Iowa City ER Visit #5 - Fever - November 25-26

When we got to the ER about 6:15 PM, we were once again glad to see just a few people waiting. However, this time we waited three hours until about 9 PM for an ER room, even though they told us when they took my vitals shortly after we arrived that we would be next, barring an ambulance or air care (helicopter) coming in.

I forgot to take Tylenol before we left home, so while we waited I had the chills and just wanted to sleep. If I had asked someone for some, they may have done so, but I was not expecting to wait nearly three hours.

Once we did get into the room, they got busy right away. Blood tests, blood cultures, EKG, chest x-ray, and urinalysis (from my nephrostomy bag) - all this to determine what type of infection (or infections) I had, because normally an infection is the cause of the fever. The cultures are up to a 48-hour process (or sometimes longer). And they gave me some Tylenol.

Once again I was neutropenic, a common problem with chemotherapy, which meant that I had a fever of more than 100.4 along with an extremely low white blood cell count. They started me on intravenous (IV) antibiotics almost immediately along with saline via IV. And immediately started the process to admit me to the hospital and get me a regular room.

In the ER room and feeling lousy

The urine from the nephrostomy bag tested with bacteria present, so they ran a test on the urine from my bladder. No bacteria present there, but because I had already been taking an IV antibiotic for a while, there was a possibility that it had already killed any bacteria there. (If that was the case, then even a couple of days later after receiving IV antibiotics every day, why was there still bacteria in my nephrostomy bag?)

Since I slept so much in the afternoon, once the Tylenol kicked in and my fever dropped, I was not really interested in sleeping anymore.

It was just a matter of waiting for a hospital room, which would hopefully be in the hematology unit once again. Denise stayed until about 1:30 AM, when someone came to take me to a room - this time not in the hematology unit.  Because it was Thanksgiving weekend and I needed a single room, they put me in a unit that was used post-surgery, as they were not doing operations over the long weekend. We said good-bye, and Denise headed home.

We are so grateful for your prayers and encouragement, especially when things do not go as we would have wanted or desired!