Forgive me for the plethora of posts. This recovery stuff is always on the mind as I lay at home hoping to be better each day and this site is helping me get through it!
Today my concern is fever. I guess it's still considered low-grade right now as it's only been as high as 100.6 F. Still, it's enough to have me a little worried. I plan to call my doctor in the morning, but in the meantime, I thought I'd see if anyone can comment.
I've had a low grade fever for the last 3-4 nights. It usually resolves during the day. I alternate chills with sweating. Tonight is the highest it's gotten yet - it seems to get a little higher each night. This is WHILE I'm on a relatively high dose of Norco, so I don't know what the true fever is, except for tonight.
Additionally, I've had a headache for the last 24 hours. It's not been terrible yet, but it feels a bit like a migraine just waiting to take hold. I started to wonder if it was the pain meds. So at the Nurse Practitioner's advice, I tried some caffeine, which helped but didn't completely get rid of it. I also stopped taking my pain medication about 12 hours ago (thus the elevated temperature perhaps??) to see if that was what was contributing to the headache. The headache is mostly gone, so I'm considering trying the pain meds again to see if it comes back. Maybe then I'll know what's causing the headache?
In any case, how worried should I be about the fever given the headache and everything? I'm trying not to get too worked up at this point as my fever has not gotten that high yet, but it's still concerning me. My incisions look pretty good - no drainage. The smallest incision is a little pink in a small area right on the incision line, but to the best of my knowledge, it looks OK (I have 3 incisions because they tried minimally invasive first, and that didn't work). I still haven't reached over 1250 on my spirometer despite consistent use and left the hospital with some fluid on the left lung on Wednesday of last week. My surgery date was 9/18, so I am about 11 days post-op if I'm counting right.. Could the fever be caused by fluid on my lungs? I'm maybe slightly short of breath some of the time, but not all of the time. I do have some pain, which is why I'm still on pain meds - hard to tell if it's from the incision or the sternum. It's kind of a sharp pain right now that hurts more in my chest and upper left shoulder when I breathe in.
I'm also still a bit swollen. Tried to fit into some of my shorts to go for a walk yesterday and that was a bit depressing. Also, having a difficult time with bowel movements. Not sure if any of this contributes, which is why I mention it.
So. . . any ideas? Yes, I'll call the doctor and try to update when I know something. In the meantime, if you can put my mind at ease, that would helpful.
Today my concern is fever. I guess it's still considered low-grade right now as it's only been as high as 100.6 F. Still, it's enough to have me a little worried. I plan to call my doctor in the morning, but in the meantime, I thought I'd see if anyone can comment.
I've had a low grade fever for the last 3-4 nights. It usually resolves during the day. I alternate chills with sweating. Tonight is the highest it's gotten yet - it seems to get a little higher each night. This is WHILE I'm on a relatively high dose of Norco, so I don't know what the true fever is, except for tonight.
Additionally, I've had a headache for the last 24 hours. It's not been terrible yet, but it feels a bit like a migraine just waiting to take hold. I started to wonder if it was the pain meds. So at the Nurse Practitioner's advice, I tried some caffeine, which helped but didn't completely get rid of it. I also stopped taking my pain medication about 12 hours ago (thus the elevated temperature perhaps??) to see if that was what was contributing to the headache. The headache is mostly gone, so I'm considering trying the pain meds again to see if it comes back. Maybe then I'll know what's causing the headache?
In any case, how worried should I be about the fever given the headache and everything? I'm trying not to get too worked up at this point as my fever has not gotten that high yet, but it's still concerning me. My incisions look pretty good - no drainage. The smallest incision is a little pink in a small area right on the incision line, but to the best of my knowledge, it looks OK (I have 3 incisions because they tried minimally invasive first, and that didn't work). I still haven't reached over 1250 on my spirometer despite consistent use and left the hospital with some fluid on the left lung on Wednesday of last week. My surgery date was 9/18, so I am about 11 days post-op if I'm counting right.. Could the fever be caused by fluid on my lungs? I'm maybe slightly short of breath some of the time, but not all of the time. I do have some pain, which is why I'm still on pain meds - hard to tell if it's from the incision or the sternum. It's kind of a sharp pain right now that hurts more in my chest and upper left shoulder when I breathe in.
I'm also still a bit swollen. Tried to fit into some of my shorts to go for a walk yesterday and that was a bit depressing. Also, having a difficult time with bowel movements. Not sure if any of this contributes, which is why I mention it.
So. . . any ideas? Yes, I'll call the doctor and try to update when I know something. In the meantime, if you can put my mind at ease, that would helpful.