Is there seriously such a thing as a "fever virus?" Kinda turned into a vent

[StaceyinLA]

Because it sounds a lot to me like "we have no clue but just want to tell you something to get you out of here."

 

We took my dgdd (almost 4) to the ER last night. We don't mess around with the ER, and wouldn't have taken her if we (dd, her husband and I) didn't feel like she was really not right. The child is never sick; I mean this was her first time to run a fever over 100 in her life, and she has never had any type of infection requiring an antibiotic.

 

She had some severe pains and was pointing to the belly button/right abdominal area. She had been running a lower grade fever on and off from Saturday night. We were worried about her appendix so we were watching her pretty closely. She was just not herself at all. She wound up with a fever spike around 9, and seemed really uncomfortable. We usually try to let fever in any of the kids just kind of run its course, but we could tell she felt awful, so we gave her a dose of tylenol.

 

She seemed better within a bit, but was still complaining with her lower abdominal area. I called the dr for dd and the on-call nurse said to take her in to the ER. We were actually seeing some improvement with her (not seemingly in pain when we'd press in the area, etc.), so we did decide to hold off at that point. Well a couple hours later her fever started going back up, and she was having these jerking/tightening motions every minute or so (guessing it was the body's reaction/chills relating to the fever going up). At that point she threw up and we just decided we needed to go.

 

The nurse and ER doctor (and we went to a pediatric ER) basically didn't even fully listen to our explanation of what had transpired. They took her temp, gave her a dose of motrin, did a urine test, and sent us home telling us she had a "fever virus."

 

Now I'm not looking for there to be something wrong here, and God knows I'm relieved they don't think it's serious, but really? Basically blowing off every detail we told them and telling us it's a "fever virus?" What the heck is that?

 

Now granted we went out in a hurry in the middle of the night, and aside from my overall "I just awoke from no sleep," appearance, I was also wearing my crocs with socks. I guess maybe they just thought we were a little slow on the uptake?!?

 

Sorry this turned into such a long, ranty vent. I guess I'm just a little frustrated.

[maize]

That honestly sounds like medical malpractice to me.

[maize]

How is dgdd this morning?

[zoobie]

My DS had a febrile seizure. They ruled out other causes before sending us home, and they did bloodwork to find out if there was a bacterial reason behind the fever. He had strep IIRC. I would have expected them to do a neurological exam, flu test, strep swab, urine culture (rule out UTI which causes fever, abdominal pain, etc.), and blood test to check for elevated white cells, etc. 

[TrulySusan]

Fever virus must be real because our pediatrician diagnosed my kids dozens of times!🙄 It is absolutely THE most annoying thing ever for families that don't go in for every little thing. I think with the abdominal pain that you did the right thing. Just as an fyi, surgically significant fevers are usually 102 or above. And to reduce future annoyance and wasted copays, if a kid has a fever without other symptoms, in the first 5 days they almost always call it fever virus. I hope she is feeling better today, and that you still keep an eye on her tummy complaints. They don't always get it right the first time.

[Aura]

I've had lots of fever viruses. Kid spikes a fever. Doesn't show many other symptoms. Treat the fever, and it usually goes away fairly quickly.

 

That is NOT what you described!   :mad: Maybe she did have a virus, but it sounds more like stomach virus at the least, and not a "fever virus," which is completely different, and they should've known that and handled it differently. So, yeah, vent away!  :grouphug:

 

Is your dd feeling better today?

[StaceyinLA]

Right now dgdd is still snoozing away after her long night. She feels pretty cool so I think right now her fever is down. We will see how she's acting when she wakes.

[goldberry]

That sounds totally bogus and I would be annoyed also.  

 

I've been told DD has a non-specific virus, which can be an accurate statement, IF they rule other things out.  I don't have a problem with that.

[gardenmom5]

my kids had stuff like that.  febrile convulsions are generally not serious.  (1dd had them.  freaked me out, and she had a temp of 103+)

 

on-call nurses almost always say to go to an ER - they don't want the liability if they don't and something happens.

[Bluegoat]

It's not a specific name for a specific virus.  It's a sort of general term for a virus that causes a fever but that is its main symptom.

 

I think taking her in made sense, and I am not a person who takes kids with fevers to the dr very often.  I have the doctor's kid tendency to handle most things at home.

 

It's stupid they didn't listen more carefully to you, I hope they were being careful but just seemed blasé because they see the same stuff so often.  I recently took my dd8 in for being sick because besides her other symptoms and fever she started complaining about a stiff neck, and she normally isn't a complainer.  I felt a little silly when they just said it was a virus.

[maize]

It's not a specific name for a specific virus. It's a sort of general term for a virus that causes a fever but that is its main symptom.

 

I think taking her in made sense, and I am not a person who takes kids with fevers to the dr very often. I have the doctor's kid tendency to handle most things at home.

