Pudding

Thought you might like to see a video of Ashlyn.

Thursday Afternoon

Sorry for the delay in posting. The wireless connection is not very good at Sunnyview, so I was not able to get on and post.

Ashlyn has done ok with her transition to Sunnyview. Today she saw Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy. She has about had it with hospitals and people she doesn't know coming up to her and trying to "play". I don't blame her. I know she wants to be home more than anything, but we know this is the best place for her now. As I write this, Todd and Ashlyn are on their way to Albany Med. because her feeding tube got blocked with crushed up meds. The pharmacy instead of sending up her meds. liquid, sent them up pill form. But why you ask did the nurse crush them and try and squeeze them in her little tube. My answer, I don't know. So, hopefully all goes smoothly and they will not be there long.

As for how I am doing. Well, I am a little overwhelmed with all this. I just wish we could skip ahead 6 weeks and everything is fine and Ashlyn is coming home. But I can't and we have to walk through this. It is hard for me to watch her not be happy and mostly sad. It's hard for me to remember how she was and see how she is now. I know that she will not stay as she is now and will only get better from here. She has come so far in just a few weeks. So I know I just to keep looking at all the wonderful things she can do.

Thank you again for helping us out. Your prayers, support have really helped us get through this difficult time with Ashlyn. God Bless.

Sunnyview here we come!

Tomorrow Ashlyn will be going to Sunnyview Rehab. Center as long as everything looks good thru the night with her G tube. We are so excited that she is on to her next step of recovery. Be praying she does so well, that she won't be there long. We miss having our little girl home with us. Of course we will still keep you up to date on how her stay is there. Have a good night!

Tuesday

Yesterday's surgery went fine. The procedure only took about 45 min. The Dr. said she does have gastroenteritis (inflammation in her stomach and esophagus). She has this probably from throwing up so much, the bleeding she had and stress. They started her on Nexium and another med. that will help with that inflammation. So now we are just waiting for her to tolerate her feeding in the G tube (stomach feeding tube), and then we will be off to rehab. Not much more to report. Have a good day.

Monday

Well, I was hoping to give an update about how Ashlyn did with her surgery today, but she is just going in now (it's 6:30 pm). The Dr. did tell me that maybe she could be at Sunnyview as soon as Wednesday. Please pray we get there soon.

Ashlyn loves to read books. I let her pick them. At first she would just look at the one she wanted. Today she started touching the one she wanted read. She also started shacking her head "no" when she didn't want something. She is doing so good.

I don't know if I will post another update tonight, but I will definitely let you all know how surgery went by tomorrow morning. Have a good night.

Sunday

Ashlyn had a pretty good night last night. She slept good but threw up twice. Boy, I hope this stops soon. Tomorrow she will be having the surgery for the feeding tube in her stomach. We are praying that she will not have it long and she will be eating from her mouth very soon. They also put her on a different blood pressure medicine. As many of you know, she has a heart defect and she is normally on meds. But since this last injury, her blood pressure has been a little high. This can be normal in a head injury. They just want her blood pressure low so her heart does not have to work hard.

This morning I went up the hospital to relieve Todd and on my way up I started feeling nauseous. So I came back home just in case I am coming down with something. As I am typing this I am feeling a little better. But I feel bad for Todd, because now he has to be up there longer without any breaks. He is such a good father and husband. I couldn't have asked for a better man. (Love ya Honey!)

Thanks for checking in. Have a good rest of the weekend!

Saturday

Watching Kung Fu Panda on a lap top.
Going for a walk with Katelyn and Preston

Ashlyn and I having fun with my cell phone.

Ashlyn had a great night. No throwing up and slept wonderful. I ended up spending the night with her. Todd needed a night off. We had a good night together. Playing with my new phone, going for walks in the red wagon and watching Kung Fu Panda. She is doing so good. She knows everything going on around her. But I think she is frustrated that she cannot talk. But I know God is going to bring that all back for her.

"How Great is our God, sing with me, How Great is our God, and all will see how Great is our God!"

