My Mono Story

Mono, or Mononucleosis if we are getting technical, is one of those sicknesses that I forgot about after high school. I have always been aware that sharing food and drinks and kissing random strangers was not advised because of spreading germs but mono has never really been one of those things I worried about having.You'd think that I would have assumed something pretty severe was going on in my body after feeling sick for more than two months. I came to Europe at the end of August and was sick for the better part of November and December. I kept thinking it was just my immune system being down from traveling so much. I'd travel on the weekend, spend all week in bed resting and shoving greens down my throat, then would start to feel a bit better and then complete the routine the next weekend.

When I Started REALLY Feeling Bad

In November, I traveled almost every weekend. I continued to feel progressively worse. I started feeling horribly awful in Copenhagen one night after drinking too much (sorry, Mom and Dad). It started with a bad sore throat and really swollen glands. I was also extremely tired. The sore throat and swollen glands continued once I got home and by the time I went to Lisbon the next weekend, it hurt to talk, it hurt to eat, my gland were so so so swollen, and I could barely stay up past 7PM. Silly me thought it was strep throat or at worse, tonsillitis. As you might have seen in my Lisbon vlog, I went to the medical clinic in Lisbon and the doctor told me it's probably a bacterial infection and prescribed me Amoxicillin. I happily complied because at that point, I'd do anything to feel better....not my best decision.The next couple of days in Lisbon consisted of me sleeping a lot, waking up almost ever hour to drink more water, having terrible night sweats (pretty sure I had a fever but it never phased me). I tried to push through and see some of the beautiful sights Lisbon had to offer but I was pretty miserable. By the time I got back to Belgium, it was the last week of classes and I skipped all of them because I physically couldn't get out of bed. Thankfully this debilitating exhaustion only lasted for about a week because man oh man it was not fun. Oh, I also couldn't breath out of my nose which made my throat a million times drier and more painful.

Time to Get a 2nd Opinion

I ended up going to a general practitioner in Leuven by the end of this week because obviously the medicine wasn't working...I still was convinced I just had a really bad case of strep throat. She ended up drawing blood and a few days later (the day my parents came! And I started noticing a rash on my body) she called and said that I tested positive for "the kissing disease." Alas, answers! And I was towards the end of the sickness so that's good but thanks to the amoxicillin, I had a whole other storm coming for me.Apparently when amoxicillin reacts with the mono (which is common because mono is commonly misdiagnosed for strep throat), you body breaks out in a full body rash. Any type of skin condition freaks me tf out especially when it's on my body. (Pictures below of the progression...they aren't pretty) It was one of the scariest and most helpless feelings to see your body with the external reaction to being sick. Everyday, I'd wake up with more hives that were bigger and reader. My entire body was so hot yet so cold at the same time. It kept getting worse for about 4 days and then slowly got better. I am so incredibly thankful I was with my parents for this because, my god, it was hard to go through and they let me rest and took care of me...just like old times :)I tried to condense these last two hellish months because I'm not here to complain or for your pity but rather to share so others can be reminded that mono is very much still a thing but also because it taught me a lot about myself.

What I Learned

Being sick for such an extended period of time and feeling like I had no energy yet still going, doing, and staying busy taught me that rest is nonnegotiable. My health is my number one priority and I let go of that priority last semester. Sleep and just slowing down and not doing anything does wonders for your mental AND physical health. It also taught me how much I take my health for granted. I felt a deep sense of love and appreciation for my body in those weeks of healing.The whole full body rash thing really threw me for a loop. On one hand, it made me feel so bad to actually see just how sick I was. There was no hiding it. I felt so bad for letting my health get to this place (I know mono is kinda one of those things you can't do anything about but still, I felt bad). It was sad looking at my body in the mirror and being scared of what I saw. But it also taught me that I am so much more than my physical appearance. I had a full body rash that as my Dad likes to say, made me look like a raspberry, yet I was still me. My inner being doesn't change even though my outer body might. As someone who has dealt with body image issues, this was healing in a sense and allowed me to foster a deeper connection and love for my body.Being sick isn't fun. But the last two and a half months of healing, I feel, have been really important for this journey that I'm not. It quite literally forced me to slow down and reflect. Shift my priorities, figure out my non-negotiables, and let go of what is no longer serving. Pretty fitting for the start of a new year.I have so much admiration for people living with chronic illnesses. I think so often we forget how delicate and fragile our health is. I wake up grateful everyday for my health. I am grateful for the two+ months that I dealt with mono. Health is so much more than eating your greens and meditating. Health is about listening to your body and constantly healing and loving it.Today I am grateful for my health. I am grateful to have woken up with energy this morning. And I am grateful for you.