Fever!

We had been doing so well it was simply a matter of time before Mr. Murphy decided to stop in for a visit. Early this morning Caren developed some pressure, pain and spiked a low grade fever. She saw the gaggle of Residents before I got here who clearly had no clue what to do. Fortunately her nurse is level-headed, experienced and decisive. Her nurse held the fort down until the surgeon got here around 10am.

They're not entirely certain where the infection is. The initial order (from the Residents) was to do a chest x-ray, probably because pneumonia is the most common post-surgical infection and complication. Thankfully, the surgeon performed an actual ASSESSMENT, and found zero clinical signs of pneumonia: she has no respiratory distress, no breathing abnormalities, no productive cough, no adventitious lung sounds (that's a fancy way of saying her lungs sound fine), etc. Caren and I were actually discussing the likelihood that her foley issues from yesterday could have led to a bladder infection or UTI. If that's the case, I'll be taking the express train to hell for making fun of it! I think the downtown 4 train is express during the week.

Still no movements down below. The surgeon noted some abdominal distention that caught his attention. They're going to watch her closely during the day and see what develops. He said the fever (100.2 F) is really borderline right now. They want to her to continue hydrating, walking and trying to goto the bathroom. We're waiting on a urinalysis and some blood work to come back to see if they can narrow down the source of the infection. She's sleeping fairly soundly now. I'll update everyone this aftenoon what we know more.