Help for Asheley and her family

Asheley has worked for the ranch for several years and we were so worried when she became ill with Covid 3 weeks ago. Unfortunately Asheley was not vaccinated, she had terrible reactions to her infant vaccines and she was worried. She went and talked to her doctor about the vaccine and he tested her for antibodies because she felt like she had Covid in December of 2019 before we even knew what Covid was. Sure enough she had antibodies and her doctor advised her to wait a couple of months and check again. She was due to have that done now but she contracted Covid again and it was too late for the vaccine.

 

She started with what she thought was a sinus infection and allergies. I had bought a couple of do it yourself Covid tests and gave her one and sure enough she tested positive. We sent her home but obviously we had all been exposed to her by then but we are all vaccinated. Early on her symptoms were typical, fatigue, cough, loss of smell and taste but quickly a fever took over and it stayed high up around 102 to 103 and it was a struggle to try and get it down. Then the big problem hit, she was having trouble breathing and she told us that this virus was kicking her butt with severe headache, body aches. She tried to fight it at home but ended up in the ER and they sent her home saying she wasn't "sick" enough, the hospital was at zero capacity left and to come back if her fever was more than 104 which tells you just how bad our health care system is trying to handle all of these sick people. She went home to fight it some more but she couldn't. The next day she went to the hospital with a fever of 104.3 and she said her heart hurt, they told her she had Covid pneumonia and they treated her symptoms for a few hours and sent her home with steroids and wanted her to come back for a two day infusion treatment as an outpatient.

 

A couple of days later she became very ill with vomiting and and continued to try and battle it at home for a few more days when she couldn't do it anymore. She went to the ER and she was then hospitalized and put in the ICU with oxygen. She has been there for a week now, and we get little glimpses that she might be improving and then she falls back again. Last night in the middle of the night the nursing staff said she can't fight anymore and Asheley was intubated. so here we sit, knowing that she is not conscious and intubated without knowing how this will play out. We are in touch with Asheley's wife who cannot see her in the hospital, all she can do is call and check for an update 3 or 4 times a day.

 

Asheley is the bread winner in the family and the ranch is doing our best to keep paying her paycheck but clearly this is problematic and clearly we have no idea how long she will remain intubated, how long she will remain in the hospital and her family could use some help, some comfort, because at a time like this the last thing they need to worry about is paying the bills. I told Nicki that we would like to start a Gofundme to see if the village would help lift them up a little during this very scary time with Asheley fighting for her life.