We had a busy weekend. It was filled with fun and normal things and it was a very welcome change! Friday the kids went to a birthday party for Abby who turned two! Dan enjoyed playing poker with his friends that night, while I hung out with some of the ladies. Then on Saturday I had a baby shower and Dan had a bike ride. Sunday I took Drew to church, then went straight to another baby shower for my good friend DeAnna, and then came home for about 45 minutes before I headed out again to celebrate my friend Jen's birthday at the Melting Pot. YUM.
Dan and Ava had to stay home from church because on Saturday Ava came down with a fever. It got up to about 102.5 but once she had motrin or tylenol she was acting pretty normal. It was only when she was really hot that she was cuddly (clingy) and took some extra naps. Her fever continued on Sunday but so far today it hasn't been back. But, I took both kids to the doctor today anyway. Drew is sounding congested to me and Ava was still acting pretty cranky and I thought I might as well have them checked out. Especially since we were warned to take immediate action if Drew gets a fever.
So I took them both to see Dr. Bullen and of course as soon as we got to the doctor's office they were both happy and playing and full of energy. I guess nothing makes them feel miraculously better like having me drive thirty minutes in traffic to the doctor and shelling out $40 for a copay does. Ava did have some spots in her throat which the doctor cultured and tested negative for strep. He thinks she's at the end of her illness. Drew had nothing wrong with him, but he said it could be the beginning of a cold and to do normal cold treatments--fluids, moist air, etc. If he does develop a fever, since we know Ava just had one we can watch him carefully. But we were warned to bring him in if anything else is going on. His puffiness is better, but I can still see some around his eyes. And his veins on his stomach and chest are very prominent. At cardiology the doctor said that could be caused by a clot somewhere, but that it wasn't something to worry about. But the pediatrician said today to keep an eye on it and let him know if it gets worse.
This morning Drew started a week of vacation Bible school. He had a lot of fun and his two buddies, Jacob & Eben, are in his class. While he was there I headed back to the gym for the first time in two months! I hope he can attend the rest of the week, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
Showing posts with label fever. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fever. Show all posts
Monday, July 14, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Fever
Seriously?
Nothing throws me into a tizzy as much as when Drew has an unexplained fever.
And that's what he has today, 9 days before surgery.
This morning he told me his tummy hurt and he didn't want to eat breakfast. That didn't seem too unusual to me because he often has a tummy ache in the mornings and we always have a hard time getting him to eat breakfast. On the way to Mom Connection this morning he looked tired and almost fell asleep. Then they brought him to me because he wanted his mommy and started to cry. So he was sitting with me for a while and he felt warm so I took him home. His fever is 101.7 under his arm and he fell asleep at 10 am. The boy who does not take naps is asleep three and a half hours after he woke up. The first doctor's appointment available is not until 4:00, so we have to wait until then to figure out what is going on.
I am hoping and praying that it is something simple and easy to take care of like another ear infection, but of course my mind is running away with me and I am picturing a hospital admission and postponing surgery. I guess I'll post an update after our doctor's appointment.
Nothing throws me into a tizzy as much as when Drew has an unexplained fever.
And that's what he has today, 9 days before surgery.
This morning he told me his tummy hurt and he didn't want to eat breakfast. That didn't seem too unusual to me because he often has a tummy ache in the mornings and we always have a hard time getting him to eat breakfast. On the way to Mom Connection this morning he looked tired and almost fell asleep. Then they brought him to me because he wanted his mommy and started to cry. So he was sitting with me for a while and he felt warm so I took him home. His fever is 101.7 under his arm and he fell asleep at 10 am. The boy who does not take naps is asleep three and a half hours after he woke up. The first doctor's appointment available is not until 4:00, so we have to wait until then to figure out what is going on.
I am hoping and praying that it is something simple and easy to take care of like another ear infection, but of course my mind is running away with me and I am picturing a hospital admission and postponing surgery. I guess I'll post an update after our doctor's appointment.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
The Long Version
What a long day!
I barely slept at all last night, I was so anxious about the cath and whether or not Drew was sick. He had started coughing yesterday, but just a little bit and with no other symptoms. We drove out to Palo Alto, but with a feeling of dread. Then he seemed to stop coughing for a few hours. Then it started up again. He went to bed and slept fine all night, no coughing. Woke up with the alarm at 5:45 so he could have his last liquid of the day (you have to fast before the cath) and started coughing again. We called UCSF, they told us to come in. I wish they would have told us right then that they wouldn't do the cath. But they didn't. On the way in, Drew was sad. He kept telling us he didn't want to go to the hospital, he wanted to go back to Grandma Kathy's. He also told us he was hungry. Then thirsty. We had to tell him that he had to wait until after the cath. It was hard for me to hear.
