Treatment

This morning brings positive news our way.  The swelling in Ash's face and on the bone behind the ear has decreased over night and everyone involved believes the treatment is working.  So at this time we have agreed not to operate and are hoping the clear the infection without having to clean out the bone.

Yesterday they inserted a wick into the right ear and dropped antibiotic directly into the ear itself.  The wick expanded along the walls of the ear canal and our hope was that placing it directly into the source of the infection along with IV antibiotic that we would be able to avoid operating.  The ENT came in early this morning and believes it is working.  We are SO grateful he came up with this plan yesterday and saved us from having to send her into surgery.  It was worth a shot to hold off and give it a chance to work since the risks of putting Ash out for surgery are so very high at this point in her life.  I'm so glad we waited and re evaluated this morning.

The plan at this time is to allow us to bring Ash home and continue this course of treatment while keeping a close eye on the swelling.  If it continues to decrease then we should be out of the woods.  If not we will know that everything possible was attempted to spare her the operation and we will proceed with it here in Longview.

She is feeling much better this morning than she did yesterday.  We will begin another lengthy course of IV antibiotic and hope to keep the pseudomonas from spreading.

Ashley Kate is very, very complex medically.  There are good days and bad days.  Sometimes we have very little warning between the two.  Dave and I have become fairly seasoned by the rate at which things can change.  We try to remain as calm as we can and hold the panic to a minimum.  He is better than I am in many of these situations, but we roll with it and make the best decisions we possibly can for Ash.  There are days when it seems the situation is spinning out of control and we hold on to her as tightly as we can.  Raising a chronically ill child is not easy.  Knowing the prognosis is poor and the final outcome is not going to be an easy one can wear on your heart, but the joy and the blessing of being her parents far outweigh all of that.  I just wanted our friends to know, those who are still brave enough to have stuck around and still call themselves our friends...that we love yall.  Thank you for being here.  Thank You for loving our sweet Ashley.  Thank you for loving us.  Thank you for the support you gave to us this weekend.

Thank you all so much for your prayers.  The way that you love her is so precious to us.  We are blessed that you are still following.  So many of you have been here to this place with us daily for years and years.  There are no words that will ever convey the depth of our gratitude for your presence.

Ash should be home shortly and we plan on laying low today and loving on our baby.