BMT Day 18 VIDEO

There are two facts going on in the Intensive Care Unit at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

1. The fight in Ashtyn is stronger than ever. Not a word or look of doubt, fear, or desire to give up is heard or seen. She is determined as ever. How do I know? I see it in her eyes, in her actions, and I can just feel it. Today she was on high flow oxygen. In the middle of the day she had quite a bit of excess fluid in her body. Just coughing and throwing up exhausted her enough to notify me that she was having a difficult time breathing. She agreed to put on a very uncomfortable nasal prong device BiPAP that blows air into her lungs. It’s quite overwhelming and worsens nausea. Despite the fact that BiPAP is difficult to get used to and she was still a bit delirious, her eyes closed and all her concentration was focused on relaxing and telling herself, “I can do this.” Her strength amazed everyone in the room. You can see a glimpse of it in the video. All day she dealt with BiPAP, nausea, bottom skin breakdown, and little sleep like a total champ. You should see her gratitude for cold water. Her sodium is high which makes her thirsty. She’s at risk for aspirating so can only sip thickened water. I wish you could see the look of Heaven in her face when cold water goes down her throat. “Ohhhh that’s so good!” Her morale is good.

2. The BMT team is extremely concerned about Ashtyn. They know she is very sick and fear her body is on the verge of falling off a cliff she wouldn’t be able to recover from. Her kidneys are on the edge of needing dialysis. Her lungs are on the edge of needing a breathing tube. If she gets a breathing tube, the fear is that it would be difficult to get her off the ventilator. Her lungs may or may not have an infection but she’s too unstable to do a bronchoscope to find out. She does have three viruses (CMV, Rhinovirus, and Adenovirus). There are so many medications she needs that are hard on the kidneys. It’s very complicated giving her everything her body needs without putting her into organ failure. I could go on and on about how complicated she is medically with her imbalanced electrolytes, frequent lab draws, and constant medications but I think it’s enough to say that not only does she keep me constantly busy but her 1:1 ICU nurse doesn’t stop. She also has her own bedside nurses aid to lighten the load.

The next two days are absolutely critical that Ashtyn’s health turns a corner for good rather than getting on life support and dialysis. We would be so grateful for prayers and fasts at this time. Please pray 1. for her kidneys that they will handle all the medications needed without failing. 2. her lungs will recover without needing a breathing tube. 3. viruses will be easily managed. 4. that she’ll be able to sleep. 5. for white blood cells.