"Mono Sucks" Part One

The Wedding

At the wedding

August 20, 2010: My family (minus brother bear) hit the road very early in the morning to start the eight hour drive to Wisconsin. We stopped by QuikTrip to get some fun breakfast food to eat in the car. Growing up, we took mini-vacations to Wisconsin to visit my Grandpa Burt--my dad's dad--so the long car ride was something that we were all used to. My Aunt Deena (mom's side) let Rachel and me borrow her portable DVD player to watch movies in the car. I also brought a knitting project and the first Harry Potter book...yes...I was re-reading the series after finishing them just two months earlier. Our road-trip-to-Wisconsin tradition always included stopping for pizza at Rocky Rococo Pizza in Madison. Their pieces of pizza were huge and delicious. I always got the pepperoni pizza which consisted of large amounts of cheese, pepperoni, sauce, and grease. After lunch we were on the road again. We eventually made it to our hotel in Heartland, a suburb of Milwaukee. After checking in and refreshing from the drive, we went down to the lobby to meet other members of the family. In addition to a wedding, this was also sort of a family reunion. My dad's other two siblings were coming along with some my dad's nieces, nephew, and their spouses. I was looking forward to seeing my aunts, uncles, and cousins that I had not seen for many years. Every one began pouring in to the hotel as the evening grew closer. We spent most of the afternoon visiting and catching up with all the family members, especially Leda, who we had not met yet! Aunt Pat spearheaded a girls-only shopping trip to the nearby strip mall before we had to get ready for the rehearsal dinner. After we were dressed, all the family members went to the rehearsal dinner at my uncle's (father of the groom) house. The rehearsal dinner was nice--there was lots of food, family, and fun. As the night wore on, my throat began to feel a little sore. I took some Tylenol, grabbed another Sierra Mist, and forgot about it. Back at the hotel, I was having a hard time falling asleep. I usually don't sleep well in hotels, but this time was especially bad. I kept having the same dream over and over and over again. When I woke up from this repetitive dream, I was so angry. I even punched my pillow because I was so mad. Why? I have no idea. Maybe it was because the storm that had been brewing was about to break loose and wreck havoc inside of me.

August 21, 2010: My throat felt like it was on fire. My body also felt like it was on fire. I woke up confused and remembered a night full of strange dreams. It was early in the morning and only my mom was awake, checking her e-mails on the lap top. I crawled out of bed and tapped her on the shoulder. My mom turned around with her usual smile, but I saw worry fill her face as soon as she saw me.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

I shook my head as my eyes filled with tears. "My throat feels like it's on fire, and I'm so hot." I croaked through quiet sobs.

My crying woke my dad up, who was informed by my mom what was going on. I asked for some ice to suck on and Tylenol. While my dad got some ice for me to suck on, my mom gave me some Tylenol and talked about asking Aunt Pat (the world's smartest former nurse. She literally knows just about everything!) where the closest urgent care office was. Dad came back with the ice and Rachel woke up. Today, August 21, was her 18th birthday.

" 'Appy 'irthday" I mumbled through my ice filled mouth.

Goofing off with Rachel

After Rachel was filled in on how I was feeling, we surprised her by giving her the birthday presents we brought from Iowa to Wisconsin. She was so surprised and opened her presents before we went down for breakfast. I felt a little bit better after the Tylenol had kicked in and I ate something. I was feeling well enough to play in the pool with Rachel for a little bit. We had made plans to go have lunch with my uncle, Tom, and cousin, Dottie at Panera Bread. I began to feel awful again as I ate my soup in a bread bowl. After lunch I took a nap at the hotel before getting ready to go to the wedding ceremony. While waiting in the beautiful church for the ceremony to start, I started to feel uncomfortable hot again. August in Wisconsin by itself is extremely hot, and my fever did nothing but add to the heat. It was time for me to have more Tylenol, but there wasn't a water fountain in sight. I have never been able to take Tylenol dry, but it was my only choice. I tried swallowing the first pill, and my efforts resulted in gagging on the rust colored pill and coughing it up, getting the rust colored coating all over my hands. I would have to wait until we got to the reception. The reception was at a huge country club. It was so air conditioned inside the club and it felt great! I almost ran over to the bar and asked for a glass of water to take more Tylenol. While we waited for the bride and groom to finish taking wedding pictures, Rachel and I explored the country club golf course. Rachel offered several times to head back to the club where it was air conditioned, but I was having fun (but burning up) outside on the golf course. The reception started, toasts were given, dinner was ate, and the dancing began. I usually tear up the dance floor with my siblings at weddings, but I was not feeling up to dancing so we went back to our hotel where I put in another rough night's sleep.

