She's Gonna Be The Death of Me: A Note About Fevers

Re-posted from my other blog, Boy Q and Girl Q.

I have never worried about someone as much as I have worried about Girl Q.

Let's take a refresher course. There was the time she:

• Almost died in utero,
• Was born with "super scary" (read, not scary at all) sacral dimples, 
• Fell down a flight of 15 stairs THREE times,
• Decided to be allergic to Amoxicillin,
• Had The Fever From Hell (FFH).

This past week Girl Q has had a fever that ranged from 99* (when on Tylenol or Ibuprofen) to 107* (when the drugs wore off). We alternated Ibuprofen and Tylenol about every four or five hours. Some peds recommend this and some don't--it worked for us.

Despite this high number, we were encouraged by the fact that she responded to medication, was eating and drinking normally, and was active when she felt well. She was sleeping quite a bit. When her fever spiked I stripped off her clothes and gave her cool baths.

The "I-Feel-Like-Crap" Face

In case you don't believe me about not freaking out about the 'number' of a fever and running to the ER, see here, here ("...How sick your child seems is more important than how high the fever is running."), and here. This last page from Washington Pediatric Associates in Missouri is my favorite because the side bar has a list of Myths and Facts about fevers:

• "MYTH: All fevers need to be treated with fever medicine.
• FACT: Fevers only need to be treated if they cause discomfort. Usually that’s fevers over 102 or 103 degrees F.

• MYTH: Without treatment, fevers will keep going higher.
• FACT: Wrong. Fevers from infection top out at 105 or 106 degrees F or lower, due to the brain’s thermostat.

• MYTH: With treatment, fevers should come down to normal.
• FACT: With treatment, fevers usually come down 2 or 3 degrees F.

• MYTH: Fevers cause brain damage or fevers over 104 degrees F are dangerous.
• FACT: Fevers with infections don’t cause brain damage. Only body temperatures over 108 degrees F can cause brain damage. Fevers only go this high with high environmental temperatures (e.g. confined to a closed car)."

And a new tidbit I learned--"Some parents may be aware of what are called febrile seizures...These result from an inherited genetic tendency present in about 5% of people. They are usually brief, almost never harmful, and contrary to what you would think, aggressive treatment of fever and infection has not been shown to prevent them."

On Day Three of The Fever From Hell, we took her to a pediatrician because the FFH was lasting longer than we were comfortable with. As we expected, the Kid Doc said that it was most likely a viral infection but that, since it's common in little girls, we should do a urine test for a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI).

Unfortunately, bacterial cultures take time to grow. The rest of the week she continued to have a high fever that spiked at certain times and responded well to medication. 

On Day Six of the FFH, the Kid Doc called to say that in the teeny tiny drop of urine we were able to extract from our toddler, they had indeed found bacteria. Hallelujah! Antibiotics were started immediately. She had no burning when she went pee, no irritation on her Queen Victoria, and yet a UTI! The National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse site says that: "Symptoms of a UTI range from slight burning with urination or unusual-smelling urine to severe pain and high fever. A child with a UTI may also have no symptoms." Good to know.

It is now Sunday, Day Eight, T-minus 36 hours after antibiotics and hefty helpings of cranberry juice chews were started. Girl Q's temperature is normal!

Parenting is hard and Praise. The. Lord. We're all celebrating:

A mid-morning Birthday/No Fever Cupcake.

They begged and begged. I finally gave in. Sometimes bad things are so good. :)

There were times in the past week when I wondered if we should be panicking and camping in the Emergency Room. There were times that I let other people's panic make me feel like a bad parent. In the end, I'm glad we kept it cool, stayed patient, and got things figured out.