Then the cath was cancelled. We took him to breakfast at Crepeville right by the hospital. Put money in the meter. He had silver dollar pancakes. After breakfast we were walking out to the car and the meter maid was standing there about to place the ticket on our windshield. I said "It's not even out yet!" and she looked at me and replied "yes it is," placed the ticket on our car and drove away. And it was more than I could bear. I started crying, not because of the ticket, but just because of everything. I tried to control myself, and I finally stopped. My despair was replaced with apathy. I didn't care about anything. I was rescheduling the cath in my head, two weeks-my friend's baby shower, two weeks after that-Drew's birthday, two weeks after that-my birthday. We'd probably miss everything.
I didn't want to go home. Laundry was waiting. I still need to take down the Christmas decorations, and put the kids new toys away. I would have to take care of the kids, cook dinner. It all seemed too overwhelming. I experienced a roller coaster of emotions on the 2 1/2 hour drive home. I felt like I could not do one more hospitalization, not one more cancelled cath. I felt like I had been knocked down and I had lost the will to stand up again. I told Dan I didn't want to do this anymore. He said no one in our situation wants to do this. You just have to be brave. Like Franklin. I almost said something inappropriate about Franklin, something that involves alliteration, but I didn't. At one point Drew heard me crying to Dan and said "Mom. Why are you whining?" Then my sobs mixed with laughs. I didn't know how I felt anymore. After a while I'd feel strong again. "I'm a phoenix, rising from the ashes! I will do this, and I will do it with a good attitude. I will make a plan, I will be in control." And so it went, back and forth, despair and determination.
When we got home around 2:30 I took Drew's temperature. 100.7 I decided to call the doctor because I would be very upset if we waited til 5 and he got worse and we ended up in the ER. We were back in the car by 3 with an appointment at 3:30. By the time we got there his fever was 102, sats were around 78. The doctor heard a crackle in his lung. I hate crackles. She ordered a breathing treatment then checked his sats again. Still about the same. She ordered a chest x-ray. I really hate chest x-rays. It almost always means pneumonia. And pneumonia almost always means the hospital. Luckily, she did not see a pneumonia on the film and we have another appointment to see her in the morning. We're not totally out of the woods though, because often pneumonia doesn't show up on the x-ray right away. Tonight we are going to give breathing treatments around the clock.
While I was gone with Drew, Dan cleaned up the messy house and had dinner ready for us by the time we got home. He also had a glass of wine waiting for me. What would I do without him? No matter how bad things get, how overwhelmed I feel, he is always right here with me. And I am so thankful for that.
So, that's the long version. I'll post again after our appointment tomorrow.
I barely slept at all last night, I was so anxious about the cath and whether or not Drew was sick. He had started coughing yesterday, but just a little bit and with no other symptoms. We drove out to Palo Alto, but with a feeling of dread. Then he seemed to stop coughing for a few hours. Then it started up again. He went to bed and slept fine all night, no coughing. Woke up with the alarm at 5:45 so he could have his last liquid of the day (you have to fast before the cath) and started coughing again. We called UCSF, they told us to come in. I wish they would have told us right then that they wouldn't do the cath. But they didn't. On the way in, Drew was sad. He kept telling us he didn't want to go to the hospital, he wanted to go back to Grandma Kathy's. He also told us he was hungry. Then thirsty. We had to tell him that he had to wait until after the cath. It was hard for me to hear.
Then the cath was cancelled. We took him to breakfast at Crepeville right by the hospital. Put money in the meter. He had silver dollar pancakes. After breakfast we were walking out to the car and the meter maid was standing there about to place the ticket on our windshield. I said "It's not even out yet!" and she looked at me and replied "yes it is," placed the ticket on our car and drove away. And it was more than I could bear. I started crying, not because of the ticket, but just because of everything. I tried to control myself, and I finally stopped. My despair was replaced with apathy. I didn't care about anything. I was rescheduling the cath in my head, two weeks-my friend's baby shower, two weeks after that-Drew's birthday, two weeks after that-my birthday. We'd probably miss everything.
I didn't want to go home. Laundry was waiting. I still need to take down the Christmas decorations, and put the kids new toys away. I would have to take care of the kids, cook dinner. It all seemed too overwhelming. I experienced a roller coaster of emotions on the 2 1/2 hour drive home. I felt like I could not do one more hospitalization, not one more cancelled cath. I felt like I had been knocked down and I had lost the will to stand up again. I told Dan I didn't want to do this anymore. He said no one in our situation wants to do this. You just have to be brave. Like Franklin. I almost said something inappropriate about Franklin, something that involves alliteration, but I didn't. At one point Drew heard me crying to Dan and said "Mom. Why are you whining?" Then my sobs mixed with laughs. I didn't know how I felt anymore. After a while I'd feel strong again. "I'm a phoenix, rising from the ashes! I will do this, and I will do it with a good attitude. I will make a plan, I will be in control." And so it went, back and forth, despair and determination.
