After we got home Wednesday, Jen spiked multiple fevers, at least two as high as 102.8. Tylenol helped, but her temps kept climbing back up.

A couple of nervous nights, and several calls later we found the cause. One of Jen’s catheters (for post op pain) was infected and not responding to an antibiotic she was already on.

Jen’s lower abdomen (directly beneath the catheter) was slightly red. She said it “felt sore, tender and hard.” We sent a photo of Jen’s catheter site to Janet Mercer, the anesthesiology RN, MSN who monitored Jen’s catheter while she was an in-patient (we’d made friends with Janet during our stay at Inova Fairfax Hospital and exchanged mobile numbers). She immediately identified the problem and said we should remove the catheter.

Dr. Wodajo’s clinical nurse (Kathy) agreed and switched Jen’s antibiotic from Keflex to Bactrim, “It looks like an infected catheter so pull it and continue on antibiotics.”

Jen’s temps are still fluctuating, but for now they are trending down.