At midnight Sunday morning I wrote on the communication board in Ashtyn’s hospital room, “Mom will be back at 11:30 a.m.” with my phone number for the nurses and doctors. Ethan and I left to sleep at the Ronald McDonald House, because he was not allowed to sleep in her room, with the plan to come back in the morning at about the same time she usually wakes up. At 9:00 a.m. a phone call from the nurse practitioner woke me up informing me that her blood pressure was low and the rapid response team from the ICU was called. Ethan and I got to her bedside in 30 minutes. For about 1 1/2 hours, IV fluids were given but her blood pressure continued to teeter on the low range. For me, seeing low blood pressures is extremely stressful. At 11:00 a.m. it was decided that she needed to go to the ICU, at the same time two men from our church showed up to give us the Sacrament. I wonder if they were super overwhelmed when they walked into her room full of staff moving around quickly with a lot of medical jargon. There wasn't really time for small talk to introduce them to Ashtyn. I got to the point, “Her pressures are low, her kidney’s aren’t doing well, and is heading to the ICU in a couple minutes. She needs a blessing. We can take the sacrament later.” For a moment everyone left the room to organize the transfer at the same time a quick blessing was given. Everyone poured back into her room, unplugged her bed, and pushed her out the door at the same time the Sacrament was given. Once in the ICU her blood pressures stabilized for awhile, dropped for a bit, and then stabilized again. A separate issue is that her kidney’s are producing an extraordinarily large amount of urine. Normally she should have about 67 ounces of urine a day. For the past five days she has had 200 to 300 ounces a day. Often there are calm moments followed by stress followed by relief followed by nervousness and on and on. I cried talking with her nurses with worry. I cried talking to my dad because it’s so nerve wracking. I cried hugging Ashtyn because I’m so heartbroken for her. She is 15 pounds heavier with water weight and feels quite uncomfortable but she is a total rockstar. Coming down to the ICU she lightly joked, “Someone hates me and doesn’t want me to go home.” She’s grateful Ethan’s here. She’s grateful I’m sad for her. She’s grateful “I didn’t crash.” She has hope she’ll be cancer free in one week. She has hope she’ll be able to go home for several days before her bone marrow transplant. She has hope that the future is bright. Please pray that 1. her kidneys will recover 2. whatever is causing stress to her body will resolve 3. she will be cancer free in one week 4. she can go home for a week before the bone marrow transplant.