Friday

Sorry for the delay in posting. I had a busy morning. Preston had an eye Dr. appt., which he did fine and doesn't need glasses. Then I had to stop at my house on the way to the hospital to pick up the movie Mary Poppins. Ashlyn is watching it now. Not much going on today. She did throw up last night and this morning. She is still getting food in her belly. We are hoping that this throwing up stops soon. She will be getting the feeding tube in her stomach on Monday. Maybe by the end of next week she will be at Rehab. In the mean time we try to keep her busy and do as much "therapy" as we can with her. Thank you all for praying constantly for her.

Thursday Night

Here are a few pictures from yesterday and today.

Todd and I spend Wednesday with our other 3 kids while Aunt Carol spent the day and night with Ashlyn. We decided to go swimming at the RCS pool. They had a great time swimming.

Ashlyn has been spending more time in her chair and tonight her nurse gave her a lollipop. She liked it for just a minute or two. She is doing so good that we can't wait to see how she will respond to therapy at Sunnyview. Our God is an awesome God!!!

Thursday

Yesterday Ashlyn had another upper GI test done to make sure every thing looked good for her feeding tube in her stomach. It all looked good and she might have the surgery for the tube tomorrow. After getting the tube, they have to watch her for 24 hrs. to make sure everything is ok with it. So hopefully that means she will be in rehab. soon. We have been getting her out of bed more and sitting her in a high chair. She does pretty good. When Todd put her in this morning, he was playing with her and she actually giggled a little. It was good to see her happy, if only for a second. Most of the time she is not happy. That is all for now. I will hopefully be putting pictures on later tonight.

Wednesday

Ashlyn has been doing great with keeping her food down. So now we are moving toward getting her a feeding tube in her stomach. Sunnyview will not make an exception for her. But that is ok, if she needs it to get to Sunnyview then that is fine. We are hoping to be there as soon as next week. Today we had Ashlyn sitting in a chair. A high chair to be exact. There are no chairs small enough for her so a high chair did the trick. She sat in the chair for about an hour and it wore her out. Yesterday she had another swallow test with chocolate pudding. She did better that the day before. The Dr. said the only way to practice swallowing, is swallowing. I know she will get there fast. And before we know it she will be eating.

The pictures above are of her sitting. The bottom one it looks like she is happy, but she isn't. Todd just happened to snap it just at the right moment. But I have to say, she was very happy to see Aunt Carol today. She gave her a big smile when she walked in.

Tuesday

Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy came by today and showed Todd some things to do with Ashlyn. They said to have her sit up and have her hold her head up and straight. Which she does pretty good. So we will try to get her up 3-5 times a day and have her sit and hold her head and look to the right. She favors looking to the left. When I told her to turn her head toward me (I was on her right) she tried hard and did it a little. She is now up to her max with her tube feeds and has not thrown up. So we are hopeful that she is done with throwing up. There is still talk of putting a tube in her belly for food. The Attending Dr. told us that he will talk to Sunnyview and see if they will make an exception for her since she has been through so many surgeries. We would rather her not have it, but if Sunnyview insists then we will have no choice. She will more than likely be starting aspirin either today or tomorrow. This will thin her blood and help her heart. She has been sleeping better at night, which is wonderful for Todd. He doesn't have to worry about her as much when she is sleeping good. Overall she is still moving forward and we are thankful for that. The road ahead will be long and hard, but with the strength of the Lord, we will get through.

Monday

Ashlyn is now at her max with her feedings, but she threw up twice this morning. So she may start at a lower rate again, and then slowly work up to her max. There is no real explanation why she is throwing up. The only one that the Drs. think is because of her abdominal bleed. But CT scan shows that that clot is shrinking. Her belirubim (liver) was up a little a few days ago, but that is starting to come back to normal range now. They did another swallow eval. this morning, she is better than last week, but still will not be able to eat from her mouth. I know that will come. She is very restless and just whines a lot. We are anxious to get to rehab. in hopes she will make great strides there. That's the update today. Have a good Monday!

Sunday

They started her on small tube feeds last night and are gradually going up. So far she is tolerating them well. Keeping praying that she can keep them down, because that is the only thing holding us here. When she starts keeping food down, then we will be able to go to Sunnyview rehab. I notice that she is not drooling as much and is swallowing more of her mouth secretions. I am sure it won't be long before she can eat food from her mouth. Not much more going on here. It's just a lot of waiting now.

Saturday Night

After almost 24 hrs. of waiting to hear the "official report" on the abdominal CT scan. It looks as though she just still has some blood there, but starting to get reabsorbed slowly. They will start her slowly on tube feeds in hopes she will keep it down and get some nutrition.

