Trouble in the Midst?

Hmmm.  We've hit our first bump in the road, but it's presented us with a mystery.  I woke up yesterday, and mom could hear that I was fussy even before she entered my room.  When she picked me up, she immediately knew why -- I had a fever. 

Before I go any further, let me say that fever is something we want to avoid at all costs during expansion.  It could mean nothing, or it could mean everything.  I could simply be developing a teething fever, or I could be developing an expander infection.  I may need oral antibiotics, IV antibiotics, or emergency surgery.  Only time will tell, but fever is not an indication of anything good.

Of course, the first thing mom did after taking my temperature (which was only about 99.5 underarm at that point) was email Dr. Bauer, Susan and Mim.  Then we waited.  And waited.  Mom wanted to see what would happen without fever-reducing medications for a little while.  It seemed to be a good sign that the fever wasn't going up, and after about 2 hours she gave me some Tylenol, which promptly brought it down.  What's strange is that there were no other apparent problems.  My incisions still looked good, my expanders and ports were fine and not tender.  I didn't  have a cough, sore throat or runny nose.  My appetite was fine and I even got down and played a bit.  We just couldn't figure out what was going on. 

A little while later, Dr. Bauer got back to her and asked mom to take me in to the pediatrician so we could try to pinpoint the source of the fever.  However, the pediatrician was just as stumped as the rest of us.  Nothing wrong with the ears, nothing wrong in the mouth... no apparent problem.  Except that my fever had gone up to 101.4 before my Tylenol had worn off.  Hmmm.

So my pediatrician spoke with Dr. Bauer and they agreed to start antibiotics as a prophylactic measure to protect my expanders.  Honestly, when my fever was down, I was totally normal and happy.  Until bedtime, when I just couldn't sleep.  I spent the first several hours of bedtime waking and crying about every thirty minutes.  To say that is unusual for me is an understatement.  I'm a good sleeper, and I never wake up after going to bed until the next morning.  But when mom came in to give me another dose of antibiotic at 2 a.m., she still could not see anything else wrong with me.  My fever was still down from my bedtime dose of Motrin, and no other symptoms had presented.  Yes, this is a mystery.

We don't know what this means yet except that we will probably have to postpone my next injection.  That, of course, is the least of our concerns for now.  Even an unrelated virus could torpedo this process, so we have some growing concern.  Please pray that whatever is going on doesn't present me with too much trouble, and that it does not impact my expansion.  We will keep you posted.