Late Night Vigil

I spoke too soon.

Half an hour after my 10:18 PM entry, Sebastian's temperature was back up to 104.9° (yes, I just figured out how to make a degree symbol in HTML). I called the doctor, was referred to the nurse triage line, and after a few minutes on hold I was speaking to a nurse. As a result of that call we woke him up and gave him children's Motrin. He fussed, but took it and was back to sleep within moments. Now I have to stay up for an hour to take his temperature at midnight, and then call the nurse back.

His hands and feet are like ice, even though his head and torso are burning up. The nurse had me do a nail-bed press test to make sure that he wasn't losing circulation. Which he's not, fortunately.

Since I'm up anyway, I might as well catch up on my posting. The alternative would be Diablo, and I'm already nervous enough.

This is a recap of the weekend, so it's going to be longish. And I'll put in five or six photos. They've been resampled to a smaller size, but I'll still place it all behind a cut for low-bandwidth people.
( Read more... )

We took him home, and the rest you may have already read; Sebastian got as sick as a dog. And in fact, it's time for me to go and take his temperature.

Late Night Vigil

I spoke too soon.

Half an hour after my 10:18 PM entry, Sebastian's temperature was back up to 104.9° (yes, I just figured out how to make a degree symbol in HTML). I called the doctor, was referred to the nurse triage line, and after a few minutes on hold I was speaking to a nurse. As a result of that call we woke him up and gave him children's Motrin. He fussed, but took it and was back to sleep within moments. Now I have to stay up for an hour to take his temperature at midnight, and then call the nurse back.

His hands and feet are like ice, even though his head and torso are burning up. The nurse had me do a nail-bed press test to make sure that he wasn't losing circulation. Which he's not, fortunately.

Since I'm up anyway, I might as well catch up on my posting. The alternative would be Diablo, and I'm already nervous enough.

This is a recap of the weekend, so it's going to be longish. And I'll put in five or six photos. They've been resampled to a smaller size, but I'll still place it all behind a cut for low-bandwidth people.
( Read more... )

We took him home, and the rest you may have already read; Sebastian got as sick as a dog. And in fact, it's time for me to go and take his temperature.

Sebastian's status

He's down to 101.4° and sleeping with his feet resting on Sara. Here's a photo.



I called the nurse and she says he's doing quite well. And now, with any luck, we should all be able to get some sleep.

Sebastian's status

He's down to 101.4° and sleeping with his feet resting on Sara. Here's a photo.



I called the nurse and she says he's doing quite well. And now, with any luck, we should all be able to get some sleep.

Sebastian - Update

He threw up all night, about once every half an hour or so, and the fever came back this morning with a vengeance - 104°. We're taking him to the doctor at 9:50.

Sebastian - Update

He threw up all night, about once every half an hour or so, and the fever came back this morning with a vengeance - 104°. We're taking him to the doctor at 9:50.

Sebastian Update #2

We took him to the doctor this morning, and she had us take him for chest and sinus x-rays and a blood test. God, I can't tell you how hard the blood test was - he asked for me to hold him while they took the blood, and as soon as he saw the needle he screamed and tried to pull away.

Then we went home to wait for the results from the doctor. I gave him Motrin, Teri grabbed some sleep, and Sebastian and I spent the next several hours together. It was soon obvious that the Motrin was helping a lot. His fever disappeared, he cheered up and said he felt "much better". I made him some chicken soup and dry toast, and he ate them all. He drank plenty of water, too, which is always good. And he didn't throw up at all.

But when that dose of Motrin wore off this afternoon, things got bad very quickly. He started sobbing hysterically and telling us that his back hurt a lot. We gave him Motrin again; it had been four hours and 15 minutes since the last dose, so that was okay.

From his behavior I could tell that this was something to take seriously, so I called his doctor. She told me that his white blood cell count was elevated - not dangerously so, but it was clear that he was dealing with something more serious than a viral infection. Unfortunately they hadn't heard back from the radiologist, although they'd called them several times. The doctor told me she was going to call them right away, and call me right back.

Ten minutes later she called. The chest x-rays showed that he had pneumonia in a lobe of his left lung, which explained his back pain - that was on the left side, too. She wanted me to take him to the emergency room for an IV and antibiotic.

