Fever! (Monday, Mar. 20, 2006)
Ten days after Laurie's second chemo treatment and all appeared well. The entire family had spring break at the same time this year (a first in recent memory), and we spent the first few days of it at Laurie's parents' lake house. Laurie was starting to feel better from her treatments, although she was still a little achey.
We arrived back home early Monday evening and Jim started fixing dinner (well, anyone can open a can of baked beans, grill hamburbers, and throw a Marie Calendar cobbler in the oven). Laurie was feeling a little warm and tired so she took her temperature. The thermometer read 99.6 degrees, a little high, but nothing to be concerned about. Jim kept cooking. A few minutes later, Laurie checked her temperature again. This time it was about 100.3. We both perked up, remembering we'd been told that if her temperature ever hit 100.5, we'd need to call the doctor and probably high-tail it for the hospital.
Jim kept cooking. Laurie kept heating up. She checked her temperature again a few minutes later--101.3 degrees. She really wasn't feeling that bad, but Jim went to get the number to call the doctor. In the meantime, Laurie changed from the digital thermometer to a regular mercury thermometer. She took her temperature again--101.7. Jim called the doctor but got the anwering service. The lady who answered took our number. "The doctor on call will get right back to you," she said.
Laurie checked her temperature again. This time it read 101.9 degrees. Her temperature had risen from 99.6 to 101.9 in less than thirty minutes. The phone rang. While Jim talked to the doctor on call, Laurie got a few things together in case her visit to the hopital turned into a stay. She and the girls grabbed a hamburger (Jim had managed to get those cooked).
Fortunately the doctor did not seem overly concerned, but confirmed we needed to head to the emergency room. "Any one will do," she said. "Just make sure you tell them your wife is undergoing chemotherapy. They will draw some blood and check her blood counts. Depending on her vitals, they might keep her overnight. Have the ER doctor call if necessary."
Jim managed to grab a quick bite and put the food away after he got off the phone. Meanwhile Laurie checked her temp again. It was holding at 101.9, a good sign if only because it hadn't gone up any higher. Finally all of us piled into the car and headed down to Baylor. It was a little after 8:00.
When we got to the emergency room and told them why we were there, they immediately handed Laurie a surgical mask to protect her from all the wheezing and coughing going on in the waiting room. A nurse then escorted Laurie and Jim into a small triage room where she checked Laurie's vitals. Her temp was still over 101, but everthing else seemed OK. The nurse asked if Laurie had taken anything for her fever. "Not yet," we said, so they gave her some Tylenol. We then sat down to wait. It was a little after 8:30.
We found out later that Laurie was waiting for a bed in the ER to clear. The hospital staff kept her in triage rather than have her sit out in the main waiting area. They wanted to avoid exposure to whatever illnesses and bacteria lurked out there.
During the time Jim and Laurie were in the triage room, Steffi and Abby were sitting out in the main waiting area reading. Policy allowed only one guest per patient in the back. Jim went out to register Laurie and let each of the girls go in and see Mom one at a time. When Jim went back to sit with Laurie, her temperature had already dropped a little, but she was still waiting for a bed to clear so she could get her blood drawn. We both tried to read a little, but mostly just sat and waited. Jim let the girls rotate in one more time to sit with Laurie before going back in to sit with her himself.
We were still waiting at 10:30. Steff and Abby had finished all their reading for school (small blessings occur in the least expected places), but they were getting tired. We decided they'd be better off at home so Jim drove the girls back to the house, thinking that at the rate things were progressing, Laurie would still be waiting by the time he got back. But, just as it rains when you wash your car, so also the minute you leave your wife, she gets taken back to a bed. By the time Jim got back from taking the girls home, Laurie had had a chest x-ray and her blood drawn. The x-ray was negative. They were just finishing a second draw of blood for a culture when Jim finally found them. We started waiting again.
When the clock struck 1:00, the emergency room doctor walked in. Laurie's blood counts were fine and no bacterial infection was evident. Laurie's temperature had dropped back down to 99.3 and the doctor concluded that the reason for the spike was likely a virus. Laur had been given an injection of antibiotics earlier, so he saw no reason for us to stay, but he did confirm that we'd done the right thing by coming in.
We were on the way home by 1:30 a.m. and found two sleeping girls lying on couches in the living room, with a movie droning on in the background.
With the girls, Laurie, and Jim finally in bed, the clock read 2:30 a.m. We were really glad we were still on spring break!
