Sick

Saturday night we made a trip to the Emergency Room with Fiona. She woke up at 6:15 with a 103.7 degree fever. She was acting normally and even ate breakfast, but we still gave her ibuprofen. She seemed quite happy until 12:15. She fell asleep in the car and we transferred her to her bed in her clothes and her jacket. She woke up crying and felt really hot. We took her temperature and it was 105.2 degrees!!! We immediately took off her clothes and started patting her with a damp cloth. The fever dropped one degree in ten minutes. We also gave her another dose of ibuprofen and within half an hour (probably before the ibuprofen even had a chance to kick in) she was fine, playing outside, nibbling on snacks and drinking lots of water. We went for a drive in the afternoon and when we returned, at about 4:45 the fever was up again. This time is 103.3. We have Tylenol and called the on-call nurse at the pediatrician’s office. While on the phone with her (about 10 minutes after the Tylenol) Fiona vomited all over me. Her fever rose to 104.4 and the on-call nurse told us to take her to the emergency room, and in fact, to go directly there any time she has a fever over 105.

So we did.

It was an interesting experience. They see the babies a lot faster than the non-critical adults. She was weighed and her temperature taken in triage, then we sat in a chair and waited for a bed to open up. Within a few minutes, we were assigned a bed in a hallway, next to another sick baby whose symptoms sounded just like Fiona’s. The doctor examined her pretty quickly. He temperature was increasing and she was pretty lethargic by the time he came to see her. He got a good look in her nose, eyes, ears, and throat, and all looked clear. A very nice nurse, the same nurse that took care of my mother when she broke her elbow, collected urine from Fiona by using a catheter and another person swabbed her nose. Then, we sat and waited for test results.

John thought is would take a long time, days maybe, but I knew that we would have them very quickly. I watched enough hospital shows to know that all diagnoses and treatments, however difficult, can be reached and administered in less than an hour, with time to spare for a parting message. OK, maybe real life is not like that, but I knew it wouldn’t take that long because I know other people who have been in similar situations.

After the catheter, Fiona perked up quite a bit, even though her temperature was still on the rise. Eventually she was given a mega dose of ibuprofen and Tylenol, and a cup of apple juice. She also ate a granola bar and then sat happily playing with her beads.

Eventually all test results came back – negative of course. She doesn’t have RSV, influenza, a urinary tract infection or any infection that they can detect. Fiona has a random baby virus. There are a lot going around right now. Eventually the doctor let us take her home, after she perked up and charmed him and the nurse. Here she is in her cute little hospital gown that they let us keep:

 

On the other side of the screen in the background was a little girl with a very nasty sounding cough. I wanted to be as far away from her as possible. She was getting nebulizer treatments and even though we have our own DoggyNeb, I would rather it collected dust in the closet than have to use it.

Through all this Fiona was a real trooper. She hardly cried during the urine collection. Just said “Up please” a few times. She let the nurse take her temperature without squirming, didn’t fuss during the nose swabs, and did whatever tricks the doctor asked her to perform (open mouth, turn head, thread the red, no the yellow bead).

All in all it wasn’t a horrible experience and I am glad we took her, if only for the piece of mind of having a doctor examine and rule out anything serious. I am impressed with how well she handled everything, but wonder if it isn’t because she spent the first seven weeks of her life in the same hospital, being poked and prodded by various medical professionals. It was funny and sad when the admitting person asked us if Fiona had ever been there, and before I could say no, John said, “She used to live here.” He explained how she was born early and was in the NICU for almost two months. It was a little painful to have to tell people she was a preemie because it is part of her medical history and for some reason still needs to be taken into consideration, even though she hasn’t been back as a patient since she was discharged in July 2010.

Fiona is feeling a lot better today (Monday). Yesterday she had a fever in the afternoon. She slept all night last night and seems better today, but isn’t eating a lot and is complaining about her mouth hurting. She has a funny rash around her mouth that we think is related to the fever. She is also drooling like Niagara Falls. I am sure there will be weight loss, but at this point, I am not overly concerned. She is eating a little, drinking milk and water, and apple juice (the ER nurse told us to give it to her because there were ketones in her urine, meaning she is not taking in enough calories and her body is metabolizing fat).

I am hoping the fevers are gone for good and that the rash clears up. We will take her to the doctor tomorrow or Wednesday, whenever the first appointment is available. Until then, we continue to be house bound, reading books, going for walks, playing in the backyard, and building towers.

Cross your fingers for a quick recovery!