"Mission Aborted"

This is the phrase of the day around here. They have already tried and failed to wean Ash off of the ventilator this morning. The plan was to have her breathing on her own by 1:00 this afternoon, but Ashley has decided to stop all the plans. As they were weaning her down in preparation of removing the tube she began to struggle and began to breathe too quickly. She was not holding her sats and her lungs began to sound "weezy". So in came the doctor and he made the decision to "abort the mission", and try again tomorrow. Perhaps Ash just needs another day to rest and build her strength.


The good thing about trying to take her off of the vent today is that while her sedation was stopped she began to wake up and respond to me. I asked her several questions and each time she understood and nodded with the proper response. She waved to me when I said good morning and hello. She is still in there and that has taken such a burden off of me. We were not sure if Ashley had suffered any damage while her sats had dropped into the single digits last week. This is something we have been too afraid to really discuss with anyone, but Dave and I have been struggling with the thought of having lost part of her. This morning I am so grateful to have seen a small window of her personality showing. God gave me just enough time with her to answer the questions that have been haunting me for a week now. I am so relieved! Obviously we are disappointed that she is not able to breathe on her own today, but I would rather take it slow and wait until she is definitely ready. She is now sedated again and I will not see any of her until we attempt this all again tomorrow. One thing we have all learned about Ash is that she likes to write the pages of her own story. She likes to decide when and how she will do things.

Thank you all for your time spent here on Ashley's Story. Your prayers and encouragements keep me going all throughout the days and nights. I am going to go try and get a call through to David and let him know the change in our "mission". Have a wonderful day and may God bless you and your families. Trish