Fevers chills infections
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- This topic has 10 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 7 months ago by debdanielson.
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May 9, 2009 at 2:43 am #28655debdanielsonSpectator
Thank you – that is a few times now I have heard of Florastar. I will check into for sure!
May 9, 2009 at 12:39 am #28654barbaraSpectatorDEb, in regards to the c-diff, I had it twice wthin a month and read up on it and found a probiotic that has helped me. It is Florastor and has the bacteria in it that fights c-diff. Haven’t had it since. I buy it on-line. Good luck
May 5, 2009 at 3:27 pm #28653jur777MemberHi Deb – Just off the top of my head, I know that the Mayo Clinic has a facility in Jacksonville Fl. I know that is not very close to Fort Lauderdale, but if you were thinking of getting your dad somewhere with top shelf doctors, that might be your best bet. Not sure what southern FL has to offer.
Good luck
JohnMay 5, 2009 at 2:03 am #28652marionsModeratorI am hoping for others to have some explanations also but, in the mean time, I recall some discussions on this board about pain originating from the tumor in to the thigh. In some instances, pin-point radiation was successful in eliminating this. You might want to use the
May 5, 2009 at 12:12 am #28651debdanielsonSpectatorThank you again. This site has been a God-send and I am planning on getting my mom on here as well- at least to read the posts from others and see that we are not as alone as we thought before.
Today I spoke with the infectious disease doctor and he said my dad’s port was infected with staph- aureus. I am not sure if I spelled that correctly but I know the staph part and I know also that particular kind can be antibiotic resistant. They were going to take the port out tomorrow but rethought it and he went to surgery today and had it taken out and had a triple lumen put in temporarily until a new port can be placed. Tomorrow or the next day he will have a TE-echocardiogram to make sure his heart was not infected with staph. Hopefully he will catch a break for once and his heart will be okay.
One new thing that he has been saying is he is having excruciating burning pain in both legs, on the top of his thighs. I was wondering if anyone knew what this may be or had any experience with it. I am scared he may have a tumor in his spine creating this but am hoping there may be another less scary reason.
Thank you again for the help and kind words and I will be back here often reading others’ posts and probably putting more questions on here I’m afraid. As much as I hate this whole thing, I can’t pray for it to be over because that will mean my dad is gone and I want him around as long as possible.May 4, 2009 at 5:38 pm #28650marionsModeratorDeb….glad to hear that your Dad is feeling better. Receiving the diagnoses of CC is shocking. Additional stress can easily overwhelm us. I don
May 4, 2009 at 12:43 pm #28649lainySpectatorWelcome, Deb, to the best little club in the world that no one wishes to join. My husband Teddy, did not have chemo, he had radiation and cyber knife this year
after he had a Whipple almost 4 years ago. He is clear right now but still gets chills now and then. He just said he is going to welcome the heat this summer here in Phoenix. I am sorry to say it appears that these blood infections go along with the nature of the beast. As for your dad’s treatment, I would get him into a place where they have treated CC even if it means changing doctors.
You have enough on your mind without having to worry about what the hospital is doing. A lot of us have learned that we have to go with our “gut’ feelings. If it doesn’t feel right it probably is not. And if the doctor put him there he should know they are not familiar with this cancer. It is totally normal to feel guilty and apprehensive. I would think the doctor could tell you if he should travel far. My uneducated guess is no, not at this point. Use our Search Engine at the top of the page to see if there is someplace better you can take him in Florida. Hopefully some of our Floridians will answer you as well. Yes, start the ball rolling today and please let us know what happens. We are here for you to vent, cheer and advise.May 4, 2009 at 12:27 pm #28648just_jillMemberI just want to say welcome, so very glad you have found this place. I am so very sorry that your Dad is suffering from such infections as well. I do hope they are able to locate the cause of the latest one.
Not sure where your located, but, it does indeed sound like that he is not getting the best care available. Many people just accept the care that is offered , without question. It takes extra strength to stand up for ones self and say hey, this is just not right. Please do seek second and third opinions.
That Cdiff is one tough beast to be rid of, my Mother in Law is fighting that, she lives alone in her own home, and refused to be hospitalized.
