I had been feeling pretty good that we kept Charity out of the ER or urgent care for over a year. (She had a tough go of it last spring with stitches and later dehydration, and spent a few days in the hospital as a newborn for Meningitis) But all those good feelings came a little too soon!
About 3 weeks ago, she woke up in the middle of the night with a fever over 101. Didn't think much of it and was able to keep it at bay with Advil. About 4 days later, the fever had gone up to 103 and I decided to take her in. The doctor checked her out, and sent me home. It is a virus and will pass in a few days. A few days later, the fever was still raging and every time she was hot, she would throw up. I've seen her dehydrated before, and I could tell she was showing those same symptoms, so we headed back to the doctor. He assured me it was a virus, since she was throwing up now, and sent her over to get IV fluids and a prescription of an anti-nautious medicine. The doctor where she got the IV fluids also assured me it was just a virus and would pass. Keep giving her Advil for the fevers, keep her hydrated was what they both told me. I was feeling a little frustrated, feeling like we were just treating the symptom, not the problem. She still had a high fever, and typically fevers from viruses do not last an entire week!
By Saturday, 2 days later, her fever was consistently above 104, she was really pale and had circles under her eyes, and I couldn't take it anymore, so we headed to Urgent Care. This doctor tested her for everything; blood tests, urine test, and even a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia. The blood tests showed she had a lot of inflammation (which just means she has an infection of some kind). The chest x-ray was perfect, and the urine sample showed a little blood in the urine. We had to do a catheter to get the urine (she refused to pee in a cup even though I warned her that her other choice would be much worse!) and the doctor said usually a cath sample will show traces of blood. So, the doctor decided to treat her as it was a urinary tract infection, giving her antibiotics, and do a 3 day culture on the urine to see if any bacteria grows. Charity had had no sign of pain or discomfort like the misery that accompanies a typical UTI. The doctor sent me home, asking me to come back the next day to see if any changes occur overnight on the antibiotic. That night her fever continued to go up and she started throwing up again. :(
When we went back to the doctor on Sunday, the doctor told us to keep taking the antibiotic until the three day sample came back and in the meantime, look for symptoms of this horrible disease called Kawasaki Syndrome. So, of course, I look up all I can about Kawasaki Syndrome. It is awful! A disease that effects kids under 5 and it inflames their arteries, causing major heart problems. I was a mess, crying unconsulably off and on. Of course that night, Charity's fever was the highest it had ever been-105.2. But, she looked so much better in the morning and played for the first time in a long time. So, I decided not to freak out and hoped that was the last fever. I got my hopes up to early though, because after an extremely long nap that day, she woke up with a fever of 104.6. I totally lost it and went to urgent care, again. By the time we got there, her test results from the 3 day sample were back and it was a UTI. I have never been so glad to hear about someone having a UTI in my life! The doctor assured me it would take awhile for the antibiotics to bring the fever down because it was such a bad infection. Her fever didn't go down until 5 days after being on an antibiotic.
Charity had a fever of 101 or higher for a total of 13 days! For whatever reason, this little one likes to stress us out when it comes to random medical concerns. I am so thankful she just likes to scare though, and nothing major has come of her trips to Urgent Care, ER, and even the hospital! I am thankful for priesthood blessings and prayer, as I don't know how I would have made it through that 3 day culture growing time without that peace I felt in those sacred moments of prayer!
