Night in the ER

NikiMo

So we had our first bump in the road last night. As some of you remember Jeff had it fairly easy through chemo and radiation. Had a little nausea that was controlled with meds, only had one instance of vomitting and diarhea. Yesterday he came home from work and said he felt sluggish and needed to take a nap, this was around 5:00pm. I went in to check on him around 7:30 and he looked warm or feverish, took him temp it was at 100.0. I called the on-call oncologist and she said that she wouldn't worry until the temp got over 100.4, at that point we should go to our ER and get a workup. I asked Jeff to come out to the couch since he was piled under blankets, thought it would break any fever to sit in the cool air. At 8:30 I checked his temp again, 100.6. Made our way to the local ER, they took him very quickly at this point he was at 101.0, they gave him fluids drew bloods and gave him tylenol. They also did a chest x-ray, which was clear. At about 12:00 he was down to 99.5, they called our hospital's on-call oncologist and she said he could go home and to make an appointment with our regular oncologist. They gave Jeff an antibiotic to go home with. I was a little nervous, but I didn't let that show. He had a fever but wasn't in any pain. I just hope this doesn't throw a wrench in being able to have surgery in two weeks. I am making the appointment this morning for the docotor.

Anyone else have this happen when they were going through treatment?

Niki
Wife of Jeff T2N1M0

Unknown

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NikiMo

unknown said:

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Thanks
Hi William,

I was hoping one of the veterans would write and let me know if this common or not. Jeff has been out of chemo and radiation therapy for 3 weeks now, but I am sure there is still inflamation in the body and it is trying to heal. I am hoping that since the lungs were clear that this is not a serious setback. His temperature is back down to 98.2, he just called to let me know. This is his first 'sick' day since he was diagnosed

Niki
Wife of Jeff T2N1M0

Joel C

NikiMo said:

Thanks
Hi William,

I was hoping one of the veterans would write and let me know if this common or not. Jeff has been out of chemo and radiation therapy for 3 weeks now, but I am sure there is still inflamation in the body and it is trying to heal. I am hoping that since the lungs were clear that this is not a serious setback. His temperature is back down to 98.2, he just called to let me know. This is his first 'sick' day since he was diagnosed

Niki
Wife of Jeff T2N1M0

Hi Niki,
I would run a temp of ~100 a couple of days after treatment. It would only last a day or so then it was back to normal. My treatment consisted of taxol & carboplatin once a week for six weeks along with 28 radiation treatments. My oncologist told us to call if I got a fever over 100.5 fortunately I never did. You did the right thing bringing Jeff to the ER and taking care of his fever.
Joel

NikiMo

Joel C said:

Hi Niki,
I would run a temp of ~100 a couple of days after treatment. It would only last a day or so then it was back to normal. My treatment consisted of taxol & carboplatin once a week for six weeks along with 28 radiation treatments. My oncologist told us to call if I got a fever over 100.5 fortunately I never did. You did the right thing bringing Jeff to the ER and taking care of his fever.
Joel

Hi Joel,
Thanks for sharing,
Hi Joel,

Thanks for sharing, Jeff's fever seems to have broken at this point. It was kind of bouncing around today, but didn't go over 99.9 so we are happy for that. We have a visit with the oncologist tomorrow just to get it checked out. Also thanks for letting me know that I did the right thing, sometime you just don't know if you are being overly cautious. I mean what other time in your life have you ever even considered going to the hospital for a fever of 100.6, I had written down that 100.5 was the magic number so we went. I am glad we did now, they gave us some antibiotics.

I read your post about your second scan. Please know you are in my thoughts, I saw William and Jeff's response. I hope you find some relief in hearing their exp.

Thanks again,

Niki

jthomas233

NikiMo said:

Hi Joel,
Thanks for sharing,
Hi Joel,

Thanks for sharing, Jeff's fever seems to have broken at this point. It was kind of bouncing around today, but didn't go over 99.9 so we are happy for that. We have a visit with the oncologist tomorrow just to get it checked out. Also thanks for letting me know that I did the right thing, sometime you just don't know if you are being overly cautious. I mean what other time in your life have you ever even considered going to the hospital for a fever of 100.6, I had written down that 100.5 was the magic number so we went. I am glad we did now, they gave us some antibiotics.

I read your post about your second scan. Please know you are in my thoughts, I saw William and Jeff's response. I hope you find some relief in hearing their exp.

Thanks again,

Niki

Does jeff have a feeding tube/ cath?
Niki

A week or so after treatment, I went for a rad onc followup and had a temp of 100.1. My guy thought I might have some inflammation around my feeding tube. They cleaned it and gave me a 5day dose of oral antibiotics...I never had an issue after that..

Jeff

NikiMo

jthomas233 said:

Does jeff have a feeding tube/ cath?
Niki

A week or so after treatment, I went for a rad onc followup and had a temp of 100.1. My guy thought I might have some inflammation around my feeding tube. They cleaned it and gave me a 5day dose of oral antibiotics...I never had an issue after that..

