October 17, 2016

Ashtyn was transferred to the PICU at 7 am in septic shock. We have an idea of what's causing it. All measures are being taken to keep her alive. Norepinephrine, epinephrine, lots of fluids, antibiotics, bipap heading towards being intubated. Please pray her body can get a handle on this illness and start progressing towards improvements. Of course I'm nervous. My stomach is in knots. I do have a sense of peace and feel she'll pull through this. Thank you for your prayers.

October 17, 2016

Sunday, Ashtyn hardly spoke a word. She stayed in bed sleeping, trying to keep nausea in check. She also had quite a bit of pain in her throat and stomach. We constantly are doing all we can to keep pain and nausea under control. Saturday, for pain she was given morphine every four hours. Sunday, a PCA pump was started that gives morphine continually plus more if she needs it. Saturday her nausea was controlled by Zofran. Throughout Sunday three more anti-nausea meds were started. Every two hours she rotated IV Benadryl/phenergan, Ativan, and Zofran. After sleeping all day, she was overly conked out at 7:00 pm. I recognized that she had hardly stirred in four hours. Normally night time is when she feels the best. I asked Ashtyn's sweetheart to wake her up so we could see how she was feeling. It was immediately clear that something was wrong. She was pretty out of it, had slurred speech, and was unsteady on her feet. The nurses paged the doctor who quickly came to the bedside. We talked about her continued nausea, pain in her stomach, and total change in behavior. Because her vital signs were perfect, the assumption was she was over sedated. The morphine and nausea meds were stopped and we watched her like a hawk for a couple of hours. Sure enough, after the first hour Ashtyn became so nauseated she threw up multiple times. After the second hour she was still throwing up and wanted the room quiet again. After the third hour she was walking steady on her feet and just felt like crap. After the fourth hour she was asking for morphine for pain and Ativan for nausea. The PCA pump was restarted and Ativan was given. We will continue to work on finding the right balance of keeping her comfortable without snowing her. It's now 1:00 am. The room is dark and soft hymn music is playing from pandora. Ashtyn feels awful and is restless. I'm going to lay beside her and tickle her back, arms, and face until we both fall asleep. She is so loved by many and I thank you for that. Our room is full of peace no matter the hardships going on.