd, Winters went on to say, "Some doctors think treating a cancer this size is too aggressive."

It was at this point that the medical madness espoused by Winters began to reek. Cancer, regardless of its size, cannot be tolerated. The cancer may be small but if left intact will grow in just a matter of months.

Fortunately, Mr. Carlton uttered the only sensible statement heard regarding his wife's case in recent days. "I wonder what they’d say if it was their wife or daughter."

Contrary to the garbage pouring out of her mouth, Winters added, "I’m a firm believer in early detection. It saves lives."

Happy to be alive, Mrs. Carlton has not yet been told whether the surgery was a success.

April 4, 2002

Living in Genoa City has its perks. Except for fighting tooth and nail for another woman's man or another man's spouse the people here rarely want for anything save for the occasional baby. People in this city have just about everything they would ever need. Yachts, limousines, personal slaves, jewels and the latest fashions.

Schools kids carry cell phones and calling far away places like Africa is done without so much as a passing thought about cost. Flying to far away places is also done at the drop of a hat. Africa? Let's roll! Passports? Visas? Who needs 'em?

Business people run their respective business solely for show. Fancy restaurants and greasy spoons alike think nothing of closing their shops for the slightest personal reason without notice. To hell with the clientele.

When it comes to health care, employees have nothing to worry about. Insurance coverage is not deducted from pay checks and new employees are not required to go through the routine 60-90 day eligibility period. Contractual workers needing medical treatment are only required to make their employer aware of a need for care, either directly or indirectly, and arrangements will be made to have that worker covered under the company's 'special' exceptions health insurance clause.

Poor persons with connections to the rich via their children requiring life saving surgery need only go to their child's employer, shed a few tears about needing an operation and moments later walk away with the cash or a promise to pay the bill.

With all the fuss she's made about having breast cancer, elitist Ashley Carlton has not once mentioned the cost or who will pay the medical bills. For Carlton, having cancer is no big deal. But for those women without access to a money tree breast cancer is three times more likely to cause their death. Poverty determines the outcome of their medical care.

The lower the socioeconomic status the more likely women with breast cancer are to have undesirable cancer outcomes. For example, women on Medicaid are three times more likely to die than non-Medicaid patients.

It was so nice that early detection will be attributed to Ashley Carlton's expected survival. No doubt she'll be dancing in the street soon encouraging every woman she meets to have a mammogram. A nice gesture but the reality is that far too many women cannot afford to have a mammogram. These poor women are more concerned about how they're going to pay the electric bills while their government pours billions of dollars down the drain on bombs and bullets.

April 4, 2002

by Brent Kellogg

The lunacy known as medical care in Genoa City took another step back in time this week as the Neanderthals who call themselves doctors proved again why each year thousands die from medical errors in hospitals alone. Families go through agony trying to find out what went wrong, frustrated by unanswered questions, galled by a system that shrouds itself in secrecy.

Genoa City resident Ashley Carlton put her life on the line Thursday when she entered the Center 4 Disease for breast cancer surgery. The first clue that her odds of survival are one in four became apparent when Dr. Olivia Winters walked into the room.

"My nurse told me you checked in. What’s up?" the doctor responsible for the most deaths ever at this facility asked Carlton. Unless Winters is a total moron or just playing one for the moment she would have asked her nurse. Beyond the stupidity of Winters' question, what nurse anywhere other than the C4D has the time to alert doctors when patients of other doctors enter the hospital?

Carlton explained she was having a lumpectomy which prompted Winters to ask, "How did you find it? Self-examination?"

Carlton didn't say it but she should have. "No you insipid twerp. It jumped out at me one night, said hello and told me how happy it was to make my acquaintance."

Dr. Winters' banter was interrupted when what was thought to be a real doctor drifted upon the scene. Eyeballing Dr. Winters, Dr. Renee Jamison asked, "What are you doing here?" Indeed, it was a good question because the sight of Winters had made many a doctor and patient alike fear for their lives.

Dr. Winters assured Carlton she would be in good hands. "Renee is a fine surgeon," she said and Dr. Jamison concurred that Carlton's prognosis is excellent. Provided she survives the surgery, Carlton is thought to make a full recovery. And therein lies the rub.

To prepare her victim Dr. Jamison explained how surgery patients are first calmed down with the use of a sedative followed by a local anesthetic!

"You’ll be awake for the whole procedure," Jamison beamed.

The alarms didn't go off in Carlton's head. There were no red flags alerting her to the clear and present danger. Cancer patients undergoing a lumpectomy do not have the option of a local anesthetic. At most reputable hospitals general anesthesia is called for in these cases.

Even more chilling was Dr. Jamison's declaration that the patient would be able to go home about an hour after the operation.

Carlton was last seen being wheeled away to the operating room with a plastic cap on her head and a tube jabbed into her arm. In the hall Carlton's husband stopped long enough to tell his wife to be strong. In a drug induced stupor, Mrs. Carlton slurred "I couldn’t get through this alone."

