Your Children’s Fever and when to worry

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When to Worry About a High Fever
No parent likes to have a sick child regardless of what the illness is.  When they are running a temperature you may wonder when to worry about a high fever.  Here are some ideas to help you determine if a fever is something to be concerned about or not.

The average body temperature for humans is 98.6 degrees F, but it doesn’t stay exactly at that temperature.  In fact, it’s not unusual for your body’s temperature to fluctuate a degree or two throughout the day.  To determine your child’s “normal” body temp, check it a couple of times during one day while they’re healthy and then average them.

A fever is any elevation in the body’s core temperature that goes above 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit (38.0 degrees Celsius) when taken rectally, 100.0 degrees F (37.7 degrees C) when taken by mouth, or over 99.0 degrees F (37.3 degrees C) when taken under the armpit.

While a fever may be cause for alarm, the fever is just a symptom.  It’s the body’s way of defending itself against any type of infection.  Because the white blood cells work better in higher temperatures, the body increases its temperature.  It also rises because many germs can’t survive high temperatures, so your body is doing double duty fighting off the infection and killing the germs.

When a fever first strikes, it is more important to find out what is causing the fever than to worry about how high it is.  This is particularly important in children less than two months old.  If an infant that age has a high temperature, they require immediate attention and you have the right to be worried.  As a matter of fact, with any high fever your child has until they are over six months, it would be wise to call your pediatrician and let them determine if the fever warrants a visit to the doctor.

Remember that the fever isn’t an enemy to your child.  It is their body’s way of fighting off any germs that may be attempting to get a foothold in the body.  A fever CAN be a good thing because the body is fighting off infection.  However, there are times when you want to take action against a fever.  Besides a child under six months of age, here are a few times a high fever would require immediate medical attention:

* When a fever is 105 degrees F/40.5 degrees C or more.
* When a person has difficulty breathing, a stiff neck, or is confused during a high fever.
* When a high fever is accompanied by the inability to move or if a seizure is involved.
* When any of the following symptoms also occur with the fever:  abnormal or persistent stomach pain, rapid or labored breathing, headache with an adverse reaction to bright light.

A fever, in general, isn’t anything to worry about because your body is doing what it was intended to do – fight off infection.  However, if the temperature gets too high you may want to contact your child’s doctor and let them give you advice about whether or not to bring them in for a visit.  In some cases there’s nothing to worry about, but if they have any of the above symptoms, you’re right to worry and they need to be seen by a doctor. 

I would also recommend that if you can’t get your children’s fever to go down after giving them medication, seek medical attention.  If you are at all nervous or anxious or worried about your child’s condition, seek medical attention. 
This is just a guide and is NOT by anyway intended to replace medical attention.
If it is an emergency call 911 or your local ambulance company or take your child to your doctor or your Emergency Room.

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Night of Surgery

Well he had his surgery today. He was in there for about 2 hours again. We got good news in the respect that nothing has worsened. Nothing is better but nothing is worse either and that is considered to be good news around here. There is a little bit of bad news. Jamie can’t talk again. It is a struggle to know and understand what he is saying but we are making it through. He doesn’t remember the sign language that he learned before but I can read his lips to know pretty much everything that he says. There isn’t anyone else that can figure it out quite like I can but I have had experience. We have been through the “I can’t talks” more than once.
Jamie was really nervous this morning. Just as soon as his eyes opened, he starting gagging. He was so upset and now is so glad that is it all over. He teases Dr. Rodgers about wanting a tattoo while he is asleep. He usually wants a race car, of course. Dr. Rodgers told him that he was going to hide it and make him search for it. When he came out of the operating room his trach tie had broken and his trach was 1/2 way falling out. I had to hold his trach in until we got a new tie to keep it from coming out. My honey came over to the PACU (Post Anesthesia Care Unit) until Jamie came back from the OR. He got to see him right out of surgery but of course Jamie slept right through it. I asked him if he remembered him being there and he said yes but I am not sure that he did. Well, anyway, here is the picture of his tattoo. Thanks Dr. Rodgers, he loves it! I just hope that it doesn’t race around his stomach all night and keep him awake.. lol
Dr. Rodgers also said that he may “paint” his airway where all of this scar tissue grows with a chemotherapy, that I can’t for the life of me remember the name right now. He said that is may help the scar tissue from growing so much and there isn’t really any side effects. That sure would be nice if it works with out any side effects. We will see. We go back October 30th to schedule his next surgery. He said we should do it again at three months. OK, I am going to lay down now. I am really just exhausted. Have a great night.

