My six year old son was sent home from school Friday with a sore throat, nausea, and wheezing (he has been recovering from bronchitis, finishing up an antibiotic). At the doctors office, the doctor said his throat was really red and so she tested for strep and mononucleosis.
He came back positive for the mono but not the strep. She told me that he can go back to school 24 hours fever free, but no recess or contact sports for 3 weeks, due to complications with enlarged spleens from mono.
Here is my dilemma...yesterday he had a low fever of 100...today Sunday no fever so far. He has not once complained of a sore throat sense we left the doctor's office, and he is eating drinking just fine. He is tired though, just laying around drawing and watch a little tv off and on...and will go to bed early on his own before his bedtime and sleep in much later than his normal wake up.
So, my question...do I send him to school sense he is "fever free" with no recess/PE. Or do I keep him home a few days to rest up and then send him back? He is in Kinder and this is the last week before the Holiday break...so he will mostly just miss a lot of arts and crafts (his teacher sent a note that she was just planning a fun week learning about the different winter holidays and no reading groups this week).
He is no longer on an antibiotic...is using the nebulizer 3x a day, taking a steroid and singular...and the doctor wants to see him again tomorrow (Monday afternoon for a recheck of the cough/respiratory issues).
My husband who is never sick, says just send him and not "baby" him. But I am not sure...help me other wise mamas.
I kept him home...and will look into him returning Friday for the class party. The doctor at our follow up appointment today, suggested returning Thursday...as he is not running a fever. Today he just laid on my bed and watched whatever I put on tv for him...didn't even care what it was...
The doctor at this point seems more concerned with his continued wheezing. She wants to see him again on Friday afternoon.
Thanks everyone!!
I think that if he is lacking in energy then he is better off at home resting , I would keep him off tomorrow and see the Dr as scheduled and see what his energy levels are like , if he is moving around and being normal then send him tuesday , an extra day of rest will do him good and you don't want a relapse and then risk him being sick for Christmas.
As a teacher and a parent, I would keep him home - his immune system is low and the possibilty of him catching something else is high.
My daughter had mono in the third grade. It really knocked her for a loop. Even after her fever was gone, she still was really tired and needed to sleep a lot. I got work for her to do at home and just kept her inside and down until her energy came back. She was a very energetic child and it was obvious when she was truly feeling better and back to herself.
At this age, I don't see any reason to try to rush things. It can take a while to get strength back.
I would keep your son home and know that he'll likely be back to his normal self when school resumes after vacation.
Best wishes.
Hey Mama
I had Mono a few years ago, and I can tell you I was dead on my feet for many days. The doctor gave me a course of steroids, becaue my throat was so swollen I could not eat or drink anything!
I say keep him home until he can stay away during shool hours. Ask the teacher to send homework home for him to do here.
By the time January rolls around, he will be back to normal.
Good Luck
R. Magby
My son had mono twice, once in sixth grade and then again in eighth grade. I kept him home for at least two weeks to rest. My son only ran a low grade fever as well but he needed to rest. I know you don't want him to miss school but If you think about it with Christmas coming they probably aren't doing much as far as introducing new work. So I would ask for work from the teacher and let him rest. It really is important for him to rest to recover fully. I also know that the spline is enlarged with mono so my son was not permitted to participate in gym or any sports activities for a while until his spline was okay. Check with your doctor about that as well!!
If it were me I would keep him home this week.
Hope he gets to feeling better soon.
I'd keep him home for a few more days. Mono is exhausting. Let him rest.
I personally have had mono twice (which is rare, you are only suppose to get it once) once when I was six, and once when I was twenty. I was always tired and the more I tried to do, the worse I felt. Although it seemed to hit me harder when I was older. I'd keep him home. Any activity at school isn't going to be much fun for him if he is not feeling well. Maybee you could find out what activities they will be doing in class and re-create them in a week or so when he is feeling better and is more rested. Not to mention it is very contagious, and probably better for other kids if he was not in the classroom.
Hope he feels better soon!
