Tuesday, May 19, 2009

SuperKaty, with the power of high fevers!


Katy has a tendency to get high fevers, usually with no other symptoms. Last spring/summer I kept track, and she had one about once a week for like 6 weeks in a row. It hasn't been that frequent before or since, but it still happens sometimes. One time it lasted more than a week and we ended up having some blood work done, but then it went away without any results. So there's a part of me that's worried that she has some weird chronic disease or something, but it's probably just how her immune system handles germs.

Sunday morning Katy was fine. She was a bit cranky as we got ready for church at 1, but we attributed it to it being nap time. She was very excited for Nursery, like always. Then when I picked her up at 4 I could tell that she was a bit hot. I took her temp when we got home, and it was 101.7. Not a big deal, but sad that she could have just exposed her Nursery class to some illness! How am I supposed to be super vigilant about not passing on germs if she comes down with something DURING Nursery? So, at 7:15 that night she fell asleep on our bed while watching a movie, and we measured her at 102.0. She'd had Tylenol at 4:30, so we gave her Ibuprofen then, and put her to bed.

Katy woke up crying at 3:30 with a temp of 104.4, and had thrown up a little bit. I gave her more Ibuprofen, cleaned up her bed, and put her back down. She woke up 3 hours later at 6:30, up to 104.9 this time, so I gave her more Tylenol and she stayed with me in my bed until 8:30. My wonderful husband stayed home, initially to help get David to school, then decided to stick around all day. Which was good, because I may have forgotten to get him from the bus if he hadn't.

The temperature went up and down all day, peaking at 105.5 around 10:00. Poor little thing was so miserable! She just kept whining/crying whenever she was awake. It was so sad! I suppose we should have taken her to a doctor, but more than likely they'd just tell us that it's a virus that she needs to fight off, and watch for signs of dehydration. And I kept telling myself "When she wakes up, if her temp is over x degrees, I'll call a doctor." Then she'd seem better for a while. And we've only had one doctor visit since living here (to get David's ADHD prescription), and I just saw online that they charged way more than any other doctor we've been to, even the initial visits in Kent. So I need to find out if they're just more expensive and we need to find someone else, but I'm not really sure how to go about doing that. So, I didn't really even know who to call if we did want to call a doctor.

We worked very hard to keep her drinking water (she wouldn't drink anything else except a bit of chocolate milk), and kept offering popsicles. She only ate about 1 1/2 all day, which was one of the biggest signs to me that she was really feeling miserable. What almost-2-year-old turns down a popsicle? It was very sad. And she made me hold/carry her at all times. I don't think she walked more than a few feet all day. If I put her down at all, she'd ask me to "Hold you!" So, I watched a LOT of Little Einsteins, Dora, etc. yesterday. My baby needed me.

At bedtime last night she was at 103, we gave her Ibuprofen again (it sounds like we gave it to her a lot, but it was only 4 times in a 24 hour period), and she slept almost 11 hours straight. She's still not feeling perfect - the picture is actually from today. but she woke up at 103 still, with all medicine out of her system. She seems to be feeling MUCH better. The most obvious sign to me that she's feeling better - she ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast! She's been walking around a bit, not just laying there like a newborn like yesterday. I'm so glad she's doing better. It was so hard to see my little one feeling so yucky!

4 comments:

Dan said...

She wasn't asymptomatic this time though. She has had a runny snot face for several days before (which had started decreasing). And I wiped her nose several times yesterday when I was "hold you".

Rachel said...

Yes, but I don't think it was necessarily connected. Unless she was getting an ear infection or something, then it cleared up on its own. A cold doesn't give you a fever, especially about a week into it, unless it's progressing into something else. And if that was the case, I don't think it would clear up so fast.

Nurse Heidi said...

Poor kid! I hate weird illnesses like that. I'm totally a watch and waiter too, and generally sit on stuff for at least a few days before running in to the doctor. Could be a sinus infection - Ethan went septic with one when he was about 3 years old. An otoscope is also a good investment for you if you have high copays. You'll pay for it in one missed visit. Check out www.docmom.com.

jaclyn weist said...

I just found out my nephew has this weird thing where his immune system is out of whack and he gets fevers for no apparent reason. No strep or anything. So the only thing to help him out is to get his tonsils out - he also get sick easily during that time too.

Then there's always the lovely swine flu which she seems to have had all the symptoms for just so you know. But then it matches the flu, a cold, a normal every day virus... I'm glad she's doing better!