Up to 104

I woke up that Monday morning with a high fever, higher than it was the entire day before. I felt like I was burning up and was glad I was going to be working from home.


The fever continued all day. But it wasn't just my temperature. Little red spots had started to appear on my arms. I wondered if this was just redness from the fever but throughout the day the red dots seemed to spread and multiply. By the end of the day, my body was covered in large red spots, mostly on my arms and legs. It didn't itch like allergy hives but they were swollen and very red. I was so alarmed and paranoid that I even looked up the symptoms for measles.

I spoke to the doctor about the high fever and the red dots, and she said to take Tylenol for my fever if needed. Since I was feeling chilled from the fever all day and my temperature had not gone down at all (I checked it constantly), I decided Tylenol might be a good idea. I also decided to take a long hot shower. It started out just warm, but I was having chills while in the shower, so I just kept making it hotter and hotter to try to alleviate the chills. I knew in my head it probably wasn't a good idea but I did it anyway.


I tried to get some rest, but the fever wasn't going down at all. I kept trying to warm up but nothing I did worked. I knew I was going to have to go back to the doctor the next day because I took Tylenol but my fever just kept going up.


I think 104-104.5 was the highest it went but throughout the night it would not go down. This recap, one year later, can't possibly do justice to the fear and anxiety and illness that I felt last year. I couldn't remember the last time I had a fever that high and I didn't know what to do about it. I was so scared and the minutes ticked by so slowly as I shivered under a mountain of blankets and kept getting colder. I never want to feel like that again.