Did you know the dos and don'ts in a case of Fever?

The little mister began to run a fever in the wee hours of Monday morning which I thought was abit odd as his vaccination had been a few days away and he had run a short fever the evening after- I didn't see any reason why the fever was back.
I gave him some paracetamol and just waited it out, all the while thinking of what to do in the worst case scenario, to skip work or let the leave in nan take him to the GP. The fever seemed very much improved by 6am which was my prep time so I got prepped for work, leaving instructions with the nan on when, how and at what times his medication where to be given to him.


I checked on him at every break time and was told that everything was just fine at home.
Early hours of Tueday was almost the same- his body got slightly too warm at some point which was then resolved by placing a cloth dipped in tepid water on his forehead throughout the night.
Everything was just fine with his body temperature a very basal and okay 37 degree centigrade.
I'd noticed some rashes on his skin that, strangely enough, looked alot like the very measles he'd been vaccinated against but I'd reckoned it couldn't be measles, seeing especially as he'd just gotten vaccinated and so I reckoned it might be some type of heat rashes so I treated accordingly with talc.
By midnight, I was startled into wakefulness by the heat I'd felt beside me, I quickly felt DS and saw that he was literally boiling!
I quickly gave him some paracetamol and divested him of his clothing save for his nappies- but I still didn't think it was wise to not place the covers on top of him, so he will not "catch cold", and so I lightly placed the bed covet atop him.
His temp kept rising so I got out a basin with water colder than what I'd normally use for a sponge down during a fever and proceeded to sponge him down. Every sponge down had him feeling cooler and then we'd lie down to sleep only for me to be awoken to an even hotter baby.

I quickly grabbed my phone and started to google search what to do if a 13 month old was having a fever and the one thing that kept jumping out at me was,
" DO NOT GIVE A SPONGE BATH!! Sponge baths make the fever a child is having a lot worse- especially where the water is cold- because it causes the child to shiver which then intensifies the fever. Fever in itself is not a bad thing, it means that a child's immune system works perfectly and merely means that the body is creating an unfavourable environment in order to fight off an  antibody/ virus and so, as much as possible, let the child go through the fever, only aiding with a paracetamol- if absolutely necessary- do not put a fan close to the child to cool him up or cover him up to sweat out the fever- just let him go through it watchfully.....".
I have paraphrased the above so no vex if it is in very layman terms but you get what I mean.
It now further said, " ...Should your child at any time have a body temperature of 39 to 40 degrees, then ensure to immediately call the Dr or call 999 to prevent a case of febrile seizure".
I quickly checked watch "febrile seizure" was and at this point, my little man was a small ball of boiling hot mass and would intermittently let out a delirious babble, chuckle or just a string of plain gibberish, I grabbed his thermometer and checked his temperature, it was at 40.7 degrees!!
My heart started pounding wildly!
The first thing I instinctively started doing at the height of his delirium, whilst dialling the emergency line with one hand, was to speak health into him-
" By the stripes of Christ's wounds, you were already healed so you are healed my son.
You have life and you have it more abundantly. You shall not die but you shall live to declare the great works of the Lord in the land of the living.
Because none in Zion shall say "I am sick", you cannot be sick.....".
A tad dramatic in retrospect now, considering all of the information I had not been aware of but, I don't mind at all.
I quickly called the ambulance and my little cutie was booked into the A & E. I could see that the lady partner to the ambulance pair had not been impressed with me at all.
She'd seemed pretty annoyed when she'd stepped into my room and exclaimed, " I'm sorry to say but it's BOILING in here! How is he supposed to be cool if your room is this hot?".
I come dey look the very "normal" temperature she dey call "hot", and told her plainly that our home was normally "cosy" and not "hot" because we didn't like it "freezing". I think she was still pissed off nonetheless, lol.
She'd said the windows were supposed to have been opened at least ( and in the current chill of winter too!  ) to allow for natural air to cool him down and not the rather unnatural sponging.

Reading the pamphlet given to me during the day of his vaccination ( I know! I hadn't read it....) threw more light on why the fever seemed to "return". The measle's vaccine (MMR)- which combines 3 different vaccines- could* present with different side effects, at different times, for each of the injections taken.
The side effects I was now seeing had been written about in this pamphlet- about 6- 10 days after the injection, the receiver child could* run a high temperature for about two or three days which could* go hand in hand with the appearance of a mild form of measles (though not infectious due to the fact that it was vaccine/injection generated) on the child's skin and a general case of unwellness and loss of appetite. The exact symptoms I'd observed in DS- I mentally chided myself for not reading the pamphlet- it would have gotten me better prepared.

It also informed me that I could* be in for another unpleasant experience; this time a probable case of mild mumps and one of painful swollen joints, both respective symptoms of the two extra vaccines taken alongside the measles vac.
Just great.
At least I'll be prepared.
This, though, has taught me something about fevers I knew nothing about- not to try to force the fever to go away by devising every means possible to so do. I believe a lot of Nigerian adults can relate to being given a thorough cold wipe down during a fever in childhood- I was.

So, did you know these dos and don'ts or am I OYO (On Your Own ), in this case OMO (On My Own)? Lol.

Anyway,
Until we gather for another musing session,
Love Always,
Judgejudyjudy.
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