Fever

Malcolm woke up looking pretty tired yesterday but we had a good speech session with his speech therapist and early interventionist. He has been having lots of fun being pulled around in a big wagon - the kind with little seats and seatbelts so he can't climb out. They are available for use here in the hospital.

At noon Jan came over and I went out for a lovely lunch with my supervisor from work. Malcolm's temperature had been a bit higher than normal (37.4) and he had looked tired all morning. We were hoping he would wake up from his nap feeling much better but instead he woke up just after I returned (around 2pm) with a temperature of 38.2 so by 2:30 he was hooked up to IV antibiotics. Some tylenol really perked him up - the photo above was taken around 3:30 while he was having fun watching one of his signing time DVDs.

He was done his antibiotics by around 4:30 but then he needed a platelet transfusion. They had not done a CBC in the morning but they did one as soon as he developed a fever. His platelets were down to 13 - the lowest they have ever been! Platelets can be affected by fevers and it is not unusual for them to drop. Luckily, he did not develop many bruises and the transfusion went well. His hemoglobin was 88 and ANC was zero so none of his counts are recovering yet.

Malcolm was unhooked from 4:30 till a bit after 8pm so it was a nice break for supper - Daddy and Donovan came in and we heated up some food and ate it in the room while we watched Bob the Builder. Unfortunately, Malcolm did not feel well last night and was very unsettled so we spent a significant part of the night in the rocking chair. Here's hoping he continues to feel better and tonight is a better night.

Mary Ellen