Today is a different story. Phoebe officially doesn't have just strep. She has a viral infection on top of strep (possibly more). We had her follow up from her ER visit today with the pediatrician. She thinks Phoebe caught the virus first, which gave the strep the chance to run wild while masking the virus worsening.
She has been congested, sneezing, coughing, and wheezing. And she is frequently doing the grunt she does (described by her pulmonologist as a forced PEEP), which is a sign her middle lobe is being affected (middle lobe syndrome is common in people with hyperplasia). Her fever has not broken below 100, even with alternating tylenol and motrin.
Infections are a huge concern for people who are immunocompromised. With alterations in the normal defenses to fight against infections, It becomes a constant battle to try to keep them from getting sick, or trying to stay one step ahead when they do get sick. Things can spiral out of control quickly, numerous infections can happen at once, and available options for treatment become more weighted.
Bacterial infections can receive antibiotics. But sometimes, the antibiotics don't work. You find yourself having to switch to a different antibiotic, sometimes more than once, trying to find the right one that will help control and eliminate the source.
Viral infections, there are no antibiotics for them. All you can do is support the systems that are affected by treating the symptoms while it runs it course, hoping to head off any worsening progression. And unfortunately, when you already have a difficult time fighting off infections, worsening is inevitable.
So for now, Phoebe is continuing her ten day course of antibiotics for the strep and doing nebulizer treatments three times a day to support her lungs, while continuing her normal daily medications/inhalers. Her pulmonologist goes away for vacation starting this weekend for the first two weeks in July. Thankfully, he was able to squeeze us in tomorrow morning at 10 am.