Fever - Thursday, September 24, 2009

I felt fine all day until late afternoon about the time I started food shopping, my Thursday afternoon ritual. All of a sudden, I felt achy and chilled. I wondered if it was a side-effect of the Taxotere, because the doctor had said that this particular drug can cause muscle aches. I arrived home feeling worse and kept trying to decide whether or not to go to church that night. At the last minute, and rather reluctantly, I stayed home. Later, I realized it was for the best. When my sister came home from church she had the brilliant idea to take my temperature. It was 100.5 degrees. The doctor had sternly warned me to call him if I ever developed a temperature that high. I called my nurse friend, Marge, who told me to take two Tylenol and check it again in 45 minutes. When I did, my temperature had risen to 101 degrees. I went to bed determined to call the naturopath in the morning before I called the oncologist because I knew he was going to give me an antibiotic. That was something I wanted to avoid at all costs.