10/28 Tue Evening Update

Late Saturday the nurses and residents came to us and expressed concern over Ashley's condition. Her NG tube feeds had been completely stopped but yet she kept vomitting and her tummy was quite distended. They had a team of surgeons come to examine Ash to determine whether or not she would need surgery. Thanfully, she didn't. They gave her Merilax to help with the consitpation. That worked really well and she only had to take it for two days. They also removed her NG tube and replaced it with an Anderson tube. The Anderson tube is about twice the size of the NG tube and is designed to keep her stomach completely empty. It is removing all the bile that was just sitting in her stomach. They also started TPN feeds through her PICC line and are supplementing her nutrition with lipids (fat). She seems very uncomfortable, but the pain team has been working hard to manage her pain. Ash was also scheduled for chemo tomorrow, but I'm not sure if that will happen since her blood counts are so low. The doctors were able to identify the source of the fever today. So they were able to narrow down her antibiotics and now she is only on two. She was admitted last Wednedsay, but I have a feeling we'll be here a while longer. Today is our 29th day in the hospital. Our longest stretch at home has been four days. Hopefully, once we get to go home we won't have to come back for a while. Thanks to everyone that has been keeping Ashley in their prayers!!