- May 17, 2025
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Mei Ashton recalled sitting in a hospital room for hours as she had to undergo a gastric emptying and barium swallow.
The fear of the unknown scared her, but she found reprieve in crocheting.
No matter how terrified she was, she had crochet to keep her mind at ease and serve as a form of therapy for her.
Four hours later, Ashton finally had the answers for which she had been searching for almost two years.
Ashton had walked into the hospital with a half-complete crochet bunny and left the hospital with a gastroparesis diagnosis and a completed bunny plushie.
Her medical struggles and drive and passion for crochet have led her to start her own business, AMEIzing Art USA, to share her work and spread awareness about her diseases.
Ashton’s hard work paid off, literally, as the 18-year-old was able to earn the money necessary to take a trip around the world to show she is more than her invisible illnesses and celebrate graduating high school.
Ashton’s symptoms started in 2022, when she wasn’t having a regular menstrual cycle and digestive issues that weren’t improving. She found most of the foods she was eating were making her sick.
Although she saw multiple gastroenterologists, she was given various answers and diagnoses. Most told her simply to take laxatives or digestive medicines, but none helped. She tried acupuncture with little relief but not a cure.
Eighteen months in, countless tests, days of pain and agony and more finally led to a diagnosis of gastroparesis, the paralysis of the stomach. She also was diagnosed with Nutcracker Syndrome and Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome.
“I was so relieved, because after doing almost two years of discovery and tests, it’s like we finally know what it is,” Ashton said. “I was definitely distraught, because it’s not common. I’d never heard of it before, and after looking it up and knowing I might have it for the rest of my life, it was definitely scary. Now, having almost been going on two years, I’m not as scared, because I’ve learned how to manage it.”
From there, it was learning how to manage her disease, what she could and couldn’t eat, the best medicines to help and more.
Because she could not consume a normal diet, Ashton lost weight, falling below 100 pounds, which is not healthy for a 5-foot, 6-inch girl.
In February 2024, her doctors told her if she couldn’t gain at least 10 pounds by May, she would need to have a feeding tube.
Ashton was determined to gain weight and avoid the tube. She researched medical mixes and high-calorie powders and drinks. Her diet mostly is liquid, but she takes magnesium to help, as well as other supplements.
She did it. By May, she weighed 115 pounds. A feeding tube was not needed.
“I’m definitely proud of myself knowing I’ve been able to do that, and I’m going to keep doing that,” Ashton said. “It’s most definitely still challenging because I could give in and just get a feeding tube, but I still want to be able to eat, even though it’s quite difficult.”
Ashton began teaching herself how to crochet by watching YouTube videos during the COVID-19 pandemic. She already knew how to knit, so it was a natural transition for her to learn how to do other projects.
She taught herself how to make clothes, blankets, pillows, plushies and other items.
When her symptoms started developing, crochet was her escape. It took her mind off her health issues and allowed her to put her energy into something productive.
Not only was it a mental break for her, but also she discovered other health benefits to crochet, including helping with focus and patience.
“When you can see what you can make, the serotonin boost it gives just feels so nice,” Ashton said.
Ashton decided to share her passion with others by teaching people how to crochet. She loved working with children and seniors. Ashton also has started creating her own patterns.
“It was so cute seeing the little kids learning how to crochet, seeing their progress and seeing how they would start by getting really upset over it and then over time, you see how they get really into it,” Ashton said.
At the beginning of 2024, Ashton decided to turn her hobby into a business. She knew there was a market for it as friends and family always were asking her to make items for them, and she relished seeing their reactions to her products.
Ashton said her business, AMEIzing Art USA, is rewarding, not only monetarily but also because she feels accomplished.
“With every plushie or clothing item or pattern I sell, I include all about my diseases to spread awareness about it,” she said. “Just because it’s invisible doesn’t mean that it’s not there. I believe knowing at least just a little bit about these diseases can make an impact, not just for me, but for others that might be suffering the same ones.”
Ashton also has created plushies and crocheted other items for celebrities. She knew actor Daniel Radcliffe loved sushi, and he would be in New York at the same time she was, so she crocheted him sushi and gave it to his bodyguard at the stage door to “Merrily We Roll Along,” the musical in which he was performing. Later, when she went to see the musical herself, the bodyguard recognized her and brought her backstage to meet Radcliffe.
She was shocked to meet the star in person, and even more so when he raved about the crocheted sushi. She was able to hug him and take a photo with him.
“I left the theater very happy,” Ashton said.
At the end of her sophomore year, Ashton’s gastroparesis and invisible diseases were causing her to miss too much school as she had become homebound. She decided it was best to leave Olympia High School and enroll in Florida Virtual School.
She already was ahead in school, making it easier to do her classes online.
With graduation approaching this May, her classmates were asking whether she would walk at graduation, but Ashton had bigger plans.
With the money she made from AMEIzing Art USA, Ashton decided to travel to 12 countries around the world in honor of her 12 years in school.
In June 2024, her world adventure began in Japan.
She was able to see a friend, who also has gastroparesis, perform in a concert in Hungary.
In Iceland, she sat at a cafe crocheting with yarn she bought there. Also in Iceland, she actually was able to enjoy a bit of the cuisine, a rare moment for her given her gastroparesis. She drank fresh carrot juice while enjoying a mud mask during a visit to the Blue Lagoon, a spa.
She visited multiple yarn shops in Singapore. In Japan, she took in the hustle and bustle of Tokyo while taking in the sights of the neon lights and signs.
In each country, she took a photo with her graduation cap to keep the memory of her senior trip.
“It’s all very surreal,” Ashton said. “It doesn’t feel like you’re there. Each country I went to, the first day I was there, it didn’t feel like I was there because it felt so surreal.”
After she spent her days gallivanting throughout the countries, she would go back to her hotel or to the house of family or friends to complete her online coursework for her senior year.
Ashton has finished all her coursework to complete high school and earn her diploma. She’s contemplating whether she would like to walk at Olympia High School’s graduation ceremony in May, but she has her sights on a bigger move.
Ashton plans to move to Singapore in the coming months to be close to her grandparents in Malaysia and her cousin and uncle in Singapore and continue to pursue business opportunities for AMEIzing Art USA.
“I definitely feel very fortunate to have accomplished everything despite my health issues,” Ashton said. “I’m very lucky to say I’ve traveled and have been able to experience what I have for senior year and have gone to 15 countries at age 18. I’m lucky to still be here despite my diseases, and I’m able to manage it and have the support of my family.”