When we got home around 2:30 I took Drew's temperature. 100.7 I decided to call the doctor because I would be very upset if we waited til 5 and he got worse and we ended up in the ER. We were back in the car by 3 with an appointment at 3:30. By the time we got there his fever was 102, sats were around 78. The doctor heard a crackle in his lung. I hate crackles. She ordered a breathing treatment then checked his sats again. Still about the same. She ordered a chest x-ray. I really hate chest x-rays. It almost always means pneumonia. And pneumonia almost always means the hospital. Luckily, she did not see a pneumonia on the film and we have another appointment to see her in the morning. We're not totally out of the woods though, because often pneumonia doesn't show up on the x-ray right away. Tonight we are going to give breathing treatments around the clock.
While I was gone with Drew, Dan cleaned up the messy house and had dinner ready for us by the time we got home. He also had a glass of wine waiting for me. What would I do without him? No matter how bad things get, how overwhelmed I feel, he is always right here with me. And I am so thankful for that.
So, that's the long version. I'll post again after our appointment tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
You Give Me Fever
After a fun-filled weekend including two toddler birthday parties and an adult birthday party, Drew felt warm Sunday night. We gave him some motrin and he slept fine til morning. He was acting normal until he fell asleep on the couch at 8:30 in the morning. Most unusual. We let him sleep and he woke up at ten and had a fever of 101. Normally I would call the doctor immediately, but he didn't have any other symptoms and acted fine once the fever was down. So I gave him some more motrin and waited. He ate a good lunch and seemed happy until about 2 when his fever was back at 101.4. So I called the doctor, mainly to see if I could alternate tylenol and motrin since the fever was breaking through and we still had at least two hours before I could give more motrin. The nurse said, "Don't we normally see him for fevers?" and I said, "yeah..." Sometimes I wonder if they want to see us just because I call, or if they really do want to see him. I think maybe its both. I guess because of their immune systems kids with DiGeorge need to be seen for fever because it could indicate a more serious infection that they might have trouble fighting.
Anyway, we went to the doctor, and he thinks it was the "birthday party exposure" from Friday where I heard there was a child who had roseola recently. Drew's already had that so I thought he was immune, but the doctor said there are many summer viruses that include a fever and a rash and sometimes they call it roseola when it is not actually the specific roseola virus. He wanted to do a blood culture "just to be safe" but I objected to that idea. He had what most would consider a low fever and I didn't want to make him undergo a painful stick. We agreed that if he was still feverish today I would call and we might go back in. He was feverish all day yesterday and kept telling me he wanted to go swimming. (I ended up giving him three baths instead.) The nurse on the phone heard him say it and then the doctor was laughing because he said it through our entire visit. He also kept saying "I'm hot" and "I have shark jammies." He slept well last night with motrin and so far this morning seems ok. We will watch and wait and hope it goes away all by itself.
This was our first doctor visit since Dr. P left. We saw Dr. Bullen who is our next favorite at that practice so that was good. We also got a chance to meet Dr. Jain who is replacing Dr. P. We just barely met her, but she seems nice and I'm glad I've at least got a face to put with her name.
Ava helping with the puzzle
Anyway, we went to the doctor, and he thinks it was the "birthday party exposure" from Friday where I heard there was a child who had roseola recently. Drew's already had that so I thought he was immune, but the doctor said there are many summer viruses that include a fever and a rash and sometimes they call it roseola when it is not actually the specific roseola virus. He wanted to do a blood culture "just to be safe" but I objected to that idea. He had what most would consider a low fever and I didn't want to make him undergo a painful stick. We agreed that if he was still feverish today I would call and we might go back in. He was feverish all day yesterday and kept telling me he wanted to go swimming. (I ended up giving him three baths instead.) The nurse on the phone heard him say it and then the doctor was laughing because he said it through our entire visit. He also kept saying "I'm hot" and "I have shark jammies." He slept well last night with motrin and so far this morning seems ok. We will watch and wait and hope it goes away all by itself.
This was our first doctor visit since Dr. P left. We saw Dr. Bullen who is our next favorite at that practice so that was good. We also got a chance to meet Dr. Jain who is replacing Dr. P. We just barely met her, but she seems nice and I'm glad I've at least got a face to put with her name.
See, he doesn't look sick!
Ava helping with the puzzle
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