I cringed at the thought, particularly since the Motrin had started working and he had calmed down a lot. So I told her that, told her he'd been taking plenty of fluids, had urinated frequently, and had no fever (all true, of course). "You just talked me out of sending him to the emergency room", she said, sounding relieved. Instead, she's calling in a prescription for an antibiotic to our drugstore. I'll be able to pick it up in about forty minutes, and we'll give it to him immediately. We're to monitor him carefully, make sure he drinks and pees a lot, and call them at any time of the night if his condition changes. We'll also call in at 7:30 AM tomorrow morning.

Sebastian Update #2

We took him to the doctor this morning, and she had us take him for chest and sinus x-rays and a blood test. God, I can't tell you how hard the blood test was - he asked for me to hold him while they took the blood, and as soon as he saw the needle he screamed and tried to pull away.

Then we went home to wait for the results from the doctor. I gave him Motrin, Teri grabbed some sleep, and Sebastian and I spent the next several hours together. It was soon obvious that the Motrin was helping a lot. His fever disappeared, he cheered up and said he felt "much better". I made him some chicken soup and dry toast, and he ate them all. He drank plenty of water, too, which is always good. And he didn't throw up at all.

But when that dose of Motrin wore off this afternoon, things got bad very quickly. He started sobbing hysterically and telling us that his back hurt a lot. We gave him Motrin again; it had been four hours and 15 minutes since the last dose, so that was okay.

From his behavior I could tell that this was something to take seriously, so I called his doctor. She told me that his white blood cell count was elevated - not dangerously so, but it was clear that he was dealing with something more serious than a viral infection. Unfortunately they hadn't heard back from the radiologist, although they'd called them several times. The doctor told me she was going to call them right away, and call me right back.

Ten minutes later she called. The chest x-rays showed that he had pneumonia in a lobe of his left lung, which explained his back pain - that was on the left side, too. She wanted me to take him to the emergency room for an IV and antibiotic.

I cringed at the thought, particularly since the Motrin had started working and he had calmed down a lot. So I told her that, told her he'd been taking plenty of fluids, had urinated frequently, and had no fever (all true, of course). "You just talked me out of sending him to the emergency room", she said, sounding relieved. Instead, she's calling in a prescription for an antibiotic to our drugstore. I'll be able to pick it up in about forty minutes, and we'll give it to him immediately. We're to monitor him carefully, make sure he drinks and pees a lot, and call them at any time of the night if his condition changes. We'll also call in at 7:30 AM tomorrow morning.

Sebastian - last update of 12/19 (I hope)

He just woke up fussing and feverish at 9:20 PM. It was five hours and twenty minutes since his last dose of Motrin, so I gave him another dose. He also drank a lot of water, and calmed down a lot within ten minutes.

I suspect that he'll be feverish and fussy again in about five hours, but we have more Motrin. He hasn't thrown up all day, so I'm hoping that he'll be okay tonight. We'll see.

I'll be going to work tomorrow, barring surprises. I'll drive myself to the train station. Teri's mother will be available if he needs to go to the doctor or hospital.

Funny, this evening I was really wishing that someone would call me. It would be really good to talk to someone about this. But I've already talked to everyone available about Sebastian's illness, so I'm out of luck. Oh well.

And it's time for me to go to sleep now, anyway. Over and out!

Sebastian - last update of 12/19 (I hope)

He just woke up fussing and feverish at 9:20 PM. It was five hours and twenty minutes since his last dose of Motrin, so I gave him another dose. He also drank a lot of water, and calmed down a lot within ten minutes.

I suspect that he'll be feverish and fussy again in about five hours, but we have more Motrin. He hasn't thrown up all day, so I'm hoping that he'll be okay tonight. We'll see.

I'll be going to work tomorrow, barring surprises. I'll drive myself to the train station. Teri's mother will be available if he needs to go to the doctor or hospital.

Funny, this evening I was really wishing that someone would call me. It would be really good to talk to someone about this. But I've already talked to everyone available about Sebastian's illness, so I'm out of luck. Oh well.

And it's time for me to go to sleep now, anyway. Over and out!