Kadon gets Sick

Yesterday we had kind of a scary experience. Kadon woke up very early (about 6:15) and when I went in and picked him up to take him into our bed, I noticed that he felt exceedingly warm. He had a little bit of a fever the night before, approximately 102 degrees, but the warmth that I felt from him first thing yesterday morning greatly exceeded that fairly mild temperature. I proceeded to immediately re-take his temperature, and was startled to see that it had shot up to 103.8 overnight. As it was still early in the day, and he was acting somewhat normally, we decided simply to medicate him and wait it out for at least a couple of hours. Later on in the morning, about three hours after we had given him fever reducing medication, I took his temperature again, and at this point his temperature had risen to 104.2, which, as many of you know, is a very dangerous temperature in young children, especially. At this point, Ammon and I made the decision that he needed to be taken in to the emergency room, as we could not ascertain the cause of his fever, and were worried that there was something more serious wrong with him. On the drive from my apartment to the hospital, which only takes about 20 minutes, he had gained a whole extra degree on his temperature, making the ER nurse read 105.3. Needless to say, I was very relieved that we had decided to bring him into the hospital, because if a temperature of 104 is dangerous, than a temperature of 105 is only more so.

Anyway, while were there they looked him over very carefully, including doing a chest x-ray (which was traumatic for both mother and baby!), and arrived at the conclusion that his high fever and general irritability was caused by a virus that had caused some sores on the inside of his throat. I was happy to receive such a benign diagnosis, as it means that he didn't have to undergo any more invasive testing, but it does mean that there is very little than we can do for him, other than attempt to keep him comfortable, including taking lots of lukewarm baths to keep his temperature down. The doctor said that his illness could last anywhere from 5-7 days, although we're hoping he'll get over it a little faster. Last night he woke up several times, also requiring more medication at around 4 am to bring down his fever once again. Today he is almost acting like his normal self, as long as we remember to dose him on a regular basis to help keep him comfortable. How thankful I am for the modern medical profession!! I hope that Kadon recovers quickly, and that Jeremy doesn't come down with it, and that we can all soon be released from our house arrest.