fevers of unknown origin

[sunandsea]

My PALS had a fever last night that made him pretty uncomfortable. It responded to ibuprofen and this morning he's feeling much better. This has happened a couple of times before but last night was more unsettling - he was frightened and felt he was dying (his description). I know fevers can make you feel terrible and can also happen with no known cause at times but I was wondering if this is something others with ALS experience or if I should be responding differently in the future if it happens again. If it were pneumonia or another infection, it wouldn't go away without antibiotics, correct? Thanks for any input.

 

[Nikki J]

When you say happened before how long ago and how often?

Fevers/ temps tend to be higher later in the day.

It might be just a passing thing but could you get a urinalysis and perhaps a blood count? Do you have hospice? Or call the doctor and see if they will order it and have the vna come for a home draw?

 

[sunandsea]

Thanks, Nikki. It was months ago that it happened but didn't seem to upset him as it did this time. We don't have hospice but I was wishing we did last night. I realized after posting how foolish this question may sound and that it could be a number of things - not related to als. One big concern I have is aspiration and resulting pneumonia as he doesn't have a feeding tube and while we are trying to be careful as he eats, I know it's a potential problem.
I can call our primary care physician and take him in for labs.

 

[mpnatx]

So wrapped up with ALS, I sometimes forget that I can get other illnesses like everyone else (non PALS).

 

[lgelb]

You can get home health services without being on hospice, if you get a doctor's order, as Nikki notes. And/or maybe scout for a geriatric PA/NP in your area who has a house call practice, to have in your pocket if not now. A quick search in Fairfax reveals there should be some.