Up late with dd fever -- worried

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Registered: 07-07-2004
Up late with dd fever -- worried
5
Wed, 12-08-2004 - 12:24am
DD was complaining yesterday about being tired. That was my first clue. I was teaching a class in the late afternoon and she was with me while I was setting up and after for clean-up. And she was laying on the floor and telling me, "Mom, I'm tired!" over and over. I told her impatiently to hang in there and that we'd be home soon. She looked pale and had dark circles under her eyes. Suspecting that she was coming down with something, I pampered her when we got home and sure enough, she developed a fever. It was high ... like 103. And she said her tummy hurt, pointing to her belly button. I assumed she was coming down with stomach flu. But she expressed interest in dinner, so I gave her a light meal of noodle soup and watermelon. She didn't eat much, but she drank her fluids. She slept through the night. I discovered her sleeping on the couch in our room at around 7am. I took her temp and it was down to 100.4. The whole time she has been cheerful and acting relatively normal. By breakfast, her temp felt normal and she was chasing ds around the room. She continued to act happy and normal all day. But by early evening the fever was back. 103. I gave her motrin ... partly to make her feel better, partly to make me feel better. It worked. She was chasing ds around all evening and eating dinner. Took the temp again at bedtime and ... four hours into the motrin (6-8 hour dose) the fever was back to 103. She was cheerful, but complaing of being cold. Against my preference with such a high temp, I let her have a sweater over the jammies. She fell asleep for a while. Then a few minutes ago I heard her calling. I went up and she was still cheerful, but she said she was too hot. So we peeled back the covers and took off the sweater and the jammies. And I took her temp with the ear thing (which we tested on ourselves at bedtime, wondering if it was working properly ... and our temps were normal) ... and at midnight (after being bundled) the temp was 105! Dh is laying with her now and I am giving her a chance to cool down before I re-take her temp in 15 min. And re-adminisiter the motrin. But if it hasn't come down, I'm calling the doctor. I've been sitting here freaking myself out with descriptions of undiagnosed fever (she has no upper respiratory symptoms ... no sore throat or sore ears ... and she giggles when we ask her about her tummy and points to lots of roving places on her abdomen while cracking herself up). I'm doing the sick-kid-mommy-freak-out right now. And all season I've been bragging about how healthy we've been this year. Cross your fingers for me.
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Registered: 01-06-2004
Wed, 12-08-2004 - 9:52am

Did you try giving her

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Registered: 07-07-2004
Wed, 12-08-2004 - 10:42am

Well, I re-checked her temp ... thinking that maybe she had just been bundled too warmly and that had elevated the fever ... but after a half hour, it was still 105. I haven't seen a temp that high in five years. So I jotted some notes about the symptoms to that point and I called the answering service. I thought there was a good chance they'd tell me to just stay put, but I wasn't sure. I wanted to know if we could sit tight til morning or if we should go to the Urgent Care. The Dr. on call wasn't from our practice but she was really nice. Sometimes they can be a little cold when you call at night like that. She said that it was okay to wait til morning but to give her the dose of motrin since it had been six hours since the last one. She aske if we'd tested the thermometer on ourselves (we had) ... I told her that I had un-bundled dd down to her undies and waited a little while to re-check the temp before calling. She was happy about that. She mentioned that we could give her a bath. She said it could be the flu ... even in the abscence of respiratory or digestive symptoms. (?) But that part is still freaking me out ... silly but I'd feel better if her nose was running or she obviously had stomach flu. She mentioned something about checking for a bladder infection, though we don't have any symptoms there either. Anyway, we gave her the motrin ... dd is TERRIBLE with the meds (suggestions are appreciated ... dd will be 5 this month). well, she gagged and SHE THREW UP THE MOTRIN. (!) I wasn't sure what to do. I was pretty sure we should just try again ... but that makes me a little nervous (did she throw it all up?). We decided to let her relax a little. We laid with her on the bed -- she was uncovered. I checked and re-checked the temp while trying to decide what to do about the motrin. It was going down ... 104 something and then 103 something. That reassured me. By then, she was sound asleep and my dh thought we should just let her sleep. So we did. I woke at 5am and checked her. 104.7! I was really upset ... it should be low in the morning. But dh still insisted that I should wait til morning rather than wake her. Well, it was 102 when she got up. And 100.4, just like yesterday morning, when I took it again just now. I'm glad the fever is down, and she is acting very normal ... but I saw this pattern yesterday and I'm not waiting til it spikes back up to call her doc. I'm waiting to hear from the office now to see what they want to do. I'll let you know. Thanks for the good thoughts and prayers. I'm hoping that I'm just worried for nothing. Freaky Fever!