My daughter had mono when she was 13 years old. It really ran her down and took her quite awhile to get over. From what you are saying your son is still run down. I would guess that just the effort of getting up and getting ready and off to school would be exhausting for him and probably a couple of hours into school he would be wiped out. Keep him home and let his body heal. I don't think you would be babying him at all. His immune system is low right now and if you push it too quickly who knows what other ailments he could wind up getting, especially this time of year! Good luck.
I would keep him home. I had mono when I was 19 and I was out of work for a month! I was a pre school teacher at the time and they had to hire a temp. sub until I could work again. I was in bed that whole month too. Not up and doing things. I was in so much pain I couldn't even swallow my pain meds. I hope he feels better soon!
Mono is a virus so an antibiotic is not going to help. As a matter of fact it will compromise his immune system. Viruses respond to different things. A digestive enzyme will help. We keep Virostop by Enzymedica in our house to ward off things that we feel coming on. It helped when my husband contracted chicken pox last summer and it warded off the H1N1 when I was exposed.
Mono is terribly dangerous to your little one. His spleen is at risk and I say keep him home....if he had to repeat a grade it would be better than the consequences of overexertion with Mono. Your son can not articulate how weak he feels but it is debilitating. I normally don't push an issue but with this, please err on the side of caution.
God bless,
M.
This may be too late, but I'd say err on the side of caution. I'm a grandma of one 18 month old grandson who seems to pick up every virus at his preschool! When my daughter when young, she did not get so sick at that age. However, before she started kindergarten she had a positive TB test(?). Then she immediately came down with mono (this was 1983); later that fall she had chicken pox that went into pneumonia! So she missed quite a bit of school, but there were no problems from it. Health is something not to take for granted; if he feels better enough by the end of the week, maybe he can attend the party for an hour or two.
Home! If he is tired and lacks energy at home, he will be tired and not able to do much at school.
Let him sleep a lot and re-evaluate in 2 days. If he is pushed back too soon, he could be sick for Christmas......bad news.
mom made me suck on pickles and I hate pickles. I say send him he would have fun with crafts and you will have special christmas deco that way. and with no fever he is not contagioius
I had mono at age 10. I missed a week of school, then went back to school for half-days for 3 weeks. I missed PE and all sports for a total of 6 weeks. Mono completely knocks you on your behind and, if you don't take good care of yourself during that recovery period, you can relapse. I'd let him rest. Sounds like he's not missing much at school.
I really can't believe the dr. would tell you he can go back to school so soon =( I had mono when I was 18 and was literally in bed for weeks. even after I started getting up and doing things again, I was still very run-down and couldn't do much before I had to rest again.
Make sure your dr. orders an ultrasound to check on his spleen. The most dangerous complication of mono is your spleen rupturing, so it's very important for the dr. to keep an eye on it.
i would send him back. being fever free for twenty four hrs means he is not contagious to others (if i understood that correctly). even though its only little fun crafts and arts its great to get a break from the "hard" work at school and allow some fun time also. this helps kids realize school can be a fun place too. so my vote is to send him to school. i would tell his teachers about the recess/pe. good luck. glad your little one is feeling better.
I am both a teacher and a mother. I would keep him home. My sister had mono, and she was out of school for weeks. I can't imagine that your son would be feeling up to school after only a day fever free (regardless of whether or not he is contagious)!
I was absolutely miserable when I had mono. See how he is doing in the morning, but if he can afford to miss school for another day or two it might be worth it...
Poor kid. I hoe he feels better soon.
I wouldn't do it! I would have him miss this entire week and then he can rest more over Christmas break. His immune system is already compromised. He will be susceptible to all kinds of other germs floating around the classroom. Any little illness could end up being much more serious for him right now. If it's anything like my child's class, they are ALL sick right now!! Literally. Not to mention, I would not take the chance of exposing other kids right before Christmas. I would bet he could still be contagious. I'm surprised the doctor seems so lax about it. Mono's a pretty lengthy illness. See if you can get some supplies from the teacher and work on them at home to keep him busy. I hope the recovery is easy for you guys!
