Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Poor sick bug

Molly (along with N and I) has been fighting a bug for the last couple of weeks. Yes, weeks. I noticed she was warm back on the 5th when we were out and about. We got home and her temp was 100.4. For the next few days it bounced around between 99.something and 100.something. Unfortunately, that weekend I came down with whatever it was she was fighting. On top of that N was gone most of the weekend volunteering at a Robotics tournament. Luckily he had a friend drive him to/from the event as he was popping Sudafed and cough drops just to make it through the day.

On Tuesday the 11th Molly woke up with a cough and still had her low grade temp. I decided it was time to call her doc and get things checked out. They tested her for Strep (negative) and did another nasal swab (that she HATED) that tested for Pertussis (I believe) and a few other things. They all came back negative. The doc checked out her lungs (fine) and ears (fine, phew!) and a few other things. It was determined it was something viral and we just had to ride it out.

Well the next day I took her temp before her nap and it was 102.7. I made an appointment to follow up with the doc the next day. That night I was woken up around 1:30 am by a hot little body next to my bed. Molly seemed in pretty good spirits and asked for some apple juice and requested Toy Story 3. I got her the apple juice, but wanted to take her temp before putting on any movies. It was 104.1. Time to call the oncall service and speak to someone. The nurse I talked to went down a list of concerns and other than the high temp none of them applied. She also said I could increase the dosage of Tylenol from the 5 ML I had been giving to 7.5 ML and to check her temp in an hour. Apparently 105 is the danger zone/time to head to the ER. Good to know. An hour later her temp was back down to 102.1.

Thursday morning we went in to the doc's office for her follow up and her temp was normal. She still had her cough, but her lungs still sounded fine to the doc. They did a few more tests, but everything was still coming back negative. Yup, it's viral. Ride it out.

Molly's temp went back down to the 99.something and 100.something range and the nasty smoker's cough persisted. Sunday morning she woke up and her temp was normal. She was still congested and coughing though. Then around 10:30 she started to cough and cry/whine after each cough. I thought her throat must be sore. I went to get her a popsicle and when I came back she greeted me by throwing up all over herself. I picked her up and got her in the tub to clean her off and she was on fire. Took her temp and it was 104.9. Yup, time to head down to the ER.

When we got to the ER N asked to hold her. He said, "Daddy fix" and put his arms out and Molly went to him. Not two minutes later and she threw up all over herself and N. Daddy fix indeed. When we get checked in by the triage nurse they give her some more Tylenol as she had thrown up the dose I had given her at home. When we get back into the room the nurse has to give her a nasal swab (to test for the flu) and poor bug has a catheter put in to get a urine sample. NOT a fan of either of these tests and she let us know it. By now a few hours have passed since our arrival and her temp is still pretty high (I think 103.something). The nurse gives her a dose of Ibuprofen and an hour later her temp is 100.5. Molly spends most of the time sleeping on N and I (we took turns as our asses kept falling asleep).

The ER doc comes in and checks Molly out. While he's in the room Molly wakes up and perks up and starts asking for food and apple juice (good sign). The tests once again came back negative. The urine sample had the very lowest levels possible detected, but not enough to straight up call it a UTI. The doc sent out for cultures which take a few days. There were another few tests that would take a few days. The suggestion was to get her on amoxicillin since A) she's had it before with no reaction and B) it would be the treatment if any of the tests came back positive.

Sunday night her temp got back up to 102.1, but it's been down in the 99.something range since then. Molly woke up with a normal temp yesterday and her appetite. She also had her energy back. Her temp was 100.5 right before nap time, but normal when she woke up. It did creep up to 99.9 before bed time, but was normal when she woke up this morning. Around noon she felt warm and her temp was 99.4. However, it was normal post nap and then again before bed time tonight.

The cough is also persisting. It sounds like Molly has been smoking 20 packs a day for much longer than she's been alive. However, her appetite is coming back more each day and her energy level is returning to normal levels. Hopefully this means we're towards the end of whatever we've been dealing with.

No comments: