Mono aka The Kissing Disease

Well.. all through my tween and teenage years, I went through mono testing anytime I got overly tired. I swam for Swim Atlanta and swimming 25 hours a week on top of school can wear a gal out. I never got mono, ever. I knew a ton of teens that got mono, but never me. I think I secretly wanted it as a teen so I could take a break from school, swimming and get some rest. I have always been a big sleeper. I am the type that needs 8 hours to be worth anything the next day. You are risking it if you call me past 9:30 on a school night.

Well.. fast forward 25 years... About a month ago, I was beat. I was flat exhausted! After two weeks of feeling horrible, I went to the doctor. I had a throat culture and came home with a Z-pack. A week went by, still exhausted and feeling like a truck ran over me.. I went back in and had blood work done. On a side note.. the nurse at Dr. Loe's office rocks! I honestly did not even feel the needle that was sucking a few vials of blood out of my arm. So.. Dr. Loe called me this Monday morning and woke me up because I sleep a lot now.
Here is the conversation:
Dr. Loe: Hello Jennifer, this is Robin Loe. How are you feeling?
Me: Not so great. In fact, I was going to call you today.
Dr. Loe: you don't feel good because you have MONO. Your blood levels are through the roof.

We went through the details of mono, recovery, side effects, etc. You are not suppose to get mono once you round the corner of 40. Dr. Loe basically said I would be pretty tired for the remainder of 2008. My side hurts because my spleen is swollen. I will have off/on fevers. I need to be isolated for another week or two. My husband has questioned me on how I got the kissing disease. You don't have to kiss someone with mono, you only need to have a droplet of saliva. Can I tell you how gross that is to me? Somewhere, somehow, a droplet of saliva from some random person got into my mouth. YUCK!

Now, let's exam this a little closer. How in the world is a working mother of 3 suppose to clear her calendar in October, November and December? I think it is fair to say these are the busiest months of the year. There are fall activities, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. A Fresh Hope is doing a Christmas event 12/21. My mom has demanded a list of activities I plan on cutting out. I offered to let her come here and cook/clean but she declined that offer. I love you mom if you are reading this.. Our strong point is just not cooking. My mom called me Wednesday morning and woke me up to tell me to get some rest. Now mom.... does that make sense?

So.... I am looking a little worse for the wear right now. I have cut back washing my hair to every 3-4 days rather than every other day. Doesn't that count for my list of activities I am cutting back? I have high ups and downs. During the downs.. I am good for nothing except a little complaining and sleeping. During the ups.. I try to get as much done as possible. This just throws me into a down moment. It is a roller coaster ride.

Thank you to my kind friends that have sent notes, made me soup, and called. No one has offered to give me a hug and I can't understand why. I should be able to be in public more at the first of next week. I probably shouldn't swap spit with my hubby for a while (even though he said it doesn't matter because if he has it, he has it). By the way.. he is getting tested tomorrow.