Scary night
Wow. Even working as a medical professional I never thought I would worry the way that I do. Sometimes though I think my job makes me crazier than I would have been if I didn't work in this field.
Carter started running a slight fever on Wednesday night and Thursday during the day. I had given him Motrin and Tylenol to help keep it down and help him feel better. When I left for work yesterday at 2pm his temp was 100. My mom watched him and took his temp at 5:30 and it was 101 so she gave him some more tylenol. I called DH at 8:30 and asked how he was doing and if he took his temp. He went ahead and took it while I was on the phone and I heard him go that can't be right. It was 104.5 so I told him to go ahead and bring him in to Children's. By the time they got there a little over a half hour later his temp had spiked all the way to 105.3 and his heart rate was 180.
They gave him another dose of Motrin and managed to bring his fever down. They did a CBC and his white blood cell count came back a little abnormal as well as his platelets so they just think he has a viral infection. The ER attending told me she has seen about 10 kids in the past 2 days with the same thing. She said they come in with a really high fever and no other symptoms. They suspect a virus will rear it's ugly head with some additional symptoms in the coming days.
There is really no point to my post other than the fact that I'm still a little uneasy after last night. It's just so scary when kids get that sick that quickly. I worry that if I had not called home when I did something terrible would have happened because we may not have caught his high fever in time. I felt like a crazy person calling the pedi and having him do a referral and walking over to triage to give them a heads up that DH was bringing him in. They probably looked at me like I was nuts, but oh well maybe I am!
He's doing much better today and we saw the pedi this morning. He said that his throat is irritated and red, but his fever has come down significantly.
Re: Scary night
I think you did the right thing. Until you really know your kid, any fever over 104 is scary.
FWIW, my brother ran really high temps when he was sick. (like 104). Once my parents knew this, they called the pedi when it wouldn't come down. But still, every time he spiked a fever, my mom was on edge.
I don't blame you in the least for bringing him in, and I hope he's on the mend now!!!!
Jennie
Very scary! We went through something similar with Logan a couple of weeks ago (although his fever didn't get quite that high--he topped out at 103.9). It came on very quickly. When he got up that morning he was fine, by noon he was a mess. I was a wreck and I consider myself a more laid back mama. My kiddo never, ever gets sick so this threw me for a loop. I was also told it was viral. His fever lasted for less than 24 hours then gave way to a nasty cough and runny nose which lasted for 2 weeks. Whatever this virus is it's a supervirus because I also got it and have been sick going on 2 weeks and I never get sick. H got it after I did and is also still feeling the effects.
Anyway, I got way off track. I'm glad Carter's fever has gone down and FWIW, I would have done the same thing you did.