Free Personal Narratives: Life After Mono

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Life After Mono

Merriam-Webster defines mononucleosis as: "an acute infectious disease associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and characterized by fever, swelling of lymph nodes, and lymphocytosis."1 It is more commonly called "mono," or "the kissing disease." When I was thirteen, I caught this dreaded disease, and it changed the ways I acted around my friends forever.

Before I got sick, I never paid attention to my actions. If I was thirsty, I asked any friend for a sip of his/her drink, and I never gave my action a second thought. My group of friends was really close, so we would often share gum with each other: from one mouth to another, and sometimes another. My friends also did a lot of boyfriend/girlfriend swapping, and although I did not participate in this, if one person was infected with anything, within two weeks everyone in the group could have been exposed.

The symptoms of mono are fever, sore throat, and swollen lymph glands. Sometimes, the spleen or liver swell, also. In rare cases, heart problems develop, or the disease affects the central nervous system. Although possible, it is extremely unlikely a person will die from mono. The symptoms usually go away within two months, and although dormant, the EBV stays in the person's throat and blood for the rest of their life.

Having mono was one of the worst experiences of my life. When I first experienced the symptoms, my throat hurt, so I thought I had strep throat. After a few days, I had the worst pain in my abdomen. All I really remember is the intense pain I felt for a few days. It made my throat ache and fever seem trivial. I was also [extremely ] exhausted, and I was asleep in bed almost the whole time I was experiencing the symptoms. I was lucky in that I only experienced symptoms for about a week, and I was back in school after two weeks.

The only way to contract mono is to come into direct contact with infected saliva. It would be extremely difficult to contract the virus through the air or through an infected person's blood.

None of my friends had mono, and no one else at my school contracted it, either. I still have no idea who I got it from or how. The only idea I have is that I drank out of a can or glass that a carrier also drank out of.

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