Fever

All was well . . . we enjoyed watching the annual Saddle Horse Parade with friends. Then in the middle of the night we woke to Alyssa screaming for Mommy. She was sick and after a few hours of cleaning sheets and loveys we noticed that she was on fire. She finally fell asleep and when she woke up we were able to take her temp--over 102. So she ate (keeping it down) and then I gave her some ibuprofen. But the fever didn't go down at all. It started to climb ever closer to 103.

I was a nervous wreck all day. After 4 hours of sleep Samantha and I made it to her allergy appointment in San Jose. We spent two hours talking about her immune problems and then she had a scratch test. Just like when she was two, she tested negative for everything--so back to the pedi. endocronologist.

When Samantha and I got home I took her out of the car and scooped up Alyssa to take her to the doctor. I was on the verge of tears. In five years neither of my kids has had a major fever and never one that was unresponsive to medication. So we sat in the office and they gave her a Feverall suppository (Tylenol). Soon after her temp climbed. She stopped talking and twice her eyes sort of rolled back in her head. It was so scary. But thank goodness I was right where I was supposed to be.

I expressed my fear of the out of control fever. It brought back memories of my worst fever--scarlet fever. Then doctor decided to take a strep culture since the fever was not under control. It came back positive. I overheard the doctor saying that she was really surprised at that result. So we sat for 30 minutes to check Alyssa's temp and when it started to climb they gave her an additional dose of Motrin. After 30 more minutes it finally started to go down and Alyssa started talking.

The doctor thanked me more than once for being a vigilant mom (and dad) and bringing Alyssa in. I hate to think how this could have turned out if I had not been so concerned. I'll always trust my intuition. Only once has it been wrong in five years.

The fever isn't yet gone and it still worries me, but Alyssa is improving. I'm hoping the next few doses of antibiotics will help us feel better. I'd like my dancing, singing, beautiful two year old back.