fever, high protein and no answers

My daughter is 4 months old. Approx. 2 months ago she was had bronchitis and double ear infection.  Since then she has never really gotten better. Most days she cranky and running a temp.  She will get better for a day maybe two and have a fever once again.  Also, she has not been able to eat a bottle with the full amount of formula in it because it is too thick and she chokes on it.  Well, I had her in the ER a couple of nites ago because her fever had lasted 4 days with lowest being 101.5 and highest 103.4 with tylenol every 4 hrs.  In the ER they did blood work and said that her Protein Level was high.  Had a follow up with her pedi yesterday and was told that her protein level was at a 4.6.  I was thinking about it and at a week old she had blood work done and one other time and so all 3 times she had labs done her protein has been high, but never given numbers until this last time.  The doctor told me that he fever is because she keeps getting viral infections (she does not go to daycare and isn't around anyone besides her 21 month old brother who also doesn't go to daycare).  He found a sore in the back of her throat and a rash on the trunk of her body which doctor said was the hand mouth foot virus.  Anyway my question is, is it normal for her protein to be elevated like it is and is it something I should get a second opinion on.

[AnnieBrooke]

If he thinks it is hand, foot and mouth disease, what does he say about the fact that you think it has been going on for two months?  

[AnnieBrooke]

I would definitely ask for more specific testing to know what kind of protein is high in her blood.  She had the high protein in her blood at several points when tested, she is not exposed to a lot of other kids, and in 4 months she has had bronchitis, ear infections, and now supposedly hand, foot and mouth. Apparently there are different reasons for blood proteins to be high, and to understand what is going on you need to find out what particular protein is high.  I would be concerned about an undiagnosed underlying condition (revealed by the protein count being high) that makes her prone to the other things (bronchitis, ear infections, and hand, foot and mouth).  It is worth exploring.

[tassie00]

That's kinda what I was thinking that I should get a second opinion and further testing.  THe doc said that she's just getting a number of viruses and claims that she has not had it for 2 months but when she gets better for 1 day it goes away and she contracts another one, but like I said she's not around anyone to get them and our son who is 21 months old has not been sick.  So I will def look into it further and thank you very much for reassuring me that I'm not just over reacting and I will keep you posted.