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Teenagers and Mono
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It’s November. What’s the first thing you think of? Thanksgiving? Turkey? Apple pie? Good guesses. How about mono???
Unfortunately, that is the case for our 18 year old. For the last week, she complained of fatigue, sore throat, cough, stuffy nose and ears, and an achy body. Worried it was more than a simple cold, I sent her to the doctor, who (as she dramatically put it), “gagged me then hurt me”, which is teen code for saying her throat was swabbed and blood was taken. Interesting news…although the strep screen was negative, the blood test for mono was positive.
Mononucleosis (the "kissing disease") is a viral infection caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, and as such, isn’t treated with an antibiotic. Symptoms mimic other conditions (such as strep or tonsillitis) in that there is a fever, malaise, enlarged tonsils with white spots, sore throat, headache, and swollen glands. As a parent, it’s very helpless feeling to watch your child suffer from these symptoms and know there is nothing they’re going to prescribe for them to feel better.
Right now, she looks a hot mess and sounds like a foghorn. This morning she told me I must not care she was sick because I didn’t come in and check on her last night. I calmly told her that since I knew her fever had broken and I could smell her malodorous sicky breath from down the hall, I didn’t think it necessary to go in and check on her, since from the odor, I could tell she was still in the land of the living.
My husband happily jumped on this bandwagon, telling her that last night the smell of her breath wafting down the hall actually WOKE HIM UP, and forced him to put our bedroom ceiling fan on high and light a candle to rid our room of the foul stench.
She just glared at us; hand on hip, herself with a sleepy face and messy hair and black coffee, while my husband and I snickered. As she stomped down the hall back to bed, I called after her that if it was Halloween we could paint the sides of her neck silver to look like Frankenstein bolts, that’s how swollen her glands are.
Ok, I’m just kidding. We’re totally babying her. She is very, very ill, and this is a very serious condition to have, and quite honestly, a little scary. Her doctor prescribed acetaminophen, lots of rest, Gatorade, and lots of nutritious food. I also feel popsicles and ice cream are in order, for purely medicinal purposes. Lots of hugs and careful kisses on the cheek are also helpful.
She was told unequivocally by her doctor, of course, to stay home from work. No sports activity, as mono also can cause a swollen spleen. This is certainly nothing to mess with because if it bursts, it could land you in the emergency room.
So, for right now, we’re watching her do a lot of nothing but napping, which is exactly what the doctor ordered.
That, and turning the ceiling fans up a notch.
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