My doctors have been insistent that if I spike a fever above 100.4 I should get myself down the ER. Last night that happened—though just barely. The ER thermometer clocked me at 100.6, and that set off a truly impressive blitzkrieg of testing. I didn't really understand it. They took blood tests by the dozens; two chest x-rays in case I had pneumonia; a COVID test; three different bacteriological tests to narrow down the source of any possible infection (in my blood, in PICC line #1, or in PICC line #2) even though there was no reason to think I had an infection in the first place.
I took all this with my usual sunny disposition¹ and eventually they let me go to sleep. It's now 6 am, my fever is gone, the tests have all come back negative, and I still have three hours before I report to the Day Hospital. It's Day +6! Only eight days to go.
Anyway, here's a picture of me in the ER last night. Happy May Day, everyone.
¹Ha ha ha. I bitched and moaned the entire time. I had been expecting a quick evaluation, maybe an antibiotic, and then back to the hotel. I was not expecting the Spanish Inquisition.
UPDATE: I have tested negative for every possible thing and my temperature is down to 98.4. I'm back in the hotel and things have returned to normal.
They know you are a famous blogger, and you might report any negligence on their part. Be ready for more testing fire drills.
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Silly person. Didn't you read that form you signed about this treatment's side effects. It probably listed in addition to fever, diaphoresis, and rashes, the Spanish Inquisition.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition*
*except everyone did* Cheers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj8n4MfhjUc8
This sounds similar to my experience with my Abecma CAR-T in December. The protocol at my hospital required I be hospitalized for the first seven days. So, a visit to the ER was not necessary. When I fevered up on Day 2, it was 2:30 am. The night nurse then performed the multiple blood draws. The next morning, I received a dose of “Toci”, which knocked back the fever. And, I had no further reactions during that first week.
Your post is reassuring. Glad you received prompt care & hope you continue to do well.
This treatment - & recent welcome news about advancements in treatment of sickle-cell anemia - are encouraging for many people.
Process shall set you free from rational thought.
It will also protect you from lawsuits…
No one ever does.
Very nice picture by the way...yet, I am curious, why are you staying in a hotel? Is this mandatory or something? It is not an impossible drive from Orange County to Duarte.
Curious.....Best Wishes, Traveller
The hotel is on the City of Hope campus. It's where you stay if you're an outpatient.
Nice picture!
GRUMPY!
You'd be grumpy, too, if your insomnia had been interrupted by medical testing, leaving you still awake at 6 AM - all after having negotiated a later physician visit time than the 7 (?) AM one for naught. : -)
I wouldn't allow ANY pics of my unsmiling face under similar circumstances, but know you're just teasing KD.
Blame it on early-18th century "science."
The Celsius scale for temperatures was developed in the 1740s. Doctors at that time measured a bunch of presumably healthy humans and found that their Celsius body temperature measurements were clustered around 37 degrees, so they decided that was "normal" body temperature. Recognizing that there were small variations in what seemed to be normal healthy subjects, they decided that up to one degree was OK, while anything more than one degree above "normal" should be considered a fever.
Celsius: Normal = 37; Fever > 38. Translate to Farenheit and you have the arbitrary definition of fever we still carry over almost three centuries later.
Seems about as reasonable definition of a fever as was and perhaps still is practical.
The problem with the definition is that it tries to be one-size-fits-all. Nowadays, medical science has a vast store of data relating "normal" temperature to a variety of fundamental factors like age, sex, and ethnicity. We probably ought to be using the information we so assiduously collect.
By how much does it vary? You suggested 1C earlier. Is that the variability across the factors you listed? And how well would we laypeople handle the nuance?
I am hypothyroid. Even with treatment, my "normal" is about 96.0. (95.5 in AM, rising to around 96.7 in PM).
Twice in the past year physicians, in one case a hospital, refused to recognize 99.0 - 99.9 as a "problem". That's 3-4 degrees of fever - equivalent to 101.6 to 102.5 for a "normal" person. And both times I was conscious and able to explain why for me 99.7 (in the hospital) was concerning. There is a good chance that someday this insistence on 100.4 will kill me.
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition! (could not resist). I'm sorry this happened and here's hoping it won't happen again and that all will go well.
The fever itself is the reason to think you might have an infection and being immunocomprised, it's not to be trifled with. They didn't recommend you go to the ER with a fever just for funsies.
Yeah, that was also my thinking process when I read the post.
Also, fever could be an indication of cytokine release syndrome which can be fatal during CAR treatments. It may be inconvenient, but better than dying.
Hope you got the Comfy Chair, the Soft Cushions and the Nice Cup of Tea...
If I had a PICC line (much less 2), I'd be taking prophylactic antibiotics. Will the doctors prescribe them? No. That's why I keep a stock of Mexican Cipro on hand. Or, as it says on the box, Ciprofloxacino.
Kevin looks like they told him they stopped serving breakfast so he has to order off the lunch menu.
Awe Kevin, better safe than sorry. Glad it was a "nothing burger". Keep well, eat well, and rest. It's always good when patients are bitchy, means they are doing well. It's the sweet quiet ones that are scary.
You're one of the lucky ones. They've probably seen many patients present with a moderate fever and then have to spend the next 72 hours fighting to keep them alive. Medicine can be like aviation. Fatal accidents often start when someone doesn't take some little deviation seriously.
(A friend of mine's daughter had a lung transplant, and new doctors were often shocked to see her. She wasn't massively underweight. She wasn't gasping for air and immobile. She was surprisingly robust. They'd double check her ID tag. I wouldn't call her a lucky one, but she has been a lot luckier than some of her peers.)
I can understand why they'd want to catch things early, and am glad nothing was found. Who knows, may this is an indication that the process worked.
Apropos: Your "About" bit stills says "It’s currently incurable,..".
That should be updated by now, no?
These Car-T treatments are already several years old.
Hmmmm, suspicious. Is there a nurse that resembles a cat per chance?
Seriously, still crossing digits.
HANG IN THERE DUDE! IT WILL WORK!!!
Well, you know, no one expects . . . . . you're as old as me. You know how that goes. If not, see the half dozen or so other people who made the same joke.
Also, if a test had come back positive, you would have been damn glad they ran them. Always look on the bright side of life.