The Sub Temp

Sunday night Jacob spiked a high fever- over 103 degrees- that eventually dropped to 102, a temp he maintained for the next 24 hours. Sometime in the early morning on Tuesday, his fever broke. That day his three year checkup was already scheduled, so it worked out perfectly for the doctor to look him over.

Jacob got a clean bill of health from the doctor and he seemed to be perfectly well. He ate, played, slept, drank just like you would expect a small boy to do.

That night things took a turn for the weird.

He went to bed as he usually does at 8pm. Around 9 he woke up crying, so I went to check on him. He was out of his bed and completely out of it, I thought he was still asleep. As I was putting him back to bed, I noticed that his skin was cold and clammy.

About an hour later he woke up crying again. I went back to his room again and this time I couldn't get him to calm down. He was grumpy, uncooperative, sometimes he made sense, sometimes he didn't. And his skin was very cold and clammy. Jacob continued to be upset and Tony came to see if he could help. He was acting so strangely, and neither the threat of a spanking nor hugs and kisses could make him calm down. We tried taking him to our bed, that didn't work until we turned on Bob the Builder. I let him watch a few minutes and then told him it was time to go back to bed. He got upset again, it was really very frustrating to us because Jacob has never acted like this before. And his skin was so so cold. Finally we got him back in bed and mostly quieted down. Back in our room Tony was certain that something wasn't right, so I called the local children's hospital to talk to their nurse hotline. About 20 til 12 the nurse called me back and I told her how the entire evening had been. She wanted me to take his temperature and said she would call me back in five minutes. I went to Jacob's room and using a rectal thermometer, took his temperature. It was 93.8. The scary part was, he seemed to be warming up.

The nurse called back, I told her the temperature, she nearly had a fit. "Are you sure? Because if it is, then I need to call an ambulance." My heart started pounding. I told her I'd take it again. I took his temperature a second time- about 10 minutes after the first- and this time it reached 95.1. The nurse was very urgent and clear with her instructions, we were to bundle Jacob up and go to the hospital.

Once we were in the car Jacob seemed to be coming back to normal. He started talking normally, asking questions, acting happy, he seemed back to himself. He also seemed warmer, so I called the nurse one more time to make sure we really needed to do this. Yes, she assured me, go.

In the emergency room they were clearly skeptical when I told them Jacob's temperature, sure I had taken it wrong. But when the checked for themselves, his temperature was still only 95.8. To give you some perspective, hypothermia starts at 95.1 degrees.

Jacob was bundled in a bed under heated blankets while the doctor conferred with the children's hospital. He ordered and iv put in, blood drawn and a urine sample. Of course, Jacob had just flushed his urine sample down the toilet.

That night there was a lot of sitting and waiting. Jacob was acting completely normal, he was happy, responsive, cooperative, drinking, being his usual charming self. I just wish we would have brought him in when he was so upset, then maybe we'd have answers today.

Finally, his blood work came back and everything was normal. Nothing was elevated that shouldn't be, or too low that shouldn't be. His blood sugar was normal and his urine sample (that took much effort to procure) was fine. The doctor was baffled. The only explanation, some sort of viral infection. Somewhere. Somehow. By the time we left the hospital, Jacob was back up to a normal 98.1 and we were exhausted.

Back home by 5, we all passed out in bed. By 9 Jacob came to my room and he was cold when he got in bed with me. He was still cold when I got up 30 minutes later. I took his temp and it was down to 96.1...not as bad as last night, but still lower than normal. An hour later he was back up to normal and he was acting just fine.

Every night since then Jacob has had a cool temperature that lasts all night- usually around 96.7- which means I get to worry every night if it will maintain or drop lower. Thankfully, we haven't had any more scary low temps and no return of the bizarre behavior from Tuesday night. Looking back, I think he may have been in shock.

No one knows why his temperature went so low, or why it cools so much every night. Hopefully soon this will end and we can go back to normal. But in the mean time, it's time to take his temperature.

To the friends and family who have prayed for us, thank you! It still doesn't register how dangerous his low temperature could have been, mainly because it's just not something I've ever really heard of before. People talk about dangerous high fevers, not dangerous low temperatures. Hopefully his body will rid itself of this viral mess so we can move on.

Thursday we celebrated his third birthday and it was so wonderful to be able to hug and hold him and know that he is healthy in spite of this weird stuff. We are just so grateful to God for the healthy children He has given us. It's a precious gift.