Can a 5-year-old get Mono?!!!!

So, we are back to the urgent care clinic again today. Since Saturday, we have had a cycle of fevers, medicine, antibiotics, sleeping, and more fevers. He stayed home from school with his dad on Monday. Tuesday, he seemed okay, so he went to school. I started back to work on Monday, so I was able to spin by on my lunch and give him more Motrin. Today, I probably should have kept him home, but the motrin was working and he didn't seem to have a fever. This afternoon, while I am at a school getting equipment ready, I get a phone call. Is this his Mom? they ask. Because he got up from his nap and he was very upset and went back to sleep on a mat in the office. My son, I say? Beligerant, yes...willing to take naps, no. He must be really sick, I think. Immediately I have mom guilt for sending him to school when he is obviously so ill. Even though he was happy and non-fevered at lunchtime 2 hours before. I'll be right there, I say. When I get to the daycare office, I go in and have an entire 10-minute conversation with the staff, which he sleeps through. I look cautiously at the child on the floor, because there is no way my son would sleep like that. I had to shake him awake and half-drag, half-carry him out to the car. So, back to the clinic we went.

Of course we get a different doctor this time. This one seems to think that my son has mono. Mono, I say? Can a 5-year-old get Mono? He looks at me like I am an idiot. Yes, anyone can get Mono, he says. I am mentally calculating how many days I will have to take off work because I am the parent with paid sick days. But they tested him for that last time, I whine. Well, you know what the chances of the Mono test being accurate on the first day of symptoms are, he asks. I raise my eyebrows. Zero!, he says cheerfully. I am annoyed. Why did they do the test then? To add to my irritation, the blood machine (that is a technical term) is broken today, and they are out of Mono tests. However, they will run the test down to the hospital and call me this very evening, with the re re results of the Mono test. There is one catch. They need his blood. My son starts eyeing the man with the needles and vials with suspicion the second he enters the room. We have had a few experiences with drawing blood, all of them unpleasant. This time will be no different. He starts right out with wailing and thrashing. I get to try out my new wrestling holds while pinning his right arm to the table. He doesn't fall for my attempts to make this procedure seem cool and/or fascinating. Finally, the blood is gone and my son sits sniffling in my lap. The fact that he wants me to comfort him after I have done something seemingly horrible to him baffles me. They send us home, waiting for the phone call that may or may not give us a contagious disease.

When I decide to go to the bathroom at 6:30, they call. The test is negative, they say. I am relieved, even though this test may not mean much. So now we wait for 3-5 days for our other blood tests to come back. The doctor wants him to take another antibiotic, which I am not sure will help at all, considering he told me his white blood cell count was not at all elevated. We will stay home and rest tomorrow, so we can go to work/school on Friday. I am not sure how long this will all last, but I know I better stock up on Motrin.