Day +15

Saturday morning, I woke up feeling pretty good. After giving myself my morning dose of antibiotic, I took my temperature not because I felt bad, but out of curiosity because I used the same line as they had used for magnesium and I was worried that something like an infection in that line might be causing the fevers. My temperature had gone from about 99.5° before to 101.0° after. It came down pretty quickly, but I was concerned, so I called the BMT unit at the hospital. They told me to come in and they would take out the catheter right away which they did after drawing blood cultures. It seemed like they had already decided that that was what they would do if I spiked another fever. They then admitted me again and I developed a pretty high fever that afternoon leaving me feeling wiped with no appetite again. They temperature went up to 101° again, but came back down early Sunday morning.

Part of me wonders whether they took the catheter out partly because it was the start of Labor Day weekend, and they didn’t want to have to call in a surgeon later in the weekend if necessary.

I’m not glad to be back in the hospital, but it’s nice not to have to worry about the fevers at home. Additionally, the cultures they took should give us a clue about what the fevers are about. The problem is that they have to wait up to 48 hours to see if the cultures develop anything, which means Monday is the earliest they would make a decision, but since it is Labor Day, they may not be able to get another catheter or line inserted until Tuesday, so that is probably the earliest I could come home again.

I’m sure it’s helpful that we live so close to the hospital (15 – 20 minutes), because they are more likely to let me ride out a fever at home or send me home sooner than they would if I lived 3 or 4 hours away.

Love,
Justin