Nasty flu

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jscho
jscho Member Posts: 62
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Over the weekend I came down with some sort of flu, complete with muscle aches, chills, fever of 104 (40 C), and a dry cough that comes and goes (as does the fever). I've been unable to function and bedridden the last 3 days, which I hate. Strangely, I had a H1-N1 shot in the oncologists office last monday (8 days ago) though I have not had the standard flu shot.

I'm seriously considering contacting my primary care Doctor, who is incompetent in my opinion, to see what he recommends since I have a lot of underlying risk factors (diabetes mellitus, just finished Folfox chemo 6 weeks ago and so on.) Has anyone had this years version of the run-of-the-mill flu, and how does it differ from H1-N1? What were your symptoms?

Yours in fever,
Jeremy

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  • lisa42
    lisa42 Member Posts: 3,625 Member
    #2
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    Hi Jeremy,
    I have not had
    Hi Jeremy,

    I have not had the flu, but if your onc or primary care Dr. don't do anything or give you an answer, I'd call the local urgent care facility or even the emergency room.
    Oh- and when I asked my doctor about the H1N1 vaccine (which I never did get, but did get the regular flu vaccine), I was told it takes about 2-3 weeks of being in your system before you're actually protected against getting the virus. The same goes with the regular flu vaccine. So, it's possible that you could get vaccinated and still catch the virus within the following couple of weeks.
    Make sure to drink plenty of liquid and keep an eye on your temp. A 104 temp is very, very high for an adult. You maybe should just go straight to the emergency room, especially since you're definitely considered a high risk patient.

    I'm thinking of and praying for you right now-
    Take care of yourself and it's better to be more on the safe than sorry side- I'd go to ER if you still have the temp or cough. They need to check you for pneumonia too.

    Lisa
  • jscho
    jscho Member Posts: 62
    #3
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    lisa42 said:

    Hi Jeremy,
    I have not had
    Hi Jeremy,

    I have not had the flu, but if your onc or primary care Dr. don't do anything or give you an answer, I'd call the local urgent care facility or even the emergency room.
    Oh- and when I asked my doctor about the H1N1 vaccine (which I never did get, but did get the regular flu vaccine), I was told it takes about 2-3 weeks of being in your system before you're actually protected against getting the virus. The same goes with the regular flu vaccine. So, it's possible that you could get vaccinated and still catch the virus within the following couple of weeks.
    Make sure to drink plenty of liquid and keep an eye on your temp. A 104 temp is very, very high for an adult. You maybe should just go straight to the emergency room, especially since you're definitely considered a high risk patient.

    I'm thinking of and praying for you right now-
    Take care of yourself and it's better to be more on the safe than sorry side- I'd go to ER if you still have the temp or cough. They need to check you for pneumonia too.

    Lisa

    thanks
    Thanks for your thoughts. Fortunately, my fever has dropped to around 101 F and I feel a bit better. I have been keeping a close eye on my temperature and taking aspirin when it gets too high. I have considered going to the ER, especially since I have "small lung disease" (found in a CT scan due to colon cancer) on top of all the rest that makes me more susceptible to pneumonia.

    Best,
    Jeremy
  • KATE58
    KATE58 Member Posts: 299
    #4
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    jscho said:

    thanks
    Thanks for your thoughts. Fortunately, my fever has dropped to around 101 F and I feel a bit better. I have been keeping a close eye on my temperature and taking aspirin when it gets too high. I have considered going to the ER, especially since I have "small lung disease" (found in a CT scan due to colon cancer) on top of all the rest that makes me more susceptible to pneumonia.

    Best,
    Jeremy

    I am glad you are feeling better
    but my onc always tells me whenever i run a fever of 100.5 they want to know about it.you should call your oncologist or at least your primary and let them know.
    When you have cancer even a cold can bring complications.plus,fevers usually go down in the daytime and back up at night.don't get dehydrated
    hope you get feel better.
    Kate
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    #5
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    KATE58 said:

    I am glad you are feeling better
    but my onc always tells me whenever i run a fever of 100.5 they want to know about it.you should call your oncologist or at least your primary and let them know.
    When you have cancer even a cold can bring complications.plus,fevers usually go down in the daytime and back up at night.don't get dehydrated
    hope you get feel better.
    Kate

    Mine Too!
    My onc said the same thing, Go to the ER should your temperature get too 100.3, that could be a sign of infection, and not to wait till the last minute to do things about being ill, isn't good to wait things out. Definitely drink lots of water, but you need to see a doctor.

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna
  • jscho
    jscho Member Posts: 62
    #6
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    Shayenne said:

    Mine Too!
    My onc said the same thing, Go to the ER should your temperature get too 100.3, that could be a sign of infection, and not to wait till the last minute to do things about being ill, isn't good to wait things out. Definitely drink lots of water, but you need to see a doctor.

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna

    Thanksgiving morning in the ER
    Well, my fever came back with a force so I ended up playing it safe and going to the local ER. I was impressed with the thoroughness of the tests and care of the doctors. A nice surprise! Another thing that was a first for me is that because of my medical history and my 104+ fever, the fast-tracked me through treatment. They gave me some tylenol, and my fever dropped to sub-100 levels in a couple of hours.

    Anyhow, apparently my blood numbers (neutrophils, wbc, ...) have bounced back nicely since my final adjuvant folfox infusion on October 4. The doctor told me to watch myself, rest, drink fluids, but gave me antibiotics and tamiflu (instead of two aspirin and a call back the next morning).

    I hope all Americans on board here had a nice Thanksgiving. As an American in Canada, I get to celebrate twice, with the second coming this weekend with other ex-patriates.

    Best,
    Jeremy
  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    #7
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    Flu
    Jeremy,

    You said you got the H1N1 shot. I did, as well, and they told me it would take 2 weeks to be effective. So that may be why you ended up getting the flu anyway.

    *hugs*
    Gail

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