As many of you know Ashlyn is a thumb sucker. She loves her dollies and her left thumb. Since all of this happened she has not sucked her thumb. Probably because she can't manage to get it in her mouth. Tonight she came close to sucking her thumb. She managed to get her left pointer finger in her mouth and was sucking it a little. We were so overjoyed to see this. God gives us these little things to let us know He is in control and will make her whole again.

Saturday Morning

Last nights CT scan has not gotten to "official read", but according to the Resident, everything looks ok. Remember she had bleeding in her abdomen and the blood looks like it is starting to get reabsorbed into her body. We are hoping to start her on some small feeds today. So, we are just waiting for her to start to tolerate food in her stomach before she can go the Sunnyview for rehab. The nurse was just checking her pupils by putting the flashlight in her eyes. She closed her eyes hard and turned her head. This is so appropriate and even though she needs her pupils checked, its great to know she knows she doesn't like.

We would also like to thank everyone for all your support. The prayers, encouragement, food and financial contributions have been such a blessing to us. May the Lord bless you all for your generosity.

Friday

The GI tests from yesterday show no obstructions, so today she will be having a CT scan of her belly. If everything looks normal they will start her on slow feeds again. Please be praying that this throwing up will stop and she can start getting nutrition. Not much more happening, she seems to be more aware of what is happening around her, and she is not happy.

Thanks for checking.

Thursday Night

Tonight Todd decided to bring the kids up to see Ashlyn. When Preston came in, she didn't want to see him and kept moving her head to the opposite side that he was on. Sure it may be rude, but so wonderful at the same time. She didn't want to see him so she turned her head. She's in there! But then when Todd brought Katelyn in, she started to play with the balloons and Ashlyn gave a big smile. Todd said it was definitely a smile. I would have loved to seen it. We are so encouraged by this. We know that God is going to fully restore her.

The GI tests didn't come back yet, but be praying that she can start keeping her food down. She needs her nutrition to help her heal.

Here are a few pictures from the last few days. God Bless!

Thursday Morning

This morning Ashlyn had a test on her GI to see why she keeps throwing up. They gave her something in her stomach to see it's track and they got part way through and she threw up. Which doesn't surprise us, because she can't keep anything down. So they will do another test this afternoon with a barium and hopefully she will tolerate it and it will show something. Other than that nothing more is happening.

Last night I was talking to the boys about Ashlyn and we were talking about God healing her. And Preston said "I picture in my head, Jesus' big, giant hand on Ashlyn and He heals her." Wow! What faith he has. My 7 year old son encouraged me so.

"For I know the plans I have for you (Ashlyn), plans to prosper you and not harm you, to give you a hope and a future"

Thanks for all your prayers and encouraging words.

Wednesday Morning

Ashlyn started throwing up yesterday. Every time they started her tube feeds, a few hours later she would throw up. Tomorrow she is going to have a test done on her GI. And she will more than likely have a tube put in her stomach so she can get good nutrition and move to rehab. This morning she is moving her right arm and leg a lot more. She has not talked yet and that is going to be a big issue, since her injury was in the language part of her brain. The Speak Therapist will be by each day to try and help her to learn to swallow again.

It's been hard seeing her like this. Sometimes we think she recognizes us and other times we don't know. She will follow some commands we give her, so that in encouraging that she is understanding a little. It's been another one of those emotional roller coasters (at least for me, Todd can handle it better). I have to trust that God will restore her to what she was.

Tuesday

The Speech Pathologist came in this morning to evaluate her swallow. She has a minimal swallow. When something gets to the back of her throat she then swallows a little. But she can't get the food from the front of her mouth to the back in order to swallow. The Dr. feels it isn't safe for her to get nutrition from her mouth until she can swallow better. So she will need the feeding tube a little longer. The Dr. will be come back each day to work with her more until she goes to the rehab. center. She still may need the tube in her stomach. She if definitely more awake today and seems to know what is going on. It's going to be a difficult road ahead of us, but I have confidence in God that He will get her through this and we will see the old Ashlyn before we know it.

