Hot Stuff

We are home from the hospital on a short leash. If Andrew has a fever, call the hospital. If Andrew’s PICC line, or anything else, looks infected, call the hospital. If Andrew has a nosebleed lasting more than ten minutes, call the hospital. Those are just a few of the reasons we might need to call the hospital, and possibly be readmitted.

Last Saturday evening, we left Andrew with Grandpa while Chris and I and our kids’ other three grandparents attended Madeline’s first-ever piano recital in downtown Salt Lake City. It was a lovely, snowy evening, topped off with a celebratory dinner at the nearby Rio Grande Cafe.

Back at the ranch, Andrew refused a Happy Meal and fell asleep early. I pulled out our new temple thermometer and took his temperature as soon as we returned. It was 100.6. Our instructions are to call the on-call oncologist immediately for any fever at or above 101, and to call anytime he registers at or above 100.4 two times in one hour. We were officially on the clock.

Old thermometer

I took the temperature again about 20 minutes later and he was under 100. Anxiety subsided, and my parents went home. I got Andrew into bed and continued to take his temperature often enough to really annoy him. He did not look miserable and did not feel hot to the touch. At around 9:30, I got another temperature of about 100.8. I took it again immediately on a different part of his forehead and got 99. Again at 102. Again at 100. Was it just me, or did the area around his PICC line look a little red in the lamp light?

We decided to call the on-call oncologist. She listened to the whole story and gave me two helpful pieces of advice.

First, chemotherapy symptoms kick in about 7-10 days after the treatment. We are in that window, so it is normal for Andrew to not be feeling as good as he did when we first came home. We were probably told that sometime previously, but it’s hard to remember it all.

Second, she advised us to try a different thermometer. She said that they have done tests to see which type of thermometer is most reliable and they recommend the digital stick thermometers you can use in the mouth or under the arm. If you tuck the thermometer deep into the armpit and hold the child’s arm down so the tip of the thermometer is surrounded by skin, you’re more likely to get an accurate read every time.

New thermometer

My understanding is that temple and ear thermometers are not necessarily less accurate, but they are more prone to user error. If you don’t use them in just the right way, you might have trouble getting an accurate reading, as I did.

Now we know. The new thermometer has not seen much action since Saturday night, because Andrew has been feeling better since then. His appetite is not very good, so we push liquids and feed him whatever sounds good. The home health care nurse took a blood sample from Andrew yesterday to check on Andrew’s kidney function and blood counts. I have heard some of the results of that and am waiting for the rest. Everything looks fine so far.

In case we didn’t have enough drugs and doctor appointments at our house, Madeline announced last night that she has an infected finger. Madeline has a history of infected fingers and toes. They are not contagious, but they are red, swollen and quite painful, so I took her to our pediatrician today to get an antibiotic. A clinic was the last place I wanted to take Andrew, so I recruited a friend to come sit with him during that time. Having good family and friends we can rely on makes this all manageable.

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