Our DD became very ill on July 18th starting with fever ranging between 101 - 103, swollen glands, sore throat, headache, etc. Sent her to pedi who said it was just a virus. Did a mono spot test which came back negative. However after 5 days she still had fevers and curled up in a ball. At 19, that caused us extreme concern. Brought her back to pedi who did strep test, negative, checked her liver it was inflamed, ran blood work liver functions came back high, diagnosed non specific hepatitis brought on by viral cause? Hepatitis...that freaked us out. She then started throwing up with the fevers and body ached everywhere along with the other symptoms. Sent us to Children's ER where they were absolutely useless. She was supposed to be admitted according to our pedi because of unspecific diagnosis and high liver enzymes with fever and vomiting and continued swollen glands. They sent her home sick as a puppy at 3 am. Furious the next morning I spoke with her pediatrician who then recommended we see an infectious disease doctor. I called MGH and they gave me a date of August 29th? I asked the girl what she didn't get...daughter couldn't wait until August 29th she had some serious issues going on now. Her answer, I'm sorry that's our first available. If I could have jumped threw the phone and pummeled her I would have. I called instead our local hospital and explained the situation to a secretary who had better judgment skills and she "fit" our DD in the next day for an emergency appt. The doctor was extremely kind and thorough. She had a fever of 103 going in along with everything else, through physical exam her liver and spleen were very inflamed. He ran blood work, liver functions shot up to 386 (40 is normal for her age). His diagnosis...MONO!! He said the problem is that many doctors test once for mono with the mono spot test and if it comes back negative then they dismiss it. If her doctor had retested her just a few days later, especially with the continued fever and inflammation and tiredness, the antibodies to the virus would have been detected at that point. It's August 5th and her fever finally ended on August 3rd. You also should follow up that test with the official Epstein Barre, but that test has to be sent out for specialized testing, and the hospital's like to keep their little samples in their own labs. But he sent it out. Now she's dealing with the fatigue part, feels not so bad and then a couple of hrs later she is dragging herself off to the nearest couch or bed and falls sound asleep and still has some tenderness around the spleen area, but the specialist is checking her on Thursday. He said this phase can last from 1-3 months. So for anyone out there who's teen shows mono symptoms, insist on a follow up mono spot test a week apart if the symptoms still continue. It took three of these tests before the virus showed up as positive including the Epstein Barre actual diagnosis.
I'm disappointed in her doctor failing to recognize the symptoms properly but thankful for the specialist! Time for a grown up doctor I guess, though her pediatrician said she could still see her thru college. You'd think she'd be more familiar with mono and its symptoms if she's working with teens also.
Yes you are right to get a better doctor, as the condition was something a good dr. would have picked up on. Some older dr's don't stay up on the latest technology. You are to be applauded for taking the situation in hand and getting things resolved. I went through it when I was 13 and almost died. There are many other problems such as spinal meningitis that can take the lives of children if fast appropriate action is not taken. Hope she's feeling better soon.
My son suffers from mono. He has a flair up about once per year. Usually not as bad as the initial onset, but most of the same symptoms. The virus is never completely erradicated from the body.
John (USN Ret) and Debbie
The Paw Pack (Freckles, Stinky & Ranger)
'96 Monaco Windsor 36' DP 8.3L Cummins
Ready Brake w/ Demco Excali-bar
'03 Ford Explorer (Toad)
'04 Honda Insight
'04 Volvo S80 AWD
'74 Dart Swinger Drag Car
14' Boat 9.9 Mercury
I always thought mono was just a virus where you sleep a lot. We had even told her doctor that two of her friends had it this summer already. Found out the incubation period is 30-50 days from exposure. So why she wasn't more diligent in confirming it, I'll never know, but in the meantime, she became very, very ill. After researching mono online I learned a lot. The specialist said some people get it with very mild symptoms or don't even realize they have it but unfortunately our daughter developed a more severe case involving the spleen and liver inflammation and constant high fever, swollen glands, nausea from the bile and night sweats, etc. She had every symptom you could think of and it was pretty scary the last few weeks. Until we finally got the infectious disease doctor I had her pediatrician run a test for lyme disease and west nile virus as she'd been down to the Cape where ticks are extremely common and she had quite a few mosquito bites on her legs, so we weren't taking any chances as all the symptoms are so familiar and she was getting sicker and sicker. Thank goodness for a competent, experienced specialist. He even called us Friday night to check on her before he left his office for the weekend. They don't make doctors like that anymore! She sees him again tomorrow so hopefully we'll find out that her liver enzymes etc., have gone down even more. She moves back to the dorm in just a few weeks so we want her healthy and rested before she leaves the nest again!
My 26 year old daughter, who lives with us, had the very same symptoms and we went through a very similar experience. It all started the middle of June with headaches and fevers. After a week of this she went to her doctor's office & saw the nurse practitioner (Her doctor was on vacation). She told her it was a virus and sent her home. On July 2nd my husband & I flew to Oregon to see my son before I have surgery on Friday. I didn't know what to do I was so worried. Do I go see my son or stay home with my daughter? I just stood there and cried. My brother came & picked her up and took her to the hospital that day & we left on our trip. I don't think I could have gone otherwise. I called between flights and 2 or 3 times a day. The hospital ran every test they could and said everything came back negative. We came back on July 7 and she was still very ill with fevers, etc. I called her doctor's office (we have the same doctor) and said she needs to see a doctor now. We can't treat this if we don't know what it is. Her doctor was still on vacation so they fit her in with another doctor. They did blood tests and cultures and came up with the mono diagnosis. She had a very rough time until about last week, when she started feeling a lot better. It just happened overnight. Sometimes she still gets a little tired, but that's because she's started working out at the gym again. Hopefully your daughter will feel lots better soon.
Offline
