Carla Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 WEll, after hearing that my dad had a blood infection, I was almost happy because it seemed like they were treating it and it seemed to explain a recent seeming decline. And when I got there Sat., he seemed a little better and so I thought the antibiotics were working. I then learned that there had been 2 cultures and only one positive, so the oncologist thought maybe it had been a false positive due to a contamination, and they were going to take more blood but he had prescribed an antibiotic just in case. So back to square one, MAYBE. BUT then after a pretty good day, he woke up from a nap about 7:30 and he was shivering, so we were making some tea. Then he saw the thermometer sitting there and said, let's check teh temp -- it had been normal up till that point and we were watching, as they said to call if it got over 100.5. SO, it was 101 -- the next reading was higher, and the 3rd was 102.3. So I called the doc, who said he needed to be admitted. He called back with a hospital room # and off we went. Meanwhile my dad was feeling worse -- by the time we got there, I had to get someone to help him out of the back seat where he'd been lying. We went up and they started checking him and hooked him up to antibiotics. Meanwhile, the abdominal pain he'd been having on and off all week got really bad -- especially when he hiccupped, which seemed to be happening more often. So they started doing x-rays that night and did an ultrasound in the morning. Everything pointed to the gall bladder, which, by the time they did emergency surgery on Sunday afternoon, had burst -- they think they caught it in time to avoid massive infection, and it's still not clear if there IS an infection from before -- all the new cultures are still incubating. But the surgeon said he would have been dead had it gone much longer. SO, I guess it is good we were being so vigilant about the temperature -- so now we just have to figure out the infection stuff -- there is an infectious disease doctor working on it who seems to be very good. He at least feels better, although now he has ANOTHER surgery to recover from. My parents live in Orlando, but we don't even need to go to a theme park for an adventure.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Gee Carla, No you certainly don't need an adventure ride, you're already on it. I am currently recovering from a bad infection so I am very familiar with blood cultures. My family doctor explained to me that all blood cultures do not catch the bacteria. Each one has a certain percentage of failure. That is why they do so many and do them every 15 minutes to 30 minutes with the hope that one will be positive. Out of all of my cultures only 1 came back positive. They were able to indentify the bacteria within 24 hours, not sure why your dads would take so long. Your poor dad, first the infection then the gall bladder. Hopefully they will figure the bacteria out soon. Hang in there. Rochelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stand4hope Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Carla, Some of my dad's cultures took a long time (he's hospitalized for severe COPD), and frequently that's good news because nothing is growing. Like Ry, they took lots and lots of cultures, and they had to get them at the same time out of different arms in case one would be contaminated. My hubby was hospitalized for 4 days because he was running a low-grade (99.5-101.9) fever for 3 weeks and nothing would get rid of it. We were also vigilant about taking his temp and went to the onc's office with temps written down that we had taken at least 3 times a day. They did cultures on him also and nothing ever did grow. After about 5-7 days after the hospital stay, the fever suddenly stopped. His onc thought it was caused by the lung radiation. We never did find out for sure, but it finally went away. I'm glad your dad is feeling better and that he continues to get better every day. Praying for everyone, Peggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Always good to call the doctor when the temp is above 100. Glad things seem to be going in the right direction. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerbil runner Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Yikes! You'd think you're dad had enough without the gall bladder problems. Prayers for fast healing going out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cheri Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 So glad that your Dad is doing better...he's in good hands! Keep us posted on his progress. Cheri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay A. Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Carla, Wow.....Hope they can find out which germ is responsible and obliterate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carla Posted April 26, 2004 Author Share Posted April 26, 2004 Well, the funny (not FUNNY, I guess) thing is that he didn't have a blood infection at all! BUT, if they hadn't taken the culture which came back with a contamination positive, we wouldn't have been being so vigilant about his temperature, since he's not on chemo or anything yet. So that's why they check him into the hospital, and then the abdominal pain got REALLY bad somewhere by the time he got there. So the infectious disease doc on call figured out that the temperature was kind of high for a blood infection and asked what he was complaining of, and when they said abdominal pain and hiccups that made it worse, she started looking at the gall bladder. She told us that there was certainly an infection going around there but it had not yet travelled to teh blood. None of the cultures they took in the hospital have been positive. The other wierd things are that 1) he was on pain medication from the spinal surgery, which probably masked some of the abdominal pain until it got way out of control, and that medication also had acetomentaphin, which probably kept the temperature lower than it would have shown -- fortunately we took that last reading right before a pain med dose. AND a symptom of gall bladder can be pain between the shoulder blades, but of course if you had had surgery on the spine in that area in Feb., what would you think pain in that area was coming from? But now that pain is gone -- either it was time for it to go, as the surgeon had said a little while ago maybe 4 more weeks, or it was caused by the gall bladder stuff. The only pain he has right now is lower back pain he's had for years, controllable with tylenol or advil......So he is going home soon, looks 100% better, and says he feels better than he has since this whole thing started. That's now 2 near misses, and at least he's up for the rest of the fight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 Carla, so glad to hear things have turned for the better for your dad. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 Carla, The process may not have been simple--but I'll take the outcome! Glad to hear that things are better. Melinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carleen Posted May 2, 2004 Share Posted May 2, 2004 Carla, So glad things seem to be getting better and your dad is feeling better than ever. You and your family are definitely on your own personal roller coaster ride. I'll be praying it flattens out and slows down for you. God Bless Carleen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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