Coley's Toxins IV #3 - Learning to avoid dehydration during pre-heating

Looking back at today's treatment, we concluded that we have been too aggressive with the heating pads. In our enthusiasm to avoid the chills and shakes that Coley's induces, we've been aggressively pre-heating her to the extent that she began sweating profusely even before the fever started.

This inadvertently led to significant dehydration, which manifested as flushing of face, low blood pressure (as low as 108/43), and requiring oxygen to alleviate shortness of breath.

The doctor had her feet raised and ordered an IV drip of Hartmann Solution to counter the dehydration and hypotension.

She eventually stabilized and the blood pressure rose. Shortly thereafter, she was able to achieve a fever. However, the fever stayed mainly between 101 and 102F. There were only 2 extremely transient peaks where her temperature managed to exceed the 102.5F target threshold. These peaks lasted for a few minutes, dropping thereafter.

It is our conclusion that the significant dehydration probably robbed her body of the necessary energy to mount a proper fever response today. The 2 transient peaks were indicative of her body trying to raise temperature but "running out of steam".

After her fever peaked and died down, she was, as before, able to get up and enjoy a meal. Her appetite was good and she felt normal, except for being a little tired (The picture below is of her enjoying her post-fever dinner).

For the next Coley's, we plan to alter strategy and go easier with the pre-heating. It'll be interesting to see if that doesn't prematurely tire her body out as much, and therefore help her achieve a higher fever.