As the operating room doors started to close Dr. Winters poked her nose in and squinted her eyes. With lips quivering ever so slightly Winters final look may have been the kiss of death.

April 3, 2002

A dark cloud hung over the head of Mrs. Ashley Carlton Wednesday as the chief of Jabot Cosmetics skunk oil sniffing department tried to psyche herself up for C-Day.

Diagnosed with breast cancer, the first thing on Carlton's tiny mind wasn't that she would be going under the knife but rather what she was going to have for breakfast!

Maybe it's the weirdness of Genoa City that made Brad and Ashley Carlton's stopping by the RoadKill Cafe for breakfast on their way to the Center 4 Disease seem like a normal thing to do.

If Mrs. Carlton's doctor didn't tell her not to eat before surgery and that routine operations take place early in the morning why would anyone dare question the experts?

Mrs. Carlton's date with the scalpel must have been scheduled for an hour of her choosing because she had enough time to stop by her father's home after being summoned by her brother on a matter of extreme importance.

When the Carlton's arrived at the Abbott household they discovered that Jack Abbott had gathered his father and live-in house guest PainMe Johnson to witness the disclosure that he had sired sperm thief Diane Jenkins' baby.

"How could this be?" old geezer Yawn Abbott queried. But after hearing only part of the story of how his son's sperm had been inadvertently switched the elder Abbott declared it would be great having another grandchild under foot.

For her part, Johnson too said how nice it'll be having another baby around. Why Johnson needed to know remains a mystery since the woman is not an immediate family member. Johnson wore out the welcome mat long ago and should be living with her own family. However, taking into consideration that elitist children in this city are almost always raised by non-family members, Johnson's participation made perfect sense.

With the news, most of which they already knew except for Jack Abbott's intent to seek full custody of the child, implanted in their memory cells the Carlton's prepared to leave for the hospital.

Before walking out the door Mrs. Carlton stopped to gaze into a mirror. When it didn't shatter she fondled her defective breast. After those butchers got done slicing and dicing would it look the same?

March 28, 2002

Carlton has breast cancer.

"Your tumor is malignant," Thompson said prompting Carlton's bonehead husband to burp, "What exactly does that mean?"

Like a brat immemorial, Mrs. Carlton blurt out, "I have cancer. It’s not that complicated."

Not that complicated?

Maybe not for Carlton. But for 180-thousand women each year breast cancer is only the start of a rolling stone that will gather much moss.

Once a woman gets beyond her breast cancer she can expect ovarian cancer to develop if it hasn't already.

"They go hand in hand" says a GCN medical source. "And when women diagnosed with ovarian cancer have a hysterectomy, colon cancer becomes the next risk."

The question GCN couldn't get an answer to: why aren't patients told this at the outset of the breast cancer diagnosis?

The best reply we could get related to stress. The strategy seems to be that women newly diagnosed with breast cancer are already freaked out. Telling them more cancer is on the way and that their uterus will have to  eventually come out - in 75% of the cases this is the preferred option - would be information overload.

As more proof that the people in Genoa City are shallow and one dimensional, Mr. Carlton asked his wife if, since there is nothing to hide, she planned to tell her family.

"How could I tell my dad and my brother I have cancer?," Mrs. Carlton answered negatively.

Very easy Mrs. Carlton. Follow these directions:

A) Gather the family together.
B) Tell them you have breast cancer.

Brad Carlton might have wanted to tell his family too but alas, he doesn't have one.

Ashley Carlton will have her little lumpectomy, maybe some radiation on the side, be "back on track" within a few weeks and that - will be that.

Carlton's cancer was only a vehicle to get the 'have a yearly mammogram test' message out. Without a doubt the message is a good one. But to do this important subject justice, Carlton shouldn't be getting off so easy.

Jabot Cosmetics top lab technician Ashley Carlton has breast cancer.

"She's demonstrating courage and dignity while she meets this challenge," Thompson flip-flopped waving off further questions.

Privately, Abbott family members are saying Carlton has cancer and will begin treatment, but would release no other details.

Sources tell GCN that while the 40-something-year-old Carlton seeks privacy, news of her condition "leaked somehow," and members of the media "started showing up by her house."

"She has asked us to pass on her thanks to those individuals who have sent her such supportive and encouraging messages," said a statement from the family. "However, this is indeed a very private and personal matter, and we all hope that everyone will understand and respect her right to privacy in dealing with such a difficult challenge."

The family spokesperson said they decided to release the statement because, "an online newspaper may be releasing information regarding Mrs. Carlton's current medical condition" and they don't want Carlton's illness "to become a topic of speculation or rumor."

Cancer is the latest in a string of setbacks Carlton has experienced since she faded from the limelight of the Victor Newman harem, married a loser named Blade Bladeson, bore a baby the paternity of which remains unclear and later married former Abbott pool boy/hedge clipper, Brad Carlton.

The discovery of cancer in her breast will turn Carlton's world upside down for a short time as she and her doctors scramble to get the cancer before it gets her.