My nightmare MONTH!!

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 12:48 pm

The good news first...things are fine now.

The weekend...

My 8 yr old son came down with a fever Wednesday afternoon. It was 102.3. He had a slight cough, but not much else, except extreme lethargy -- passed out all day. My parents arrived from Guatemala on Thursday night, we saw the pediatrician Friday morning, who didn't find anything bacterial, so she said we could wait it out for up to 5 days. Friday night the big storm hit unexpectedly while my cousin was over for dinner. No one noticed rain was in the forecast, much less hurricane-like conditions! It was the scariest combo of wind and non-stop lightening. We lost power at 10:30 pm. We closed windows and managed to sleep in the residual air conditioning that night.

The fever continued between 102.3 and 104.5. through Sunday and we had no power. It was 104 degrees outside!! Our area looked like a warzone with trees down all over. All 6 of us of slept in the cool basement Saturday. Sunday evening, a friend got power in her empty house, so we cooked dinner and slept on her floor. I called the pediatrician for next steps, and she felt we could wait until Monday. The fever raged on in between ibuprofen doses.

Monday we went to see our regular ped at an alternate location because their office was without power. My son's lower left lung had no breath sounds. He has pneumonia. He's on Augmentin for 10 days (souped up penicillin), and we're hoping we can treat this at home without a trip to the hospital for chest xrays, etc. He is a very healthy kid who almost never gets sick, so that should work in his favor. Fever is almost gone today, so I'm hopeful the antibiotic is working and he'll be better soon. His cough is getting more powerful, which I suppose is a good thing. We are banging his chest and back to help loosen things up too. I hope this doesn't put him at risk of asthma and lung-related ailments. Sure would like to know which virus started this whole thing (Adenovirus? Parainfluenza?). It was a whopper! Little sister isn't showing any signs of having it, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that she stays that way.

Worst weekend ever...

kitty16 · Post by **kitty16** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:05 pm

Dear Zizzle,

I can't imagine having a fever and being in this heat your poor son. Hope he is doing better.

Hugs,
K

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 2:49 pm

Wow Z! A sick child is always hard to take, but without AC in that heat? Poor little guy. Gland he's on the mend.

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:15 pm

Poor little guy. What a terrible time to get pneumonia! If you can keep him out of the hospital (though it's probably cooler there), you should. The acute care center doctor who diagnosed me with double pneumonia told me it would be better to treat the pneumonia at home than to go to a hospital, so I stayed home. Way too many germs in the hospital.

I hope he gets better soon, but a bad case of pneumonia can take up to two weeks to feel better. The lungs can take up to 6 months before they are completely recovered.

Gloria

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 6:04 pm

Sounds like a nightmare. I'm hoping for a quick recovery.

Leah

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:46 pm

The fever roared back tonight. 103.9 after a relatively low fever day. He just took his 4th dose of Augmentin. I hope it's working!!!

Deanna in CO · Post by **Deanna in CO** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:41 pm

Z,

If he started the Augmentin on Monday and his fever comes back so high tomorrow, I'd contact the doctor again - don't you think, Polly?. So many bugs are resistant to basic antibiotics these days that you almost have to assume if it doesn't begin to respond within a couple of days, it's resistant. The cough might take weeks to go away, but the fever ought to respond sooner.

Just my 2 cents' worth - obviously this is Polly's area of expertise more than mine!

Hope he's feeling much better soon!

Deanna

JFR · Post by **JFR** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:38 am

Zizzle,

What a terrible weekend. I hope your son gets better quickly. I would definitely call the doctor today if he is still so sick.

Jean

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 9:40 am

Zizzle, hoping and praying that things are better today. Deb

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 1:30 pm

103.9 fever ladt night, after a low temp day. Today he awoke with no fever but the cough is worse-- more powerful and productive. Maybe that's a good thing? Part of the healing process? No trouble breathing or other symptoms. Hoping we can go to fireworks tonight and the fever doesn't return. This is day 7 of his illness!! Poor guy. So resilient.

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:06 pm

Hi Zizzle I hope your son is starting to feel better. This does sound like a rough week, is his fever better as the day goes on?

Do you have power back yet? My daughter is in Lynchburg and it seems that the power outages are widespread across the region.

I hope your son feels better soon

Take care

maestraz · Post by **maestraz** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 7:50 pm

Ugh, definitely a nightmare. Hoping your poor boy is feeling better, and that you get some relief from the power/storm damage soon. We in CT sympathize, after our extended, up to 2-week power loss issues after both the late August hurricane and freak 2 foot cement-heavy snow/mega tree damage October storm. I think I would rather lose power in (moderately) cold weather--you can always layer up, and, as we did, stick thawing food in a cooler in a snowbank. The heat you guys have had lately in the Mid-Atlantic is ridiculous, and where do you go in a region that is SO much more dependent on A/C than up here?

Tempers ran short with the power companies up here after both those storms, which we had some warning of. It sounds like nobody saw the crazy storms that hit you guys coming. I hope people will try not to take out their frustration on the many workers who come from other states to help to get power restored.

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Thu Jul 05, 2012 11:29 am

We got power back Monday night, but I have many friends and old neighbors still waiting. Others got power, rejoiced, and lost it again. It's amazing how many power poles fell or simply snapped during this storm.

Little boy is going to the ped today at 3 pm. His cough is much more productive (which I understand is a good thing with pneumonia). His temps are lower during the day, but they creep up to 103 in the evening. He fully responds to ibuprofen. Next step may be chest x-ray and CBC to see if the antibiotic isn't working. Or it may simply be viral pneumonia that must run it's course. So far he's comfortable and has no trouble breathing. Just read about mycoplasma pneumoniae causing up to 50% of community acquired pneumonia. I hope that's not it, and more importantly, I hope this infection does not serve as the trigger into my world of gluten intolerance and autoimmune disease! (he's HLADQ2)

In other news, it seems I have Amyopathic Dermatomyositis. It's autoimmune inflammation/vasculitis of the small capillaries that can affect skin and muscle. My muscles seem OK so far. I had an inconclusive skin biopsy that was consistent with it, but could not determine it 100%. But I have nearly all the skin manifestations, as I already surmised. Next step is a GYN cancer check, since DM may be a sign of malignancy. I must severly limit sun exposure, have my muscle enzymes checked every few months, and I'm not sure what else yet.

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Thu Jul 05, 2012 5:21 pm

My goodness Zizzle. As if you didn't have enough to deal with! Here's to a better/brighter tomorrow! Sometimes I really wonder why we face all these challenges. Hopefully, we'll learn the reason. Love, Deb

Sheila · Post by **Sheila** » Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:12 pm

Zizzle, you are really overwhelmed with stress. I can only wish you and your little boy better days ahead and a better diagnosis for you going forward. Life has a way of smacking us in the head when we least expect it. Good thing we are such resilient beings.

Sheila W