MONO!!!!!!

I am proud to announce that I am a survivor of mononucleosis, which is a virus caused by the Epstein Barr Virus- a member of the herpes family... AKA the high school kissing disease.  Being a girl who has not stayed home sick since.... Jr high?!!?!!, I had no idea what the red flag symptoms were before diagnosis.  I knew my body was fighting something intense bc I had a HUGE lymph node for about a week.  I assumed it wasn't lymphatic cancer or leukemia but instead my furiously strong immune system (which has kept me illness-free for years on end) kickin into high gear to fight something intense.  I didn't think much about my sore throat... I figured it was just a minimized symptom of what could have been a horrible illness without my raging white blood cells!   After three days of taking advil and tylenol every 2-4 hours without relief and then curiously glancing at my tonsils to see a similar view as the photo above, I concluded it might be beneficial to the people I work with and my patients if I made sure I wasn't contagious.  So, I headed to the insta-care just to "make sure it wasn't strep" HA!  Little did I know :)  

I will be the first to admit, however, that I LOVED my mono experience.  I could have done without the puking and sore throat.  I could have done without that illogical desire to just end everything even if it took my life.  I could have done without sleeping through the 4th of July....But those things really only lasted a week.  I was quarantine from work but still getting paid. I really didn't have the desire nor energy to plan some exotic vacation or to "take advantage" of time off by doing anything exciting. I spent a solid month reading the Twilight series, watching Prison Break, and sitting at the park, the canyon, or my backyard.  I never stressed about going to bed on time, and I never had to be anywhere at any specific time.  I lived in my shorts and t-shirts, didn't wash my face, rarely put my contacts in, and shoes? never.  I ate popsicles and tortillas all day every day, and only answered the phone if I really felt like it. I was completely devoid of responsibilities! 

Tonight I had tortillas for dinner and with the overflowing memories of my healing food, decided we all need to spend more time in mono mode.  There are too many precious aspects of the world that we miss out on by worrying about sundry unimportant things.  There are too many sun sets missed in rushing from here to there.  I'm not suggesting we drop the concept of responsibility.  It's a good thing.  It's an important thing.  But perhaps we let ourselves "be responsible" about things that don't matter. Life goes on whether we're the one in charge or not.  And usually, it's more fun that way.  So take a day off. Don't use it for traveling or doing "exciting" things. Just eat some tortillas!  It's a beautiful way to live!