We have had several other boughts of high fever without any other diagnosis over the last couple of months. So, we have done some research, pushed for some tests and referrals to specialists. Last week we met with a Rheumatologist at Phx Children's Hospital and he thinks Jake has PFAPA (Periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis and adenitis). Long story short, no reason why it happens (ie no particular virus, or infection to cause the fever), no test to prove that it is that either. Children who have this typically outgrow it by 5 and almost always by 10, but we can't wait that long because Jake and we can't live with these fevers every 3 weeks. So we started him on a treatment of Tagamet, the acid reflux med (no idea why it can work, but it can). This won't solve the problem, but can help lessen the number days of fever and widen the time between episodes. So we started that and will see where it goes. The only way to get rid of it is a tonsilectomy, which is too radical for a first step in my opinion, and the reasons why it works, the professionals do not know. I am hoping that the tagamet helps manage it and we can avoid surgery. It is so hard feeling helpless and not being able to "fix" Jacob. But I feel better now that we have a plan of attack and not getting the crud from the ped saying "it is just daycare".
We almost cancelled our San Diego trip because of Jake's fever last week. However, it went away "quick" and we needed a vacay big time.
Here are some pictures of the San Diego trip. We had such a great time. We didn't plan anything per se and just had fun. Jake loved the sand on the beach, but not the water all that much (it was REALLY COLD).
