Spike!

The nurses said I 'spiked' today. This means I got a temperature above or equal to 38'C and means that likely I have an infection. I have some pain in my lower stomach, so suspect this is a urinary tract or stomach infection.

Although I am on anti-fungals and anti-viral medication, there is nothing to define me from bacterial infections when I am neutropenic (<1.0 WBC). Therefore, the doctors engage in a pre-emptive strike at the first sign of symptoms. This includes:

1. Doing blood cultures of both my PICC line lumens + my peripheral blood (this will help them identify whether there is an infection in my line which is quite common apparently)

2. Start me on two strong IV antibiotics

Infections that don't go away or being antibiotic resistant are the worry so I hope these antibiotics have it licked....

(written retrospectively)