Jeff

No feeding tube
Jeff,

No feeding tube, he does have a port but it hasn't been accessed in weeks. We see the docs at 2 today hopefully they can give us some insight. For now Jeff is on a 10 day course of antibiotics, hopefully that will clear it up.

Niki

Donna70

NikiMo said:

No feeding tube
Jeff,

No feeding tube, he does have a port but it hasn't been accessed in weeks. We see the docs at 2 today hopefully they can give us some insight. For now Jeff is on a 10 day course of antibiotics, hopefully that will clear it up.

Niki

ports should be flushed regularly
Hi Niki,
I spiked a fever after my last chemo before surgery but had to be admitted for neutropenic fever so always good to get blood checked and everything checked out when a fever appears. But I noticed you just said port hadn't been accessed in weeks and usually ports should be flushed every 4-5 wks some drs have it at 6 wks but if it not flushed and checked, when you need it, it might not work and become clogged. At least that is what my drs believe in down here. Glad Jeff is better now and amazing how he is working thru all this. take care,
Donna70

Laura23

Donna70 said:

ports should be flushed regularly
Hi Niki,
I spiked a fever after my last chemo before surgery but had to be admitted for neutropenic fever so always good to get blood checked and everything checked out when a fever appears. But I noticed you just said port hadn't been accessed in weeks and usually ports should be flushed every 4-5 wks some drs have it at 6 wks but if it not flushed and checked, when you need it, it might not work and become clogged. At least that is what my drs believe in down here. Glad Jeff is better now and amazing how he is working thru all this. take care,
Donna70

Glad he is improving
Hi Niki

Glad to hear that Jeff is doing better. I think you did the right thing. Luis sometimes would get a little elevated temp during treatment but would take some advil or Tylenol and that would take care of it. But it never was sustained over a long time or over 100.5. He did catch a couple of colds the first couple of weeks after treatment was over but they would clear up in a few days. He has been "healthy" since then.

Hope he continues to improve!

Laura
Wife to Luis
Dx 4/11/2011. T3N1M0

sammy123

So proud of you that you
So proud of you that you kept your emotions in check. Good girl!!!! haha Did they check his urine for a UTI? Remember to keep him hydrated and keep a close watch because if there is a temp it will go up at night. J-tube???? Hope it is soon for you.

NikiMo

sammy123 said:

So proud of you that you
So proud of you that you kept your emotions in check. Good girl!!!! haha Did they check his urine for a UTI? Remember to keep him hydrated and keep a close watch because if there is a temp it will go up at night. J-tube???? Hope it is soon for you.

I was proud too!
Thanks Sammy123, I was pretty worried but Jeff didn't look ill so it made it easier to stay strong. They checked his urine, blood, and did a chest x-ray. They didn't see anything too alarming so they sent him home. Just got home from seeing his oncologist and he said there is nothing to worry about. Just a little fever nothing jumped out at him as concerning.

Jeff will have a j-tube put in during his surgery, but he doesn't have one right now. He and his doctor's decided it was not needed for him. After reading the posts on here I would say we are blessed that he made it through ok. He never had any problems with swallowing just a little in the beginning, but once chemo started he was ok.

Niki

Ericalynn

Football
I am glad the info regarding Pet/CT helped you to relax a little, just in time for your trip to the ER. I am glad the temp came down but I know it is just one more hurdle. If you are like me I have been in a fight mode (adrenaline rush) for 3 months now, it is very fatiguing. From what I read on your post the elevated temp is not uncommon (one more complication) I agree with you that it might be the body fighting off the inflammation. The body is very smart (transplant pts. need meds to fight rejection) the body is trying to heal itself. Our bodies do not always understand modern medicine. Keep us (me) posted on the doctor visit.
Now (like you said) to football! I will not hold it against you for being an Eagles Fan. I am a Tampa Bay transplant. I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit we never had a very good football team. I moved to Tampa Bay in April of 2001. The Bucs win the Super bowl in 2003 so I adopted the Bucs as my home team. The Lions have still not won a super bowl. They did win a NFL Championship in 1957 & the last time Lions were in the playoffs it was 1999. Then I meet someone (through my nephews) that has a suite at Bucs stadium. We are invited to go to game John, my 2 nephews & I. The boys were grade school & Jr. High age. The suite was awesome. The oldest nephew says to the owner “Wow this is the way to watch a football game” The owner says “any time you want to come to game just call me” Nephew takes out his cell phone and says OK what is your number. We start calling and the kids and I went to most home games. John on the other hand could care less he says he would rather stay home and watch on TV. Then last year owner of suite decides not to re-new the suite so Party Over and I am sooooooo spoiled that I do not want to go to game and sit in regular seats LOL. Never been a big baseball or hockey fan (should be) I’m from “Hockey Town”. The Tampa bay area is beautiful. I live about 20 minutes from St. Pete beach. We have Great beaches on this side of state. Next time you are in town we will all get together and enjoy the sun and the beach. I am a great tour guide.
Erica