Best Wishes to you and your Parents. Jill
May 4, 2009 at 7:08 am #28647debdanielsonSpectatorThank you so much for answering. I just called the hospital and my dad’s temperature is down to 99, thank God. In regards to a blood infection, they have tested his urine and his blood and came back with nothing showing up. The past two visits he had e coli in both his blood and his urine and they treated him for that. Then this visit he had c diff and they treated him for that. In all the stuff they took today they couldn’t find anything. They also checked to see if maybe his port is infected but as far as they have told us they have nothing yet. I do not think that anyone at this hospital is familiar with his disease, especially not on the infectious disease floor where he is. Tomorrow morning I am going to try to start the process of getting him transferred to another hospital, providing his oncologist will be a part of the treatment program. I am not thrilled with the care he is receiving at this point anyway- tonight my mom and I waited about two hours for a nurse to come and take his temperature after we had asked them numerous times. The nurse assigned to him actually turned away from my mom and went into an equipment room and shut the door in my mom’s face as she was asking her for the very first time if someone could take my dad’s temp. I had to go to the charge nurse and ask for the patient advocate’s number before anyone would pay some attention to my dad. By then he was almost 103 and had been huddled shaking under the blankets for a few hours while we waited with him for the shift change to be over. So I would like to get him out of that place or at least onto the oncology ward. I hate complaining and for the most part the nurses we have dealt with are pretty nice, but I hate feeling helpless and knowing there is nothing to do to help my dad as he is laying there with shivers wracking his body. My dad is 6’3” and has been strong and healthy his entire life until late last year when he started having stomach troubles. He had frequent diarrhea and vague abdominal discomfort that lasted for a few months before his primary physician sent him to a gastroeneterologist. That doctor just thought my dad was depressed for some reason and stuck him on Lexapro. My mom called the doctor later and told him she would like my dad to have a ct scan and the doctor said ok to humor her… and here we are. Ct showed mass in the liver, liver was biopsied, biopsy malignant. At first they said it was pancreatic cancer but then after another special kind of ct they said it was cholangiocarcinoma. And my life and my mom’s life and certainly my dad’s life will never be the same. I am sorry if I sound whiny or melodramatic… it is 3am and I haven’t been sleeping well lately and right now all I can think about is that my dad is dying. How do I make it easier on him? How do I make him stay with us as long as possible? How do I make him better? I see all these treatments that are available in other countries and seem standard- like photodynamic therapy, this sir spheres, some others. I do research all the time to see where in the US he could get that kind of treatment and I am having the hardest time finding the information. A place in LA does photodynamic therapy. How do I contact them? How do we get involved? Will he ever even be well enough to travel again? I think for tonight I should stop this because I am full of despair. I just don’t know where to go. At least I can read other posts here and see that this is a crowded boat and I am nowhere near alone.
May 4, 2009 at 6:41 am #28646marionsModeratorHello Deb…welcome to our site. I am sorry to hear of your Dad’s current problem with fever and chills something, not so uncommon with this cancer. I would definitely start insisting on having the oncologist take a look at your Dad after all, your Dad is his patient. Has a blood infection been ruled out? Are the physicians involved in your Dad’s case familiar with bile duct cancer? It is something I would ask.
There have been times when my husband had episodes of rigors (shaking) but, those episodes would last only for a short time and it never was accompanied by a temperature of 103 F. I would insist on having your Dad tested until the answer to the infection is revealed.
I am enclosing a few links in re: to infection. You might want to also look at the postings of other members. On the top, right hand side, in the “Google Custom Search” you may type in the word “infection.” This will lead you to many discussions on this subject but, knowing the great people on this site. you won’t be lacking advise and suggestions coming your way.http://www.cholangiocarcinoma.org/punbb/viewtopic.php?pid=17597
http://www.cholangiocarcinoma.org/punbb/viewtopic.php?id=1854
http://www.cholangiocarcinoma.org/punbb/viewtopic.php?id=1854
I am sending best wishes your direction and am hoping for this infection to be identified, asap.Marion
May 4, 2009 at 3:21 am #2275debdanielsonSpectatorI am new here. My dad was diagnosed with cc in early Feb. of this year. He started on Gemzar/ oxaliplatin every two weeks. He was tolerating the chemo fairly well until he got a urinary tract infection. He had a very high fever and went into the hospital for a week, got treated with antibiotics and got out. A week later he was right back in with another urinary tract infection. Another week in the hospital and he was home again. The third time he had to go in because of very high fever and incontinence we thought it must be another UTI but this time is was c-diff. This has all happened in the space of a month and a half. A week and a half of vancomycin and he was supposed to come home today after he got the all clear that the c-diff was gone, but he got sick again! He had a fever of 103 and severe chills that left him huddled under blankets unable to even speak. They did blood work and tested his urine and found nothing, and he is still testing negative for c-diff. This last hospital stay not one oncologist has been to see him- only the gastro-enterologist and the infectious disease doctor.
So I just wanted to know if anyone else has had an experience like this and what should I be looking for? It was so hard leaving him in the hospital like this tonight. I feel like I am being negligent but I don’t know what to do. If anyone has any advice please tell me. Thank you.I forgot to say that my dad is 69 this May. He is stage 4 with 3 tumors in liver and lymph nodes in his lungs and chest wall and possibly a tumor in his spine and something on his left hip bone. Also his most recent ct scan after 4 rounds of chemo showed the liver tumors shrank, the lymph nodes got bigger and there are cysts in his left kidney which need looking at. Thanks.
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