Note: Local Church has arranged for the GoFundMe transaction fees to be covered for the first $100,000 in donations.
After giving birth to Stetson on May 25th, from Friday, May 26 - Sunday, May 28, Emily suffered from toxic shock, hypovolemic shock, and cardiogenic shock, each of which has a high mortality rate by itself. Below is an overview of what happened. After Stetson was born the evening of Friday, May 25, Drs believe that an exceptionally aggressive strain of strep A bacteria entered into Emily’s level one vaginal tear, latched onto her uterus, turned septic, and began wreaking havoc on her body. She was uncomfortable all day Friday, but Drs and nurses were unable to pinpoint the cause of Em’s discomfort, plummeting blood pressure and spiking fever, largely because there were no complications with her vaginal delivery that gave them any indication. Over the next couple days, every Dr and surgeon who worked with Emily expressed a level of bewilderment at the cause and aggression of her condition. Friday evening into Saturday morning, Emily stopped making urine and her health became more dire. At this point, unbeknownst to Drs, Emily had entered into toxic shock, and her organs were beginning to shut down, starting with her kidneys. She was immediately rushed to the ICU and given a central line. The OB hoped that removing her uterus would help stop or slow down Em's rapid decline. But before they could prepare her for surgery, 35 hours after a perfectly healthy delivery, Emily coded for 1-2 minutes. After she was revived, they prepared her for surgery and conducted an emergency hysterectomy of her uterus and ovaries (which had become necrotic). At this point, we became aware that Emily was suffering from toxic shock. The aberrant decision to remove her uterus was the first step to fighting the infection and saving her life. Even with the source of the infection removed, her condition remained critical and continued to worsen. The toxins now in her blood spread throughout her body and vital organs. At this point, Emily was also suffering from DIC, a condition in the blood that hinders the blood from clotting. Although they weren’t sure where or how, Drs believed she was now suffering from hypovolemic shock - significant internal blood hemorrhaging. The decision was made to open her abdomen again to hopefully find a source of the bleeding. Drs pulled seven units of blood from her abdomen and were able to cauterize and tie off several sources of bleeding. By Sunday afternoon, Em’s condition had failed to stabilize and again continued to worsen. Despite the seeming success of Saturday's surgery, she was still suffering from hypovolemic shock and hemorrhaging internally. And the pressure from the infection was building inside her abdomen to such a degree that if it wasn’t relieved, it would cause devastating, potentially irreversible, harm to her organs. Her body was in such a critical state that another precarious and seemingly haphazard surgery didn’t seem plausible, but this was the only option. So, they opened her abdomen again and miraculously found an arterial bleed that had poured 9 units of blood into her abdomen (The plan was to leave her open for 72 hours to continually alleviate the pressure and ensure the bleeding had stopped). A few hours later, despite the unanticipated success of this surgery, Emily experienced cardiogenic shock - where her heart dropped to less than 10% of its working power. Her heart and lungs were beginning to fail. Drs put her on the ventilator and lifelighted her to Northside Gwinnett Hospital where she could be placed on ECMO - emergency life support. Over the next two days, ECMO saved her life. Nearly every Dr and nurse familiar with Em’s story expressed the notion of her as a “miracle.” In the two and half weeks since then, Emily has been slowly recovering. She was moved off ECMO and the ventilator. Her levels moved from critical to more stable. Her abdomen surgery was successful. Her heart, lungs, intestines, and liver all improved. She was moved out of the ICU. She started eating solid foods and walking through the halls during PT. She continues to have dialysis treatments and is awaiting a hand surgery on Saturday; however, these are hopefully the final steps to her coming home. The prospect of her returning home is the culmination of thousands of individuals humbly going to the Lord in prayer and His goodness in hearing and answering those prayers. We will continue to need prayers as our family has a long and uncertain road ahead. Emily’s health is still in some ways tenuous - she is far from “back to normal.” In fact, there will be a new normal for her and our family. Emily will continue to have dialysis 3x a week (pray for those kidneys), physical and occupational therapy, numerous follow up appointments, uncertainty of returning to work, the daily frustration of not being able to hold her children, the pain of healing, and the emotional toll of trauma and waiting/hoping/praying for restoration. This reads largely as a report-like series of events, but there is another story to be told. Em’s story is a celebration of God’s love and healing power, and this experience has rejuvenated our trust in God’s faithfulness. I’m not sure when, where, or how that story will be told, but we’re hoping God will use it to change lives.