Monday Morning

The process of getting her transferred to Sunnyview Rehab. has started. She needs to have a speak/swallow evaluation. She cannot go to Sunnyview with the feeding tube in her nose, so if she cannot swallow now she may have to have a feeding tube surgically inserted into her stomach. Of course, Todd and I did not like hearing that. We do not want her to have another surgery. But if she does need it, it doesn't mean that it can never come out. Please pray that she will not need this surgery. Today she will get a CT scan to see if she can start on aspirin. She needs to have her blood thinned for heart reasons. She will also have PT/OT evaluation today so that they can determine where she is at. They stopped all sedation and pain meds today.

Todd and I are definatley nervous about where she in neurologically. We just want the cute, joyfully, full of life Ashlyn back. Please pray for Ashlyn's complete healing and that His strength will be with us and we see are little girl walk this path.

Sunday Update

Sorry for the delay with the update. We were having trouble getting on the internet at the hospital. Anyway, she had her central line taken out and is now getting only food into her stomach via a feeding tube. They are gradually taking her off of IV drugs and going to oral, again thru the feeding tube. She is on just a little morphine, but I image that will be done with soon. She is still on a drug called Adavan. This is a sedation drug and she will be weened off of it slowly. She was a little more awake today, opening her eyes and moving alot. When it is time to go to the rehab. center she will probably still have her feeding tube. The nurse said that this is not unusual. I imagine she will have to learn to eat again. Again, we are thankful for the "turtle steps" she is taking. We know that it will be a long road ahead of us. But God will give us and Ashlyn His strength to get through.

Saturday Visitors

Today Kiernan and Preston came to see Ashlyn for the first time. Everyone asks me, "How were they when they saw her?" They were fine. They just look at her and smile. They seem to be handling this well. They do miss her and ask lots of questions. Preston asked me if they put a bandaid in her head to stop the bleeding. How cute is that?

Saturday Morning Update

Ashlyn had a good night. No new seizures. We are hoping they are taken care of with her meds. but you never know when they can appear again. They will come down on her morphine a little today. Also they will start feeding her in her belly and gradually come off the TPN (IV nutrition). The Dr. talked to us about getting things started about going to Sunnyview for rehab. So probably some time next week she will be seen by someone from there. She will also get some physical therapy while she is here. Overall she is still going forward. Now it just is a matter of seeing where she is at when she is fully awake.

There is a song I have heard on the radio, but I don't know who sings it. The chorus is great! "Oh no, You never let go, throught the calm and through the storm. Oh, no You never let go, every high, and every low. Oh no, You never let go, You never let go of me!"
Thank you God, that you never let go of us and you never let go of Ashlyn! We put our trust in you and we know you are holding tight to us!

Friday Morning Update

Yesterday as Ashlyn started waking up from her sedation, she started having seizures. They called them focalized. Basically her right side of her face started twitching. They gave her more of her anti-seizure meds, and they stopped through the night. This moring they started again with a little more twitching on the right side of her body. She had a CT scan done and Neurosurgery said that everything looked fine and in fact it looked better than the last scan. The Attending Dr. said that she probably has been having seizures all along, it's just that we have not seen them until now being off sedation. So she was put on another anti-seizure med. and they are putting her back on some sedation. The Dr. also said that hopefully as she heals more and the blood that is still there gets re-absorbed in her body, that these seizures should stop. She will be in anti-seizure meds for months.

Yesterday when she was awake a little, it looked like she was watching Sponge Bob. She watched Sponge Bob all the time last time she was in the hospital. We think we may have even seen a smile.

Thanks for keeping Ashlyn in your prayers. This has been a emotional roller coaster for Todd and I. But we keep holding onto God and know that He is in control.

Thursday Morning

The plan for today is to reduce her sedation more so they can extibate her (pull out her breathing tube). She has been very agitated coming out of this. Even after she is off sedation, she may not respond to us much because of her injury. I keep hoping that she will just open her eyes and be fine. I have dreams at night that she is talking to us and we are all so amazed how great she is doing. I pray that that will be reality and not just a dream. She started having bowel sounds this morning, so they will increase her tube feeds after they extibate her. She did have a fever this morning (100.8) so they will do some cultures to see if there is any infection there. Pray that there isn't. God is so good, and as hard as these next few weeks will be, I just believe that she will make a full recovery. Thanks for checking in today.

