An Emergency Room Visit

Last Friday, I took Birdie back to see Dr. D for fever and complaining about her ear.  No big surprise, she had another ear infection.  We received antibiotics and went on our way.  For a day or so, she seemed to be better.  Then Monday, she was lethargic and quiet.  She watched tv and fell asleep on the couch in just her t-shirt and undies.  

After Brian came home and went out for a run, I realized it was getting late and needed to wake her up.  When I touched her, I immediately became concerned.  She was Hot!  Scary hot.  I grabbed the temporal thermometer and took her temperature - 107.1!  Terrified, my mind thought that has to be wrong.  So I took it again and again.  Then ran for the ear thermometer and took it also.  The lowest temperature I got was 106.9.  The highest was 107.3.  

I quickly got two wet washcloths and put them on Birdie to bring down her fever, then gave her some ibuprofen.  It was a scary 30 minutes before her fever came down below 103.  She was completely out of it, crying that her head hurt and shaking. 

Once I saw her fever was coming down, I called Dr. D.  The answering service seemed very concerned when I told them why I was calling, so they had me hold and got Dr. D. immediately on the line.  She is a wonderful calm pediatrician advising me to take her straight to the emergency room to be checked out.   Dr. D even called ahead to let them know I was bring Laurie in to them.

About that time, Brian got in from his run, so I left with Birdie.  Brian showered and drove the other kids over to my mom.  My dad was headed home from work, so he met me at the ER.  By this time, her fever was under 102 and she was more alert, but still lethargic. 

Soon after Brian got to the ER, we were called back for her examination.  At this point, I got a little irritated.  The nurse suggested I read the thermometer wrong.  That maybe it was 101.7 instead of 107.1.  Seriously?  You don't think I know how to read a thermometer?  And that I took it a dozen times!  Looking back, I probably should have taken the thermometers with me so they could see the high temperatures in the memory for themselves.

We got settled in a room and the long waiting started.  The ER pediatrician and nurses were very nice and accommodating for the many hours we were there.  They ran several tests on Birdie to check for bacteria, white blood count, and her kidney function.  When the ibuprofen wore off, her fever spiked quickly back up over 103. They redosed her with Tylenol and it went back down.  She fell asleep again while Brian and I sat and watched.  

All the tests came back within normal limits and her fever was under 101 after the latest medication.  The only thing that the doctor was concerned about was her hemoglobin count being low, showing anemia.  I quickly explained that she might have beta thalassemia minor, like Ashley and I, which would make her be anemic.  Her tests for thalessemia done at 10 months were inconclusive and we haven't had her retested.

Overall, we were there about 6 hours and everyone was very nice and accomadating.  Dr. D has found no specific reason for her crazy high fever, even while on antibiotics.  I am very thankful that the fever didn't harm Birdie and she recovered quickly.