D.

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Registered: 05-08-2004
Wed, 12-08-2004 - 11:24am
I hope your dd gets well soon! Sometimes a "24 hour bug" can do this. Also some children just do not get the "normal" symptoms of most illnesses. My older ds can eat, play and seem completely normal then I hug him and he can have a temp of 104. Because he is so rarely sick it is hard to catch him when he is. I try and pay very close attention when he says he is tired or not feeling well since he does not say this very often. He is just not a complainer. Hope that Dr calls soon!


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Registered: 07-07-2004
Wed, 12-08-2004 - 11:40am
Well, the office nurse told me that they usually let fevers like this (without other symptoms) go for four or five days. So as long as her behavior doesn't change (she's been her cheerful active self ... had to break up a scuffle with ds a little while ago while I was on the phone) and she doesn't become lethargic and limp, if the fever remains above 100 ... they won't see her until Friday. So that's a couple of days of waiting and worrying and trying to decide if I think she's acting "limp" or if she's just into PBS. The nurse told me not to fuss about the Motrin ... if she will take it fine, but it's more for her comfort than for anything essential. We can try a cool cloth if she won't take the med, she said. And she told me that they are not impressed with the number as much as the behavior. So if the fever gets back up to 105, as long as dd's not "limp," they don't care. Swell. They are more concerned about the kids that look and act miserable than the ones with 105 that are acting more or less fine. So apparently it could just be something totally innocuous. Hopefully the fever will do it's job soon and bug off so we can stop worrying and wondering. I just never saw her fever go that high before ... and the no symptom thing messes with my imagination. Thanks for listening!
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Registered: 07-07-2004
Wed, 12-08-2004 - 12:29pm

Thanks, Tracy! I missed your post somehow when I posted my reply about her Dr.'s/Nurse's response. You are right about the "I'm tired" thing. DD never says that. Unless it's maybe a half hour past bedtime. LOL. The first couple times she said it I was distracted, but by the time we left to come home and I saw how pale she was ... I knew something was up. <> Yes, I think that's true with dd as well.

So here I am on "limp & lethargic" watch ... no signs of that so far. She just breezed in here in her purple footie sheep pajamas and her bike helmet (?), tossing her hair over her shoulders and dancing and grinning widely ... going on about the Christmas tree we are going to buy this weekend and how she would like to open her Xmas gifts *first* thing on Xmas but I might have to help her with the ribbons ... and did you know that there is a kipper video called, "Kipper's Playtime"? And then she ran back up the hall to the front room. I'm tired just *watching* her. LOL. So all's well so far. I just hope that fever stays low! Thanks again! You know how that mom-worry drill goes. I remember your story about ds and the hospital! Now *that* must have been scary. I was so impressed with your son being able to use his yoga to be calm. Very cool. How did you get him into that, anyway? Did you do a class with him? Or do you just practice at home? Do you use a video? DD really gets herself worked up when it comes to taking medicine and going to the dr. Sometimes she gets really defensive when you inquire about her symptoms because she knows if she "confesses" a certain symptom, she will have to go to the Dr. So I think some relaxation stuff might be good for her. And think she would like the idea of doing something like yoga together. I have done yoga in the past ... good for the back.

Cheers,
D.

PS Thinking of ttc #3 soon too. Maybe starting in January. Good luck to you!

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