Last evening, after a pleasant get-together with my brother and sister-in-law, I suddenly felt very tired and took an hour's nap. When I woke up I had a temp of 99.7. Now, just so Luther and Miriam won't feel guilty, I was fine until after they'd left (so maybe they should feel guilty about having left).
A temp of 99.7 isn't generally anything to worry about -- except that I usually run cool, with a normal temp in the range of 97.4. Besides, I have cancer, and any fever is cause for consideration, if not concern.
First there are the questions: is it something to do with the cancer or the treatment, or is it something I picked up in the community or from this week's many trips to the hospital? Is it meaningful? What does it signal about the future? Should I be trying to bring it down, or let it ride to see what happens?
Then there are the questions about what we should do about it.
It works out into a nice flow chart:
**If the fever goes up to 100 or 101 (we couldn't remember what the doctors had said) we'd call the doctor. But which doctor? It might be related to the stent replacement, in which case we'd call the gastroenterologist (or whoever was on call on a Saturday evening). Or should it be the oncologist? Or maybe our primary care doctor, who I never see these days, since I'm completely in the hands of specialists. Or, like last time, maybe we should go straight in to the ER. In any case, the response would be either "take two aspirin and call me in the morning," to put me on antibiotics, or to admit me to the hospital (which neither of us wanted).
**If the numbers continued to hover around 99.7~100, we decided we'd just keep monitoring it until either something happened or we got nervous; then up to the first option.
**If the numbers started going down, I'd take some Tylenol and we'd go to bed and see how I felt in the morning.
All of this seemed really complicated for something that, under normal circumstances, I wouldn't take seriously.
Except for a few aches and pains, a bit of a headache, and no desire to do anything, even read, I felt okay. Jerry kept offering to make cups of tea.
By bedtime the numbers hadn't moved, so I took Tylenol. Slept restlessly the first part of the night, and every time I tossed, Jerry woke up and worried that we should head out to the ER, so he didn't get much sleep, either.
Then, suddenly, just the way it does in Victorian novels, my fever broke and I felt better.
None of it, in itself, was earth-shaking or worrying. What is interesting to me is that once you have cancer or any other chronic and difficult condition, little problems become big ones that require more thinking and planning than they ought to.
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4 comments:
Phew! Glad you're past that. I would be worried too. I donm't quite agree with your last sentence. There is nothing wrong or abnormal about worrying and considering the options. And you are going through a special phase in your life, with special treatments. No, I think it was natural and normal to have a well thought out plan. Now have a great day!
Hi Lucie,
Well, I remember my doctor who moved away to Arizona, treats her cancer patients with an herb that actually elevates the body temperature as a way of treating the cancer. Remember our freind, Steve? She put him on mistletoe and I think it gave him two more years. Maybe your fever was a "healthy" response from your immune system. Like Artic Mermaid, I don't blame you one bit for worrying like crazy. So many strange things can happen. COnsider that you have PTSD and continue forgiving yourself for reacting to "triggers."
It sounds like a sensible response and I'm glad the Tylenol and your body worked together. It sounds like you've been in quite a few waiting rooms lately and perhaps it was just your immune system fending something off. I hope you are continung to feel well this week.
Miss you at KR, Ev
I'm glad your fever broke. Just wanted to say a quick hi from our family to you. So, Hi Lucie!!!
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