Snoopy's Updates

Erika's four-year ongoing battle with non-Hodgkin's and Hodgkin's Lymphoma after an autologous BMT and non-myeloblative allogeneic BMT.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

The Mysterious Ongoing Fevers

Today has been a very frustrating day for me. Since yesterday my fevers have been getting worse in terms of temperature and frequency. My blood cultures have all come back negative so there's no bacterial infection that is showing up (that doesn't necessarily mean there isn't one). My viral blood test for varicella came back negative also, which means that I don't have the shingle virus in my system anymore. They have discontinued the Acyclovir and my scabs are starting to fall off. The only problem now is that my skin is so itchy where I had all the lesions. The echo of my heart was also normal. This evening I had the worst fever yet, reaching 103 and not dropping below 102.7 (even with Tylenol). I have been laying in bed with ice packs all over my body. Tonight I had another set of blood cultures drawn and tomorrow morning I'm scheduled to have a CT scan (since I've developed a cough). A group of infectious disease specialists also came to talk to me this afternoon, but they weren't able to come to any conclusion as to what this could be. As you can imagine I'm growing very upset over all this, because not only is there no plan for me to go home at the moment, but there's no plan for chemo until this gets resolved. The good news of the day is that I found out I can order food from the children's hospital menu, which has a much better selection than the adult's!

8 Comments:

  • At 2:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Erika,

    That sounds so frustrating - not knowing what is causing the fever.

    I hope they figure it out soon and things start to turn around again!

    Best,
    Tammy Herrera

     
  • At 2:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    hey erika - hang in there and keep your spirits up -- they will find a way to get that fever down soon enough. in the meantime, enjoy the grilled cheese and ice cream from the kid's menu! take care, your tnt friend, granger

     
  • At 2:14 PM, Blogger Randy said…

    Thanks for the update Erika! Can't believe you are actually sending updates from the hospital bed with ice packs attached to you. If you remember from your marathon training, ice baths help so much after a long run and I'm sure they will with the fever. Get better soon cause the TEAM needs you out there walking and at the waterstops!

    -Randy

     
  • At 2:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hi Erika:

    I just wanted to say that I can understand somewhat. I too was in the
    hospital for what was supposed to be a routine surgery and ended up in there
    for about a month with fevers and ice packs and scabs and rashes and I was
    so weak I couldn't even lift my head. But eventually they gave me a mixture
    of antibiotics for three weeks and it went away.
    Try to keep cheery. It's hard, I know. I'm thinking about you and praying
    for your speedy recovery.... a TNT friend, Chayo

     
  • At 2:44 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hi Erika,

    I was on Randy's TNT team last year. Hang in there. We're cheering for you. If you want non-hospital food or you're tired of the chicken nuggets, call/e-mail me, or ask via Randy. I'm closeby and can get you or cook anything you want. I've done this before: bring the food to the refrig of your unit and label it with name and date. Really, do not hesitate to ask or place orders!

    Best,

    sofie (408 839-9686)

     
  • At 2:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Erika,

    It must be so frustrating for you to that the doctors cannot figure out what is causing the high fevers. You are such a trooper and have endured so much I know that they will find something soon to help.
    Keep you spirits up and thank you for the messages on your blog that keep me updated on your progress.
    You are an inspiration to all who know you.

    all my best
    jan coulman
    jennifer's scrapbook buddy from Remedy

     
  • At 3:23 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hi Erika,

    We are all thinking of you and praying for your quick recovery.

    Interesting about the food being better on the kid's menu.
    So... that's the key to eating "well" in the hospital, ordering from the kid's menu? I'll have to keep that in mind. Maybe we can sneak you in something? What do you have a craving for?

    -Sharrone(from TNT..)

     
  • At 10:54 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hi, Erika -

    Yum, peanut butter and jelly! :) Don't we all really want to revisit our childhoods at some point?

    Thinking of you. Take care, and Go TEAM!
    :)Lisa Young

     

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