You'll Never Guess Where We Are!

After being discharged on Wednesday morning, Esther started right back with a fever on Wednesday night. By Thursday morning, she was back up to 102+. There was still an unanswered question about whether something like a hidden tooth abscess could be causing the fever. In order to answer that question once and for all, I had to drag Esther out to the dentist for x-rays. Can you believe it? I actually had to get out of bed on Thursday! That certainly wasn't in my plans for yesterday!

Esther's teeth look great - no abscesses, no infection, no cavities - only several very large canker sores that have been plaguing her since her acute rejection treatment over Christmas. The dentist said they were the biggest canker sores he has ever seen in his life. Sometimes it is not fun to be special! Esther laid low after our outing and did a super job of drinking almost 3 1/2 liters. Tylenol kept her fever down, but not all the way.

This morning Esther couldn't stand up without blacking out. Her blood pressure was low and her heart was racing. She still had a low grade fever. We came into the hospital as scheduled for routine lab work and a clinic visit. After three attempts, the phlebotomist had only collected a very small amount of blood - not enough to run all the lab tests. They gave up in the lab and sent Esther on to clinic. Once there, the docs did a quick assessment and promptly sent her to the ER. Her creatinine has taken a jump up since being discharged on Wednesday. It appears that she is dehydrated yet again.

Dr. Guillot kindly came down to the ER and put an IV into her fistula. They didn't think they could get an IV in anywhere else. Normally the fistula, and even Esther's whole left arm, is totally off limits for IV's, lab sticks, and blood pressures. Very few people in the hospital are authorized to access a fistula. Thankfully, Dr. Guillot is one of the few and she got the job done without Esther having to be tortured.

Esther is currently receiving her second liter of IV fluid. Once that is in, they will reassess to determine if she needs a third. Even though she drank 3 ½ liters yesterday, it seems it wasn't enough to keep up with what she lost as a result of the fever. Initially, they said she would be admitted, but now, thankfully, word is that they will let her go home after all the fluids are in. We sure hope so! Esther is not happy about being here!