-Noah Souders
After giving birth to Stetson on May 25th, from Friday, May 26 - Sunday, May 28, Emily suffered from toxic shock, hypovolemic shock, and cardiogenic shock, each of which has a high mortality rate by itself. Below is an overview of what happened. After Stetson was born the evening of Friday, May 25, Drs believe that an exceptionally aggressive strain of strep A bacteria entered into Emily’s level one vaginal tear, latched onto her uterus, turned septic, and began wreaking havoc on her body. She was uncomfortable all day Friday, but Drs and nurses were unable to pinpoint the cause of Em’s discomfort, plummeting blood pressure and spiking fever, largely because there were no complications with her vaginal delivery that gave them any indication. Over the next couple days, every Dr and surgeon who worked with Emily expressed a level of bewilderment at the cause and aggression of her condition. Friday evening into Saturday morning, Emily stopped making urine and her health became more dire. At this point, unbeknownst to Drs, Emily had entered into toxic shock, and her organs were beginning to shut down, starting with her kidneys. She was immediately rushed to the ICU and given a central line. The OB hoped that removing her uterus would help stop or slow down Em's rapid decline. But before they could prepare her for surgery, 35 hours after a perfectly healthy delivery, Emily coded for 1-2 minutes. After she was revived, they prepared her for surgery and conducted an emergency hysterectomy of her uterus and ovaries (which had become necrotic). At this point, we became aware that Emily was suffering from toxic shock. The aberrant decision to remove her uterus was the first step to fighting the infection and saving her life. Even with the source of the infection removed, her condition remained critical and continued to worsen. The toxins now in her blood spread throughout her body and vital organs. At this point, Emily was also suffering from DIC, a condition in the blood that hinders the blood from clotting. Although they weren’t sure where or how, Drs believed she was now suffering from hypovolemic shock - significant internal blood hemorrhaging. The decision was made to open her abdomen again to hopefully find a source of the bleeding. Drs pulled seven units of blood from her abdomen and were able to cauterize and tie off several sources of bleeding. By Sunday afternoon, Em’s condition had failed to stabilize and again continued to worsen. Despite the seeming success of Saturday's surgery, she was still suffering from hypovolemic shock and hemorrhaging internally. And the pressure from the infection was building inside her abdomen to such a degree that if it wasn’t relieved, it would cause devastating, potentially irreversible, harm to her organs. Her body was in such a critical state that another precarious and seemingly haphazard surgery didn’t seem plausible, but this was the only option. So, they opened her abdomen again and miraculously found an arterial bleed that had poured 9 units of blood into her abdomen (The plan was to leave her open for 72 hours to continually alleviate the pressure and ensure the bleeding had stopped). A few hours later, despite the unanticipated success of this surgery, Emily experienced cardiogenic shock - where her heart dropped to less than 10% of its working power. Her heart and lungs were beginning to fail. Drs put her on the ventilator and lifelighted her to Northside Gwinnett Hospital where she could be placed on ECMO - emergency life support. Over the next two days, ECMO saved her life. Nearly every Dr and nurse familiar with Em’s story expressed the notion of her as a “miracle.” In the two and half weeks since then, Emily has been slowly recovering. She was moved off ECMO and the ventilator. Her levels moved from critical to more stable. Her abdomen surgery was successful. Her heart, lungs, intestines, and liver all improved. She was moved out of the ICU. She started eating solid foods and walking through the halls during PT. She continues to have dialysis treatments and is awaiting a hand surgery on Saturday; however, these are hopefully the final steps to her coming home. The prospect of her returning home is the culmination of thousands of individuals humbly going to the Lord in prayer and His goodness in hearing and answering those prayers. We will continue to need prayers as our family has a long and uncertain road ahead. Emily’s health is still in some ways tenuous - she is far from “back to normal.” In fact, there will be a new normal for her and our family. Emily will continue to have dialysis 3x a week (pray for those kidneys), physical and occupational therapy, numerous follow up appointments, uncertainty of returning to work, the daily frustration of not being able to hold her children, the pain of healing, and the emotional toll of trauma and waiting/hoping/praying for restoration. This reads largely as a report-like series of events, but there is another story to be told. Em’s story is a celebration of God’s love and healing power, and this experience has rejuvenated our trust in God’s faithfulness. I’m not sure when, where, or how that story will be told, but we’re hoping God will use it to change lives.
-Noah Souders
Organizer and beneficiary
Noah Souders
Beneficiary