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Lost some stuff

I just wanted to let everyone know that some of the items that I had on here have been lost.  I have had a few problems with my site (totally my fault) and I lost a little bit of information.  I hope that anyone that posted me any comments will repost them.  I hate that I lost them.  I am still learning this whole hosting thing. 

Hope that all is well with everyone.  We go to UVA again tomorrow to see the pediatric pulmonologist about Jamie and make sure there is nothing that we need to change for him.  I will post again tomorrow to see how that goes.

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Good News

    We went to see the doctor this Thursday and I am very happy.  He said that Jamie will most likely have the trach for a LONG time if not forever but that the tumors aren’t quite as bad as we thought.  He said that there is extra tissue there and it is being compressed but he doesn’t think that it will be compressed closed and that he doesn’t seem to be in any immediate danger.  YAY!  That is great news!  I am so excited that I can’t hardly sit still.

    I may be off the internet for a little while.  Just a week or two I think.  I will post the very day that I come back on so that everyone knows I am back.  We are switching over from local cable to Directv and the internet that I was going to have to sign up with was just too much every month, so I am shopping around and I have to get it hooked up so it may take a week or two.  Hopefully not that long.  See ya soon!

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One more trip tomorrow

We have another trip to Charlottesville.  Jamie has to see the Neurosurgeon tomorrow to get the results from this head MRI.  They called last week and told us that there didn’t appear to be any changes from the last MRI of his head but I really do want to know what those results are.  I sometimes hear one result and then from someone else we get a somewhat different result. 

I will post again soon.  Tomorrow mabye not because it is really hard to concentrate after the drive down there. 

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How to deal with a doctor that just won’t listen

Before I start this post I have to say that there are MANY doctor’s out there that have the very best interest of their patients in mind with everything they do and I am NOT meaing to offend ANYONE with this post….    However, there are some doctor’s out there that are just not that great at the “bed side manner”.  How many times have you heard that there is nothing wrong with your child even when you know in your heart that something is not right?  I have heard this many times.  I have been told that the blue spells that Jamie was experiencing was “normal”.  Now, I don’t know if that sounds normal to you or not but a newborn turning the color blue and purple was not normal to me. 

    I really believe that they thought that I was a new mother and my child would cry or cough and turn red and I was over reacting.  I have done CPR on adults many times on the rescue squad and I know the difference between red from crying and blue from not breathing.

    My advice to ANY mother when dealing with a doctor is…..

Yes.. they have been to medical school.  Yes… they have graduated medical school, been an intern and done their time as Residents.  Yes… sure they can pronounce words that we can’t even figure out what letter they start with… BUT no matter WHAT they know and what you do or don’t know in their medical books….YOU KNOW YOUR CHILD BETTER THAN THEY DO!  You are that child’s mother.  You know your child better than anyone else does.  Whether you carried that child in your stomach for 9 months or you adopted your child YOU ARE that child’t mother and you have that bond.  You know what is “normal” behavior and what is not. 

    If you really feel like there is something wrong with your child and are told that there isn’t or that you are just over reacting.  GET A SECOND OPINION!  Sometimes you even have to get a third or fourth opinion.  If in your heart you know something is wrong with your baby don’t give up until you find someone that will listen to you and really believe in you and your child.  No doctor is God.  They make mistakes, they are not perfect.  When you find one that you can truly trust and treats your child like they would treat their own, you have found a great doc.  One that will give their all to take care of your child they way you would.

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