Contact & Droplet Precautions…

This afternoon Lucy had nasal swabs done to check for any viruses because she continues to run persistent high fevers of 104 plus degrees with no improvement in her symptoms.  Less than thirty minutes after the lab received her samples the green sign was added to our door which reads droplet precautions, aka wear a mask if you do not want to be exposed to any airborne pathogens.  Lucy tested positive for influenza B, a strain of the flu that I am not sure is included in the flu vaccine.  This explains the high high fevers she has been having, extreme pain, and fatigue.  Her blood cultures continue to be negative so we stopped the IV antibiotics this afternoon after learning that she has the flu, but are continuing with the IV antifungal until we receive word back from her fungal culture that it is negative.  The flu is tough on  normal healthy individuals, but in a kiddo like Lucy it has completely and thoroughly wiped her out!  Lucy’s immune system once again has not reacted with a very elevated white cell count.

Symptoms wise, not much has changed.  Her temperatures remain high.  She is retaining fluids which always make her look so different.  I think we are going to do a round of lasix to see if we can’t pull off some of those fluids and help her to feel a bit more comfortable.  We have increased her morphine dose times three to keep her sleeping heart rates in the 160’s and 170’s.  I know those are still some crazy high heart rates, but it beats the 180’s and 190’s.  She has not been awake for longer than a few minutes at a time…I miss my girl.