Wednesday Evening at the AMC Spa

Tonight Ashlyn got a head to toe spa, including a hair cut. Since she had the monitors out of her head today we were able to move her more and give her a great wash. The nurses were going to wash her hair and I said lets just shave it off. She looks so pretty with no hair. She was a little more awake today. She opened her eyes and moved both arms and legs. Her neurosurgeon said he is happy with the way everything is going. Happy is a word he has not used before. So of course I am estatic with that news. If she keeps doing well through the night they may extibate her tomorrow.

"How GREAT is our God, SING WITH ME, How GREAT is our God, and all will see how GREAT is our God!"

Thanks for checking in tonight. We love you all!

Wednesday Update

Last night they reduced her sedation more, but she did not tolerate it well. So they went back up. The Dr. this morning said she was probably aggitated because the nurses were messing with her. They went back down on sedation this morning and lowered her ventilator setting. So we will see how she tolerates it. I believe she will be fine. If they need to mess with her, they will give her a bolus (one dose) of sedation. They took out the monitors in her head this morning and the nurse said after the procedure, she opened her eyes slightly. She did get some blood last night, but her levels were not that low they just want to stay ahead of the game. Overall she is progressing forward. Thank you all for your encouraging words. They really do help us knowing people are holding us up as well as praying for Ashlyn's complete healing. God bless.

Tuesday Afternoon Update

They will be coming down on sedation again today and maybe again tonight. They also are weaning her off the ventilator. As sedation lightens, she breathes more on her own, so they can turn that down slowly. Her ICP (intercranial pressures) have been good, so tomorrow they may take out the probes. Her neurosurgeon said she is weak on the right side and cannot comment on her language until she is more awake. But we know God is a GREAT BIG GOD. He is able to do great things. As my son Preston said last night, He is bigger than the sun. Thanks for checking and keep the prayers coming.

Tuesday Update

Not a whole lot going on today. Neurosurgery is talking about taking out one of the monitors in her head. They lightened her sedation a little more today and they increased her feeds a tiny bit. Her stomach is not making much noise, but the hopes is to see if it will start moving with these tiny feeds. Things are still progressing at "turtle speed". But we are thankful that she has had no set backs. I am nervous about what damage was done from this. I have to remind myself that she will not be the same Ashlyn that she was before she went in. I know that God will get her though and that even if she has trouble in the beginning, she will eventually have a total healing. Thank you for keeping her in your prayers.

Monday update

Today Ashlyn had a central line put in. It took a while to find a good vein. But they finally got one and now they will not have to keep poking her for new lines when the other ones go bad. She had a CT scan done and neurosurgery said it looks fine. She still has blood there but she is not bleeding. Her belly has not gotten worse. She is on small feeds, but her belly is not moving much. They feel that she was not bleeding from her pancreas, but she had a GI bleed. She is on a Nexium drip to repair any damage. They did lighten her sedation a little today and will a little more tomorrow. She has been moving her left side a little, but not much on her right. Please continue to pray for a complete healing. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support.

Busy Day

Today will be a busy day. Ashlyn will get a central line put in, which they do under ultra sound. She will have a CT scan and possibly lighten her sedation to see how she responds. That is the plan so far. The Drs. have not rounded yet so things could always change. I will give another update later in the day.

Thank you all again for checking in. We are amazed how many people are following her progress and praying for her.

Today's pictures

I know these pictures are hard to look at. But this is her reality. Please continue to pray that she will recover and have no effects from this illness. Thank you all for your love and support.

72 hours and counting

It has now been more than 72 hrs. since her surgery. 48-72 hrs. after are the most critical. She is still taking baby steps forward. Which of course is what we want. She is the little turtle inching ever so slowly toward the finish line. She doesn't need to go fast, just as long as she goes forward she will eventually win the race.



Last night she had the drain taken out of her head. They started feeds into her stomach, but it was no moving, so they stopped the feeds for now. She is getting IV nutrition. She is also getting a Nexium drip to repair any damage that was done in her stomach and intestines. Sometime today she will be getting a CT scan to see if there is anymore swelling. Which I expect there shouldn't be. Neurosurgery was in this morning and said they are happy with how she is doing. All her numbers are looking good. Tomorrow they will lighten her sedation to see how she does.



Thanks for checking in on her. Please feel free to leave a comment or just your name so we know that you visited. Your encouragement means alot to us. God bless. Liz