Monday (July 4) she woke up from her nap a little out of it and fussy. By 4:30 we realized she had a fever. After last month's episode, I knew she needed a doctor visit immediately. We went for bloodwork first on Tuesday morning and then visited the doctor on Tuesday afternoon with the results. Once again, her white count and CRP were elevated. Poor munchkin had to get antibiotic shots again. (click to read about my crazy Tuesday)
Wednesday afternoon, her fever was still raging, so we went back for more shots. As soon as I tell Lily we are going to the doctor or when she recognizes the landmarks as we drive, she says "all better, no doctor" in the saddest, sickest voice. And Thursday, fever still there. We paid a lot of co-pays this week. The doctor said if Lily's fever went up to 101 on Friday, he would admit her to the hospital.
So, guess where we ended up on Friday evening?
She actually looks happy here. Which was obviously before the IV. When a fever-reducer was in effect in her body, she was pleasant and would even play some. But once her fever kicked up, she was one sick little girl.
It was an intense 24 hours. I have such a new respect and understanding for parents of chronically ill children who spend a lot of time in the hospital. At times I felt like I was in a different country. Everything was focused on Lily's health.
They did a pretty full work-up on her including an x-ray and ultrasound. Thankfully, they didn't find anything serious going on, which was our biggest concern. Lily was pretty dehydrated, so being on an IV for 24 hours was a very positive thing. Her urine output had been very little and the IV increased it dramatically, which helped with the fever.
Unfortunately, they weren't able to identify the source of the fever and since it stayed low while we were there, they felt good discharging her. Since she had improved and actual sleep and rest in a hospital is difficult, we were comfortable with that. Her temperature has stayed 1-2 degrees above normal, but overall she is improving.
We will be seeing an immunologist to follow-up and hopefully figure out why Lily has these frequent fevers and if they are infections or viruses or another cause. Right now I'm focusing on the fact that she is improving and even though this is the 7th day of her fever, it is very low and decreasing. It is concerning to me that she has had 15 fevers in 13 months.
I am very happy that Lily is in her own bed tonight (and keeps calling us for silly things tonight) instead of in a hospital bed. Although she actually was never in the hospital bed because it was a crib that she wanted nothing to do with. She spent her time in the fold out bed if she wasn't in my lap.
More pictures tomorrow and things I learned being in the hospital with my daughter.
