Things Mono Is Teaching Me

I have learned more than I ever really wanted to know about mononucleosis in the last few weeks so I thought I'd share. Who knows? You might even find it interesting!

1. 95 percent of adults in America have had mono and once you have had it you are immune to it. If you have it as a child, you may not have any symptoms. (Web MD)


2. Once you have had mono, it can become active again without causing any symptoms and when it is active it can be spread to others. (Web MD)


3. The older you are, the longer it takes to get better. I am very old.


4. You shouldn't get a massage if you have a fever or infection of some kind. I got a massage on Friday, thinking it would help stimulate my immune system but I felt much worse afterward and after reading up on it I realized why. When you have a fever, your body is trying to isolate and destroy the infection. Massage stimulates circulation which is the opposite of isolation. (Check out this link about when not to massage.)


5. It is important to not 'push it' when you have mono but laying around all of the time isn't going to make you better so do what you can when you can.


6. I am leaving this bout of illness with some new insights about chronic illness that I hope I will use in the coming years. A few of those insights are:  a. People with chronic illness need their friends to stay in touch with them. We all tend to be 'out of sight, out of mind' so we must rely on the Holy Spirit's prompting. b. People with chronic illness don't need advice. They probably have more information than you do about their illness. c. Bringing a meal is always nice. Just because you are too tired to cook doesn't mean you want to order pizza again. d. People with chronic illness are tired of talking about their illness.

There, that's about it. I think I can get well now.



P.S. After re-reading this post, I noticed a couple ironies. First, it probably would have been helpful for me to have someone give me the advice, 'don't get a massage', before last Friday so point 6b isn't always applicable. (Smirk) Second, apparently point 6d isn't always true since I am posting about it AGAIN. Hmmm, maybe it would be better to say 'let people with chronic illness bring up their illness because most of the time they are tired of talking about it.'