Laurie's temperature fluctuated a little for the next couple days, but without the same excitement. The temperature culprit was likely a virus after all. Once again God protected Laurie in a situation that might have been much worse. Thank you Father!
We arrived back home early Monday evening and Jim started fixing dinner (well, anyone can open a can of baked beans, grill hamburbers, and throw a Marie Calendar cobbler in the oven). Laurie was feeling a little warm and tired so she took her temperature. The thermometer read 99.6 degrees, a little high, but nothing to be concerned about. Jim kept cooking. A few minutes later, Laurie checked her temperature again. This time it was about 100.3. We both perked up, remembering we'd been told that if her temperature ever hit 100.5, we'd need to call the doctor and probably high-tail it for the hospital.
Jim kept cooking. Laurie kept heating up. She checked her temperature again a few minutes later--101.3 degrees. She really wasn't feeling that bad, but Jim went to get the number to call the doctor. In the meantime, Laurie changed from the digital thermometer to a regular mercury thermometer. She took her temperature again--101.7. Jim called the doctor but got the anwering service. The lady who answered took our number. "The doctor on call will get right back to you," she said.
Laurie checked her temperature again. This time it read 101.9 degrees. Her temperature had risen from 99.6 to 101.9 in less than thirty minutes. The phone rang. While Jim talked to the doctor on call, Laurie got a few things together in case her visit to the hopital turned into a stay. She and the girls grabbed a hamburger (Jim had managed to get those cooked).
Fortunately the doctor did not seem overly concerned, but confirmed we needed to head to the emergency room. "Any one will do," she said. "Just make sure you tell them your wife is undergoing chemotherapy. They will draw some blood and check her blood counts. Depending on her vitals, they might keep her overnight. Have the ER doctor call if necessary."
Jim managed to grab a quick bite and put the food away after he got off the phone. Meanwhile Laurie checked her temp again. It was holding at 101.9, a good sign if only because it hadn't gone up any higher. Finally all of us piled into the car and headed down to Baylor. It was a little after 8:00.
When we got to the emergency room and told them why we were there, they immediately handed Laurie a surgical mask to protect her from all the wheezing and coughing going on in the waiting room. A nurse then escorted Laurie and Jim into a small triage room where she checked Laurie's vitals. Her temp was still over 101, but everthing else seemed OK. The nurse asked if Laurie had taken anything for her fever. "Not yet," we said, so they gave her some Tylenol. We then sat down to wait. It was a little after 8:30.
We found out later that Laurie was waiting for a bed in the ER to clear. The hospital staff kept her in triage rather than have her sit out in the main waiting area. They wanted to avoid exposure to whatever illnesses and bacteria lurked out there.
During the time Jim and Laurie were in the triage room, Steffi and Abby were sitting out in the main waiting area reading. Policy allowed only one guest per patient in the back. Jim went out to register Laurie and let each of the girls go in and see Mom one at a time. When Jim went back to sit with Laurie, her temperature had already dropped a little, but she was still waiting for a bed to clear so she could get her blood drawn. We both tried to read a little, but mostly just sat and waited. Jim let the girls rotate in one more time to sit with Laurie before going back in to sit with her himself.
We were still waiting at 10:30. Steff and Abby had finished all their reading for school (small blessings occur in the least expected places), but they were getting tired. We decided they'd be better off at home so Jim drove the girls back to the house, thinking that at the rate things were progressing, Laurie would still be waiting by the time he got back. But, just as it rains when you wash your car, so also the minute you leave your wife, she gets taken back to a bed. By the time Jim got back from taking the girls home, Laurie had had a chest x-ray and her blood drawn. The x-ray was negative. They were just finishing a second draw of blood for a culture when Jim finally found them. We started waiting again.
When the clock struck 1:00, the emergency room doctor walked in. Laurie's blood counts were fine and no bacterial infection was evident. Laurie's temperature had dropped back down to 99.3 and the doctor concluded that the reason for the spike was likely a virus. Laur had been given an injection of antibiotics earlier, so he saw no reason for us to stay, but he did confirm that we'd done the right thing by coming in.
We were on the way home by 1:30 a.m. and found two sleeping girls lying on couches in the living room, with a movie droning on in the background.
With the girls, Laurie, and Jim finally in bed, the clock read 2:30 a.m. We were really glad we were still on spring break!
Laurie's temperature fluctuated a little for the next couple days, but without the same excitement. The temperature culprit was likely a virus after all. Once again God protected Laurie in a situation that might have been much worse. Thank you Father!
posted by Laurie Thames | 7:33 PM
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