In good company on the way home

We headed back to Iowa the next morning after saying goodbye to our family at the hotel. My aunt Pat told me that no one could have guessed that I was feeling so awful. I slept and listened to music a lot on the way home. I couldn't wait to be home and snuggle with my cat, Oliver. The next days would be full of getting Rachel ready to move into her first dorm for her first semester of nursing school. My mom tried encouraging me that I just had a virus that would probably go away. "At least your lips have color again!" She cheerfully said on the way home.

Dr. S and the Diagnosis

Four days later I was still feeling terrible. My sore throat and fever were gone, but I was still tired all the time. My mom came to say goodnight to me one night and I asked her, "What's wrong with me?" My mom then decided to make an appointment with my pediatrician. I didn't even put up a fight; that's how awful I was feeling. On August 26 we met with Dr. S, who had been our pediatrician since Daniel was born. My mom loves to brag about Dr. S who has "never been wrong in over 23 years". Dr. S is a tall doctor who always wears black pants and a white shirt. He has a graying beard and hair and is always smiling and joking. Dr. S asked questions about my symptoms (he seems particularly interested that I had a fever and sore throat that went away), did a brief physical exam, and ordered some in-office tests. I had my finger pricked and a strep test. The blood pressure cuff squeezing my arm is nothing compared to the strep test. I gagged, choked, and cried as the lab tech stuck the swab stick down my throat. My mom and I waited in the exam room for a little bit while the in-office lab looked at my blood work and throat swab. The colors of the exam rooms have always bothered me.  Part of the routine when I see Dr. S is complaining about the colors every time I go see Dr. S. The top part of the wall is mustard yellow and there is a purple and blue border under the mustard yellow. The tile on the floor is white with purple, blue, and green tiles scattered throughout the white. Those colors do not go together!! Dr. S came back into the exam room with the results of the blood work: mononucleosis, a.k.a mono. Mono is a highly contagious viral infection that is passed through saliva. Its symptoms include: sore throat, fever, loss of appetite, fatigue, general discomfort, and feeling ill. My first thought was: Well that sucks. Put me on medicine. Soon I learned the horrid truth: there is no medicine for mono. The only "medicine" is rest, plenty of fluids, blah, blah, blah. Dr. S said I would be dealing with mono symptoms for two-three months. Mono actually enters the blood stream six months before symptoms are presented and leaves the blood stream six months after symptoms are gone.  In addition to all of this, mono can cause the spleen to enlarge and possible rupture. Dr. S wanted me to come back a few weeks to check my spleen. He gave us a info sheet about mono and sent us home. It said on the sheet that fluids, especially milkshakes can help so my mom and I stopped by QuikTrip to get some  milkshakes. I was so tired when I got home so I laid down on the couch. Rachel was moving into her first dorm the next day, but I was going to have to stay home. I drank one of my milkshakes while watching old episodes of Full House.

Yuck! An absolutely awful picture of me on the
day Rachel moved out.

My summer break was coming to a close; I was going to start my freshman year of high school soon. I spent my last days of summer break lying on the couch watching Full House, sleeping, and reading Harry Potter. I told myself that as each day my body was fighting the mono off, I was getting closer to feeling better. I'm almost glad that I didn't know then what was next to come....

TO BE CONTINUED!