Mononucleosis

WARNING: Photo at the bottom of post may be disturbing to some.

According to google health, "Mononucleosis is a viral infection causing fever, sore throat, swollen lymph glands, especially in the neck."  But according to someone who has  had mono, I would like to define it as "Mono is a horrendous virus causing extreme fatigue, a throbbing sore throat covered with hideous while scaley stuff that causes such intense pain you don't even know what your other symptoms are (except for the extreme fatigue)."

I had mono a few months before I got married.  I remember the extreme fatigue and the horrendous sore throat.  The only energy I could muster would be to take a shower each day. My throat was so painful, I couldn't eat or sleep.  I remember eating popsicles just to try and ease the pain for a second. (I did lose ten pounds...but that's not the point).  In other words, it was the sickest I have ever been in my entire life.

When Kelsie first complained of a sore throat and said she had white stuff on her tonsils, I took her to the doctor for a strep test.  She didn't have the fever that she usually gets with strep, but since she usually gets strep once a year I took her in to get her started on antibiotics as soon as possible.  The doctor did a rapid strep test which came back negative and decided to do some blood work for mono just in case the other strep test was also negative.  A few days later the doctor called back and said all the lab tests were negative and that it must be a virus and to just rest and get lots of fluids.

A week later, she was still sick and her throat was worse.  I took her back in and they did another strep test and more blood work.  The next day they called back and said that this time she had tested positive for mono. At least we knew why she was so sick!

The worst thing about mono is you really can't do anything about it.  There is no antibiotic, no special pill, nothing.  You just have to wait it out.  Her worst symptom, like mine, is the sore throat.  It is terrible to be hungry but not be able to eat because it hurts too bad.  I took her to the store and let her pick out anything she thought she would be able to eat.  She picked out ice cream, popsicles, mac and cheese, raviolis, soup and mashed potatoes.  That's my girl, ice cream and carbs!

Amazingly, she's still been able to go to school and keep up with teaching piano lessons.  As long as she gets her nap when she comes home from school she can get most of the things done that she needs to do.  Now...if only the sore throat would go away.