Starting in mid-March, James began having the chills and aches. Then fevers. No sore throat and no cough. And only mildly annoying.
Toward the end of March, James was cycling through the chills and fevers several times a day and he was beginning to have no energy and no appetite. To the point where he didn't feel like skiing! So I made him a dr. appointment.
Weds Mar 28 - I meet up with James and Lincoln at Dr.B's office and James and Dr.B proceeded to play "20 Questions".
Any sore throat? No
Any sinus pressure? No
Any headaches? Not really
Any coughing? A tiny bit
Any foreign travel? No
Anything food related? Hot dog at the Jazz game
Nausea? No
Diarrhea? No
Dr.B was a bit stumped by the lack of other symptoms, and ordered some tests to look for the cause of James' fevers. Told James to come back if he was feeling worse and that they'd call James if the tests came up with anything that needed attention. (Photo: Lincoln playing on James' sweatshirt on the floor while we wait for James to get his xrays and blood drawn.)
Chest Xray - normal and most of his blood work was normal too - no elevated white blood cells. The things that were outside normal range were just a teeny tiny bit outside, so nothing really definitive.
In the next few days, more fevers. More aches. More chills. Less appetite. Less energy. James still took care of Lincoln in the mornings and made it to class mostly. But just progressively felt worse and worse. I stayed home for a couple extra hours one morning so that James could sleep in a bit and be prepared to play with Lincoln.
Sat Mar 31 - last day of the month, and my turn to work the late (until 9 pm) shift to get the end-of-the-month bills done. James called at about 6, feeling bad enough that he needed help to take care of Lincoln. Just changing a diaper was a long process. Haul Linc to his bedroom. Rest. Put Lincoln on the changing table. Rest. Undo all the clothes. Rest. Change the diaper. Rest. Redo the clothes. Rest. Make it back to the living room. Rest. It is a very good thing that Lincoln is such a good baby!
Any other day of the month I would have left work in a heartbeat. So I tried Kristen - already busy with her in-laws. Finally, I tracked down some help via visit teaching. Sis.Moyle who lives just a bit up the street came and picked up Lincoln for a couple hours until I could get off work. THANK YOU!!! Lincoln was charming and mellow and Sis.Moyle even offered to babysit again in the future. EQ Pres and another neighbor came over to give James a blessing and promised to assign us some Home Teachers.
Mon Apr 2 - A second Dr.Appt. James lost 6 pounds between appointments. Dr.B says James has FUO or Fever of Unknown Origin. More 20 questions. More blood work and a urine sample. Keep up on the liquids, eat, get rest. James had a great question, he asked what the likelihood of this clearing out of his system and going away might be. Dr said, not likely because it has been going on so long now. Sorry James.
James is feeling so run down that we decided to put Lincoln in Day Care for the rest of this week. Give James a chance to rest without worrying about Lincoln and to maybe do some studying when he feels well enough. (Photo: Lincoln after daycare on 4/3/12)
Tues Apr 3 - Dr.B's office called. James has elevated protein in his urine and they'd like to do a 24-hour urine sample. Then Dr.B called.
James has mono. It explains all his symptoms. The virus is active right now, so James is contagious. That means no kissing, no sharing drinks and being very careful around Lincoln (don't let Lincoln put his hands in your mouth). It is a virus, so there is no antibiotic. Just get lots of rest, treat the fevers, try to eat, get liquids and tough it out. No need for the 24-hour urine sample, they'll retest his blood for the viral antibodies in 4 weeks.
During the week, James starts complaining about nausea. His appetite really drops off and he gets to school late and comes home early, when he makes it to class at all. Just getting from the bedroom to the living room is exhausting. When he answers the phone, James sounds miserable. Lincoln survives Day Care and comes home with a cold. Poor baby! (Photo: 4/6/12)
Sat Apr 7 - James has a dry mouth and is not able to drink enough fluids. He basically sleeps all day moving from the bedroom to the couch and back again and not really being comfortable anywhere. He doesn't want to eat anything. In the middle of the night he says he wants to go to an Instacare because he's got all the symptoms of dehydration.
Sun Apr 8 - Happy Easter! - We take James to the Instacare. He gets anti nausea meds and an IV and 3 bags of fluids. Dr.checks his lymph nodes (normal) and checks his abdomen for any liver or spleen enlargement (normal). They also take blood to check on his liver function and sodium/potassium levels. Nothing out of the ordinary for someone with Mono. Dr. recommends 'salty' fluids like chicken broth and gatorade for the rest of today. Tomorrow, bump it up to chicken noodle soup and keep working on getting enough fluids.
Lincoln is a very good boy; he plays on the floor, smiles at everyone who comes into the room and enjoys the wheelchair ride out to the car on James' lap. He still has a serious booger nose and congestion, but he eats and sleeps well. We decide to keep him in Day Care for the rest of the semester so that James can concentrate on getting better and studying and getting to class. Kristen doesn't work every Friday, so she'll watch him on her Friday's off and I took Wednesdays off. So Linc will only be in daycare 3 days a week. We really wanted one of his grandmas to come stay with us for a month, wouldn't that have been fun!
Tues Apr 17 - Update - James is feeling much better after his Instacare rehydration. He didn't go to school that Monday, but has gone every day since. He didn't miss any tests and his instructor basically said that Mono wasn't James' fault and not to worry about making up time.
We borrowed a recliner from my grandparents (THANK YOU!) so he has more variety for resting than just the bed and the couch. It is a bit too short for sleeping, James' feet stick off the end quite a bit.
Some days are better than others. James is starting to get an appetite, he hasn't had a fever in a few days and hasn't had a problem with drinking fluids - except that water is boring and he's tired of gatorade. James even watched Lincoln on Friday morning because both Kristen and I had to work. They survived! (Photo: 4/12/12)
We figure that total recovery will be slow, but I'm encouraged by the difference in his energy levels already. The next blood test will be early in May and hopefully he'll be out of the contagious stage by then!
We're grateful for all the prayers and all the help we've received while James has been sick. We're grateful that James will recover and especially grateful that Lincoln and I seem to have missed out on this one.
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