Mystery Illness Solved
Avery spiked a temp last Tuesday night. He felt extremely warm to me all day long, but I attributed it to him being out in the sun. He was still warm at night, but I dismissed that to him falling asleep in a hooded sweatsuit.
As do most childhood fevers, he felt normal on Wednesday during the day. At night, he felt warm again and this time, there was no attributing it to anything. I took his temp, and rectally, it was 101.8. No biggie (Avery’s doc said not to worry until fever reaches 102) but he was obviously in a lot of discomfort since he woke up 4 times during the night.
By Thursday morning, Melvin and I decided it was time for him to see his doctor.
Avery gets the once over by his doc and she decides a cold/flu can be ruled out. She also said that they’re seeing a lot of roseola cases in the office, but it didn’t seem like that’s what Avery has because temps associated with this illness is usually a lot higher. Doc then checks out his penis, seems ok, but just to be sure, they obtain a urine specimen for culture (thank goodness by way of bag and not catheter!). They also drew labs to check his white count.
Friday morning, the nurse calls with the results. Urine was negative, but white count suggests something viral is going on. They said nothing to do, but just watch closely and call if Avery’s temp doesn’t subside by Saturday night.
Well, the fever is gone, but come Saturday, there are red spots on his chest. I haven’t talked to the doc again, but I suspect it is indeed roseola.