 

It's stupid they didn't listen more carefully to you, I hope they were being careful but just seemed blasé because they see the same stuff so often. I recently took my dd8 in for being sick because besides her other symptoms and fever she started complaining about a stiff neck, and she normally isn't a complainer. I felt a little silly when they just said it was a virus.

I would expect a Dr. to take fever+stiff neck seriously.

[Katy]

I would expect a Dr. to take fever+stiff neck seriously.

 

Not to mention severe stomach pain.  Did they even palpate her stomach?

[kroe1]

No one on this board can tell you the appropriateness of the ER visit. None of us were there with you. But, I am glad we all get the opportunity to wish her well today.

 

Diagnosing a child's abdominal pain can take many forms by the doctors I work with. There is no right or wrong way to do it. A child sitting up eating chips on the stretcher will get a much more limited exam than a child lying quietly and not moving much. The surgeons usually just make the child hop up and down on one foot. If the child does it without discomfort, they walk out of the room without any tests at all.

 

You were exactly right in that you had an emergency. But, many times, pain in the right lower part of the abdomen with a high fever is related to mesenteric adenitis rather than appendicitis. The former is benign while the latter may need surgery. Differentiating between the two can sometimes mean serial exams. So a relatively benign physical exam might be followed up in 12 to 24 hours with another exam. So do not hesitate to go back to the ER if she is still hurting today.

[StaceyinLA]

They did press her stomach a little.

 

Anyway, dgdd seems to be reasonably better today. She slept until 2 this afternoon! She is back lying down now, but had some pretty normal behavior in between.

 

I didn't expect them to run every test there was (and wouldn't want them to do that unless absolutely necessary anyway), but I just felt like they really didn't pay much attention to us at all.

[City Mouse]

My DS used to get something like that 2-3 times every year. He would run a fever for about a week at a time. When the fever would spike at night he sometimes threw up. When the fever was lowered by medication or other means he would appear fine during the day.

[Spryte]

Hoping that dgd is better this morning!

 

I would have expected some tests, just to rule things out.  And I've never heard it called a "fever virus" - though of course we've had non-specific viruses that cause fever, etc.  "Fever virus" sounds regional maybe?

 

 

It's not a specific name for a specific virus.  It's a sort of general term for a virus that causes a fever but that is its main symptom.

 

I think taking her in made sense, and I am not a person who takes kids with fevers to the dr very often.  I have the doctor's kid tendency to handle most things at home.

 

It's stupid they didn't listen more carefully to you, I hope they were being careful but just seemed blasé because they see the same stuff so often.  I recently took my dd8 in for being sick because besides her other symptoms and fever she started complaining about a stiff neck, and she normally isn't a complainer.  I felt a little silly when they just said it was a virus.

 

Don't ever feel silly.  Always take that seriously.   :grouphug:

 

My DS had meningitis over the summer.  It was viral, which was good, but still - viruses can be serious, too.  

[Lizzie in Ma]

Ugh, my favorite, the old "fever of unknown origin" diagnosis.  Been there and I feel for you.  :grouphug: :grouphug:

[StaceyinLA]

I guess I was just frustrated because they weren't really hearing what we were saying about the different things that had taken place during the day. Maybe to them we just seemed like people who run to the ER at the drop of a hat, but we aren't like that at all (this child has only been to the doctor once for anything other than a checkup and that's because dd was just worried about her tonsils - they are pretty large - and wanted the dr to see them). I just felt that they weren't really thorough, but I'm certainly glad she didn't have to go through any unnecessary trauma (blood work, etc.).

 

Anyway, she's definitely back to her normal, wild self!

[Bluegoat]

Not to mention severe stomach pain.  Did they even palpate her stomach?

 

 

I would expect a Dr. to take fever+stiff neck seriously.

 

Oh I think they took it seriously, it just wasn't serious. 

 

I'm not sure about the exam, my dh took her.

[Tree Frog]

I guess I was just frustrated because they weren't really hearing what we were saying about the different things that had taken place during the day. Maybe to them we just seemed like people who run to the ER at the drop of a hat, but we aren't like that at all (this child has only been to the doctor once for anything other than a checkup and that's because dd was just worried about her tonsils - they are pretty large - and wanted the dr to see them). I just felt that they weren't really thorough, but I'm certainly glad she didn't have to go through any unnecessary trauma (blood work, etc.).

 

Anyway, she's definitely back to her normal, wild self!

 

My dd21 has large tonsils (they nearly touch the bottom of her throat). When she was young, her pediatrician said she would grow into them and not to be concerned. She didn't "grow into them"; they grew in proportion to her body's growth.  Most of her doctors now ask if they've caused her any problems and sometimes they do cause problems. I believe she will eventually need to have them removed. Looking back, I wish we'd had them removed when she was little while it would've been easier and with less risk! (I don't know what your dd's doctor said in regards to your dgd's tonsils, but wanted to share my dd's story in case your dgd's dr told your dd the same thing.)