I'm kinda freaked out. J is STILL sick. Today he had a fever of 101. He's been coughing and he's had sinus congestion for the last couple of days. The doctors keep saying that he's just gotten one virus after another...can that actually be happening? It seems like it's less likely every time he gets sick.
They've ruled out the flu, pneumonia and parasites. Blood work looked good...nothing wrong with the kidneys or liver that they could detect via blood. Chest x-ray was clean, as was the urine sample.
The symptoms are all over the map: vomiting, diarrhea, fever, phlegmy cough, sinus congestion, headaches, nausea, fatigue. He's also had a rash or two, but they didn't seem to coincide time wise with the other symptoms.
Antibiotics haven't helped. If anything, they've made him feel worse.
I can't concentrate on anything else. I've spent my whole day with a hollow feeling in my belly and I've obsessively visited medical websites trying to find an answer. I can't focus on my work and I keep looking at the clock, but I don't know what I'm waiting for. Leaving work won't make J healthy.
He's at the doctor's office right now...but I don't have much faith in the doctor anymore...last time he was sick, they told him to "come back if he got sick again." But they say that every time.
The Self-designed Student
- Amanda
- United States
- -I'm approaching 30 and I am an undergraduate for the second time in my life. I love it. -I like old stuff - like rocks and fossils - and the story of said old stuff. -I'm fascinated by the biological history of the human race and the evolutionary reasons for our behavior. -I love photography. I decided, recently, to do something about it and am the proud owner of a fancy digital SLR. -I live in a tiny apartment with my partner(J), his sister(C)and her cat (Zeus), and my cat (Emily). -I'm trying to live by these words: "You just have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves" - Mary Oliver. Some day, I'll get there.
What's up at Sb?
5 comments:
The doctors keep saying that he's just gotten one virus after another...can that actually be happening? It seems like it's less likely every time he gets sick.
I ain't no physician, but sure, it's possible, particularly given that when sick, one's defenses are muted and more susceptible to new things. Statistically, though, I am not sure what the odds are of getting one after another. Certainly being at a school (I'm assuming J's a student, too) puts one into daily contact with a huge number of other people and, therefore, diseases (it is, of course, why school teachers get sick more often than people in most other professions), so environmentally speaking, he's more likely to encounter a larger number of diseases than might an average person.
The symptoms are all over the map: vomiting, diarrhea, fever, phlegmy cough, sinus congestion, headaches, nausea, fatigue. He's also had a rash or two, but they didn't seem to coincide time wise with the other symptoms.
A couple years ago I had a simultaneous viral bronchial and bacterial sinus infection, and had more or less all those symptoms except the digestive ones. I also didn't get better for a long time; by the time I saw a doctor, I was coughing so bad that I hadn't really slept in several days. They gave me some powerful antibiotic that cleared out the sinus infection in just a few days, but the viral thing took me more than another month to get over completely. So I can vouch for that it's possible to have icky things for unusually long periods of time, for whatever reasons. Still, if the doctors haven't already thought of this (did he ever have an antibiotic? Sometimes doctors will give them even without knowing an infection might be bacterial, just to see if it does anything, although in practice this isn't a great idea), I would assume that they've already ruled out anything like what I had... Wish I had something better to suggest!
Might be time to see a different doctor. You might have gotten a bad one out of the bunch...
First off, I Am Not A Doctor. take any and everything I say medically with a grain^H^H^H^H^H^Hshaker of salt.
However, ummm....
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/west-nile-virus-topic-overview
The rash and everything else made me think of it. I AM PROBABLY WRONG.
ahem.
never hurts to check.
I just got over one of the worst viruses I've ever had. Took me ten days to get over it, but there are still some lingering symptoms. For me, it was some kind of respiratory thing. I was having real trouble getting enough oxygen, my appetite disappeared, I was coughing my throat raw, blowing my nose until my nostrils were cracked and swollen, and I kept "swallowing" air when I coughed.
It's entirely possible that J has more than one infection, like Jerry said, and the two could be making each other worse. For example, a sinus infection that causes post-nasal drip will eventually result in a respiratory infection, and the respiratory infection will spur production of thick mucus which will help keep the sinus infection going.
If J has access to a different doctor, I would go that route. A second opinion is always helpful.
A few suggestions from personal experience: It's an out-of-control respiratory bacterial infection. Have you considered getting a sputum culture? I get them all the time, and they tell you what's growing in your lungs.
The variety of symptoms in seemingly unrelated body symptoms makes me wonder if J has an allergy which has been building for several years. My dad got REALLY sick a few months ago, and it was a mystery until they did an allergen test and found out that he had developed an allergy to corn starch or something (plus a few other things) and his tolerance had hit a "cricial mass" whereas before it wasn't bugging him at all.
So I would suggest a sputum culture and a full-scale allergen test. Good luck, Amanda! I know you're worried (and probably scared), but I know you kids'll make it through. Tell J to hang in there!
Don't give up, I love both of you. I've gotten multiple viruses all at once and one right after another before. It will get better, either by a certain remedy or by doing less. Is spring break coming up or here? Hopefully he can recover and take it easy until his body has recovered. there are things that can make it worse (habits, foods, routines, sleep, etc.). Unfortunately doctors can't help viruses and antibiotics don't help them, if anything I think it can weaken the immune system even more if there isn't an infection. Take care and know that it will get better. My love
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