Fever 4

Nevaeh went in on Thursday afternoon for some more blood work. Her doctor is working hard on trying to figure it out. To save us more wait time, she got the results back to us that night, well the ones tests that were done anyway. The tests that were done showed a whole lot of nothin'. Well, nothing that we didn't already know. Her iron is a little low but Dr. Kennedy said it is probably just because she has been sick.


On Friday evening, she called again to tell me the results of the other blood tests that weren't done the night before. So here are the mechanics of it...


Her ESR or erythrocyte sedimentation rate (It is a nonspecific screening test that indirectly measures how much inflammation is in the body) has gone up from the last time her blood was taken. A normal level for someone Nevaeh's age is between 1 and 10. Her level last week was 36 and this test shows that it is now at 81. So, what does that tell us you might ask? Not a whole lot.


Her CRP or C-reactive protein (a test that measures the amount of a protein in the blood that signals acute inflammation. It can reveal that there is inflammation present in the body, but it cannot tell you where it is) level is also elevated. In a healthy person the level of this protein is usually below 8 and can even not be present in the blood. Her level is 124. So, what does this tell us you might also ask? Still not a whole lot. It shows that there is inflammation in the tissue but doesn't give us an indication of where.


Dr. Kennedy was concerned about the levels both the ESR and CRP were at so consulted with someone in Infectious Diseases. They said that even though the numbers were elevated, it wasn't hugely alarming. Here are the things that it COULD be... Valley Fever, CMV, or mono.


Valley fever is caused by fungi in the soil. The fungi that cause valley fever can be stirred into the air by anything that disrupts the soil, such as farming, construction and wind. The fungi can then be breathed into the lungs. Valley fever is a form of coccidioidomycosis (kok-sid-e-oi-doh-mi-KOH-sis), or cocci (KOK-si) infection. It can cause fever, chest pain and coughing, among other signs and symptoms.


Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a virus found around the world. It is related to the viruses that cause chickenpox and infectious mononucleosis (mono). Between 50 percent and 80 percent of adults in the United States have had a CMV infection by age 40. Once CMV is in a person's body, it stays there for life.


Infectious mononucleosis, or "mono", is an infection caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. The virus spreads through saliva, which is why it's sometimes called "kissing disease." Mono occurs most often in 15 to 17-year-olds. However, you can get it at any age. Symptoms of mono include
Fever
Sore throat
Swollen lymph glands
Sometimes you may also have a swollen spleen. Serious problems are rare.


Nevaeh did have a mono test that came back negative but Dr. Kennedy said that the blood test is not always accurate.


However, Nevaeh has not had a fever since Friday morning. So it has almost been 48 hours since she has had a fever. We are hoping it stays away, but last weekend, the same thing happened and she went almost 72 hours without a fever and then it came back worse. So, I am keeping my fingers crossed but don't feel like we are out of the woods yet. I will be talking to Dr. Kennedy this week and still have some questions for her. I will keep all updated on what is going on and hopefully we will find out what it was/is. But I am beginning to think that I may never know.


Thank you for your prayers and concern!