Starting Down a New Path

Starting Down a New Path

It’s ironic that my last post started off with talking about a healthy child. Within a couple of days, my little guy had high fevers once again.

May 11^th, (Kaydriana’s 3^rd birthday party day) Lake was clingy and didn’t want to be put down. I didn’t pay too much attention to it, as I was hosting the party and had had Lakey helpers. However, later that evening, I noticed he started to get a bit warm so I gave him a bit of ibuprofen before bed.

The next day was Mother’s Day. I gave him the rest of the fever reducer we had and went to the zoo and had a nice time. Afterwards, I went to run a few errands (sans children) and Tim text me to say Lake had woken up from his nap and was shaking. I ran to Fred Meyers and got Motrin and Acetaminophen and when I got home and took his temp, it was up to 104.5… here we go again with his ears, so I thought.

We were able to keep his fever down with alternating between the two meds. He woke up every two hours Sunday night/Monday morning, which was no fun as I had a day of jury duty to look forward to. I pumped him with meds, dropped him off at daycare and crossed my fingers. I only ended up being at jury duty for about an hour or so, then had to report to work. I was only at work for an hour before I saw the dreaded, “ICA” show up on my phone.

Lake had fallen asleep while being held by one of his teachers outside. They laid him down in the crib and when he woke up, he was shaking and had a temp of 103.7 (and as his daycare says, “without adding a temp because of being taken in the armpit”). I left work and picked him up. I knew I had to take Lake to the doctor to confirm another ear infection. If it was, then they could write me a note for daycare, allowing him to return tomorrow and give him pain medicine/RX/Motrin. If it wasn’t an ear infection, then he wouldn’t be able to return for 24 hours of being fever free.

We had about 3 hours before the doctor appointment so I gave him Motrin, and then we both took a nap.  When we get to his pediatrician, he was happy and energetic and his ears were perfectly clear.  Which might be good news to some, but it wasn’t for me because now I’m in territory I’m not familiar with… the unknown.

Dr. Schrier says that she feels like there must be something else going on and that there are some syndromes that are known to cause recurring, high fevers. She said that to diagnose that, we’d have to track his fevers and probably do some blood work and that regardless, it’s probably going to take some time. She said that she believes his ears may not have been causing these high fevers after all. That reminded me of the comment one of the doctors made when we took Lake in after vacation. She said he did have a minor infection, but it’s unlikely that that is what is causing such high fevers. I remember being mad and annoyed because in my mind, of course that is what was causing the high fevers.

After I got home and started to google different fever syndromes, I found that Juvenile Rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) can cause fevers too. Since I had that as a child, I called Dr. Schrier’s office up and left that information with them, so we can be looking in the right directions.

Here is some of the information I was able to pull up regarding recurrent fevers:

Recurrent fevers are defined as three or more febrile episodes in a six-month period, occurring at least seven days apart, with no causative medical illness. These episodes can occur at regular or irregular intervals. 

Few diseases cause a regular pattern of recurrent fevers. The most common diagnosis associated with this fever pattern is PFAPA syndrome (i.e., periodic fever, aphthous ulcers (canker sores), pharyngitis (sore throat), and adenopathy (enlarged Lymph nodes). PFAPA is characterized by high fevers lasting three to six days and recurring every 21 to 28 days, accompanied by some or all of the signs noted in its name. The syndrome usually occurs in children younger than five years who present with regular fevers and cervical adenopathy. Aphthous ulcers, which are usually small and relatively painless, are the symptom most likely to be missed.

There is another syndrome called Familial Mediterranean fever that Dr. Schrier mentioned by name. That can have a lot of other symptoms associated with it (none that sounded like Lake has had) or in 25% of the cases, no other symptoms appear.

And this is some of the information regarding JRA:

Systemic JIA. Affects the whole body. Symptoms include high fevers that often increase in the evenings and then may suddenly drop to normal. During the onset of fever, the child may feel very ill, appear pale, or develop a rash. The rash may suddenly disappear and then quickly appear again. The spleen and lymph nodes might become enlarged. Eventually many of the body's joints are affected by swelling, pain, and stiffness.

I’ve gone ahead and looked back on my previous blog posts and Instagram and Facebook posts and tracked how frequent his fevers have been. Since December, the shortest amount of time he’s gone without a fever is 18 days. The longest is 45 days. Unfortunately, I haven’t tracked how long the fevers last, but from what I recall, they are typically about 4-6 days.

I don’t qualify for FMLA until mid-July because of using up all of my hours when I was on maternity leave with Lake. I only have about 2 days of sick left and 3 vacation days until November. If I can’t take him to daycare when his fevers strike, then I’ll be running out of protected time and will need Tim to call in and utilize his parents while they’re available. I don’t want to rely on any of my other possible resources who have children because we don’t know if what he has is contagious.

I’m sad that most of my recent posts have to do with Lake’s illness when there is so much more going on in our life. Kaydriana’s 3^rd birthday party went off without a hitch. We had great weather, and having it in our park worked out great. She had a lot of fun! She got awesome gifts and adorable clothes! When I asked Tim how I did with the party, he said it was over the top. Well then, I take that as just right! J

Lake is turning 1 next Friday and honestly I am shocked by how quickly this year has gone. I can still remember every detail of that day he was born and it feels like a couple of months ago, not 51.5 weeks ago! He can run (kinda) and I’m teaching him how to high-five. He’s starting to sit at Kaydriana’s big kid table and feed himself. Last night we went to Red Robin and he drank water out of a cup with a straw and fed himself grilled cheese sandwich pieces. I started him on hemp and oat milk instead of using formula a couple of weeks ago and I’ll start him on whole milk in a week or so. He’s still waking up one to two times a night to nurse (more frequent when he’s sick). Through out the day I nurse him in the morning, pump twice at work, nurse him when I get home, then nurse him before bed. I’m trying to cut down on the nursing and the last few days am only pumping once while at work. It would be grand if he would stop waking in middle of the night to eat!

 Daycare is already starting to transition him into the, “wobblers” room instead of the infant room. That makes me sad, but as I see all the cute babies cradled in a swing and doing tummy time, it’s obvious that Lake has surpassed that stage. Oh and he got his first haircut on Kaydriana’s birthday. He’s definitely becoming a big boy!