AML: I got a fever, and the only prescription is...

I had four great days at home. I felt good the whole time and with Andrea still on maternity leave, we had some quality time together.

Unfortunately I started running a fever about 1:30 am on Tuesday morning. I drove myself to the emergency room and was readmitted to Sanford hospital.

Once admitted, they started looking for the source of the infection. Basically, they took blood cultures and we would have to wait a few days for the results. In the meantime, they started pumping me full of antibiotics and antifungals to start treating whatever the infection might be. They could tell the first day that my blood tested positive for something called a “gram negative rod” bacteria.

I started feeling a bit better after being treated a day or so. It turns out as the blood cultures matured; I had an e Coli infection in my blood stream. They suspected the PICC line was the source of the infection. So my PICC was removed.

Removing a PICC line is something interesting to witness. It’s done bedside and basically the nurse just pulls it out. My PICC was 50cm (19 inches). It ran inside my basilic vein (I think) from just above my right elbow to above my heart. So… picture a nurse steadily pulling this long plastic tube out of my arm. It is a funny feeling, but strangely there is hardly any blood.

Since being back in the hospital, I have received platelets twice and hemoglobin once. They thought I was haveing a reaction during my 2nd unit of hemoglobin, so they stopped halfway through.

I still need fluids, meds and maybe more transfusions. With my PICC line gone I now have a single IV line in my left arm. They also cut back on the antibiotics now that they know what the infection is.

My fevers have been coming and going since being back in the hospital. Headaches have been frequent as well. The antibiotics are holding the infection off, but the best thing is for my white blood counts to start recovering so I can take care of the infection myself. Tylenol manages the fevers and I get morphine if the headaches get a little strong. Appetite is getting better as well.

I definitely don’t regret my decision to go home for those few days. I probably would have had the infection regardless. Having that break in the middle of the long hospital stay made this go around go by so much faster.