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Hi, I'm concerned. My mom is 76 with rectal cancer (stage 1) and fairly healthy overall. She was on chemo and radiation for months which brought her stage II diagnosis back down to 1. She has 3 more radiation treatments at Sloan Kettering's that will hopefully nab this thing once and for all.

My question to you is, she has been getting fever for the past week and a half. It ranges from 99-101. We brought her to our family doctor and they gave her antibiotics + Tamiflu (without her even having the flu) and ALL of her blood work indicated that she did not have an infection whatsoever.

She is so exhausted that she cannot get out of bed. Sometimes when this occurs, she usually develops sepsis -- but the doctor confirmed it wasn't.

Any ideas on what I can do or any suggestions of what this may be? Has anyone seen this before? Absolutely ZERO symptoms, but fever and chills. And she is exasperated beyond measure. I feel so bad and helpless...

Thanks...

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Take your Mom to her Oncologist.... some chemotherapy drugs can cause muscle or joint aching, low-grade fever and fatigue.
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Agree with FF; call the Oncologist and describe her symptoms.
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There is no symptoms, no aching or joint pain, etc. We called the oncologist, but he advised us to call the family doctor to see if it was viral or bacterial. It's not bacterial due to the tests and no virus was found in her blood work. We're at a loss. We may have to just send her to the hospital for extensive testing. She has to finish her radiation (which they put her under anesthesia for 6 hrs this one time) and she cannot have a fever. We're scared that if we're not "on time" with everything, ........ ugh. :(

Thanks for your input. Is it me, or does it sometimes feel like doctors just don't know or even in some cases, don't care? I'm getting that vibe............... frustrating as most of you know.
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It's sorta like the TV show "Mystery Diagnoses".... a person could go from doctor to doctor trying to find what ails them..... the symptoms are so common but covers a lot of territory or are so very unusual it takes THE one doctor who is actually familiar with the medical issue to explain what is happening.
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You're absolutely right, FF -- her fever went up to 101 so I'm just making her pop some Tylenols before carting her up to the hospital for more tests. Our main doc said go to the ER. It's not an "emergency", but the thing is, she can't undergo the 6 hour anesthesia for her radiation treatment with a fever or compromised immune system. Ugh -- going nuts here. It just prolongs everything.

Thanks!
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