May 8, 2012

May 8, 2012

Got home safe and sound around midnight last night. Clayton's chemo rash has continued to act up and has been throwing fevers at us left and right. I was somewhat worried on the plane ride last night from New York because he was on fire. Thermometer wise, all I could go on was a cheapo drug store one I got in NYC that was giving me a range of temps from 98.4 to 100.9. At that point though, we were landing in Atlanta and the only option would have been to keep on moving to Pensacola. So we did and after hauling butt - and I'm talking some serious hauling since we didn't get to de-board the first plane until 9:50 and our next flight departed at 10:20 and we had to wait on a stroller to be unloaded- to our connecting flight, I got to further work up a good sweat trying to wrestle some Tylenol and some other meds in Clayton. Good times I tell you! I will say though, that he slept much more peacefully on that second flight than he did on the first.
We were so unsure about his temperature though that after we got home, I ran out to Walmart to replace our broken head scan thermometer. Then we spent the rest of the night checking his temp with the ear thermometer and the head scan one while he tossed and turned and itched. Which brings us to this morning...
We were suppose to check in with the oncologists here, but not knowing what to do with the possible fever, we paged the on call oncologist to get her opinion. She said to bring him to the ER for a dose of antibiotics. So knowing that going to the ER might mean days of being in the hospital, we were reluctant to get up and go. That is until I took Clayton's temp at 7 am with the head thermometer and it read 103. something one time and 101.9 the second. That made us hustle because just one hour earlier, when we talked to the doctor it had only been 99.6 or so. So there we went dragging our butts to the hospital bed head and all.
We have now been here for a few hours and are finishing up. We've done cultures in his white line and his red line of his Hickman and a peripheral culture. Then we did a x-ray and an IV antibiotic infusion and we just got a urine sample.
But I haven't told you the good part... After all those high temps, we got to the hospital and they got an underarm temp of 98.3. Seriously! I turned around and scanned him with my head thermometer just to know I wasn't crazy... Yep, 101.6. I had been saying it all along that I thought most of his temp was just from the chemo rash, but A couple doctors made me start doubting myself. I was right on the money all along! The ER doctors told us how the rash is causing his surface temp to be higher than his internal temp. Sometimes mother's intuition trumps medical school. Sometimes. Now we are waiting on lab results and to be discharged.
Hopefully it will be home again soon!

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