It's about 9:30 PM here in Levine Children's Hospital. Sam's temp was taken about half an hour ago and it was 97F. I didn't believe it (this was a rectal temp), so I asked the nurse to do it again. This time she did it under his arm. STILL 97. It sounded strange, so I grabbed the thermometer and stuck it under my arm. I watched her take it out of the box, so I knew it was brand-new. It reached 97.1 on me when I stopped it. I just wanted to make sure it could get above 97.
All that to say, his temp is down. He was very sweaty when she took his temp, so I know his temp was breakng.
So, here we are - up and down, up and down: in emotions, heartbeats and fever. We feel every bit of it.
Bill is heading up to Hickory tomorrow for some meetings. It's only an hour away and I told him I would call him if Sam had any trouble. Samaritan's Purse has been really great about telling him he should stay with us, but we want to make sure he is going to be available at some later time if we should need it. Also, I have some family here in Charlotte and in the outlying areas, so I'm in good hands if I need something.
The cardiologist, who is NOT a rhythm specialist, suggested putting Sam on anti-arrhythmia drugs if this continues. He said it is extremely dangerous and goes against what our rhythm specialist in Raleigh recommended. He said that Sam's body could respond in two ways - positively, thus bringing down his heart rate and keeping things under control, or negatively, causing his heart to go into VTAC and possibly VFIB so badly they would have to paddle him from the outside. It would have to be done in the ICU so they could monitor him closely. This cardiologist suggested this as a last resort, but we are all in agreement that we need to get the rhythm specialist here in Charlotte's opinion before we do anything.
It's difficult to have to make decisions like this, but it's more difficult to have to stand by and just watch him get shocked and watch his heart rate get sloppy and go into VTAC on his heart monitor.
I know we're at a down spot right now and we feel safe, but a bit vulnerable at the same time. Please pray that his temp does not spike during the night, as well as during the afternoon tomorrow, when his temp usually gets to its highest.
Also, the infectious disease doctor said she would like to keep Sam in the hospital for 24 hours PAST his last fever. I asked her if that meant a week or more and she said we would re-evaluate in a week.
Thanks for your prayers.
1 comment:
Bill and Teesa,
We are SO THANKFUL the fever has broken. Praise the Lord-Praise the Lord-Praise the Lord. I know you're nervous about it coming back, so we'll keep praying that it'll stay at bay.
I know you're not a big fan of homeopathic remedies, but I cannot stay silent about this one recommendation. Here I am praying so hard that Sam's fever would break, and I can't help but think of the things I use to break Laney's fevers. I kept thinking...if this fever gets any worse, I'll feel terrible because I know of something that is safer than drugs and it works. It's one of the things I use. Oil of oregano. You want to concentrated kind. It's worth every penny. The way you apply it for babies and toddlers is to rub it on the bottom of their feet because the bottom of the feet are very porous. When Laney had strep, we were in GA and she was in a rough, rough state. All I knew was to apply this. I did for a day and a half, and then I flew back to see our Ped just in case she wasn't getting better. I was afraid she had a serious ear infection because she had been pulling on her ears a few days back. He looked in her ears and said..."Well, it looks like she HAD an ear infection....and ...it seems to be self-healing." Ha! I couldn't help but smile. Also...giving Sam a bath in baking soda, Epsom salt, and bath sea salts are great for pulling the infection out. My brothers use to bath in epsom salts when they were sore as get out due to exercising for the first time in ages. The Lactic acid would pull right out after a bath or two with epsom salt in it. Lastly, colloidal silver. It's worth it's weight in gold. An Earth Fare or Vitamin World or even GNC has these things. But there are sites with more concentrated kinds...but any is better than nothing. Colloidal silver is taken orally and it's amazing. Like I said, I know you're hesitant to give him anything orally since you had friends who had bad experiences with this, but here in the US....you shouldn't have to worry about that AT ALL. I just thought I'd mention it since you sounded like you didn't know what else you could do or try. I have a few other things too if you're interested.
Above all, we're praying and we love ya'll. Sorry this was so stink'n long.
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