My son was diagnosed with mono one week ago. The first five days he just slept, had a fever, headache, etc. Two days ago the headache and fever were gone, but glands and tonsils are still slightly swollen. We’re hoping it is a mild case and he hasn’t missed too much coursework. The dilemma is spring break for him starts in one week, and he has a house rented with 10 other people and is planning on attending if he feels like he does now. He knows he cannot drink (due to liver issues with mono- he is legal age). However, I’m trying to talk him out of it. I’m envisioning a relapse, knowing he has a tendency to push himself too much. Am I being silly? Most of the articles on the internet deal with more severe cases, so maybe he really will be fine, but I can’t help but feel it’s an unnecessary risk. Any advise pro or con would be appreciated. Thanks!
I highly recommend him laying low and not attending. He will hate that advice, be upset, etc. I would have too. In fact I did when I was his age. Had mono which developed in to meningitis (viral) which required me to miss a semester of school. The challenge with most kids is they don’t know how to take it easy and error on the side of caution.
If he attended and assuming he stayed strong (no drinking), he would still get very fatigued just by all the staying up late. Mono takes a long time to truly recover. Some say the virus never really leaves you, just goes dormant but lowers your overall resilience.
@Sue1915 as a HS senior newly diagnosed with mono four decades ago, (and with no pesky internet around for my parents to look up any facts or information about mono) I went ahead and played in a tennis tournament the next day with no ill effect. Unlike your son, I wasn’t tired, had no headaches, and only symptom were the moderately swollen glands that the doctor noticed when I was in for an unrelated check up. If I hadn’t felt fine, I wouldn’t have played. Given what I know now, I was an idiot back then, though certainly a lucky idiot. As a parent, if my son came down with mono, slept in for 5 days, and then wanted to risk a relapse and missing the rest of the semester so he could go off on spring break, I’d shut him down so fast his head would spin.
Two weeks is pushing it. You can feel the affects for 4 to 6 weeks. I would highly recommend against.
hmmm Being silly, uh no. First let me step back and ask - what are the plans - is it a ski house, by the beach, in the woods…what will they be doing besides drinking? Ok, so now that I appeared open minded, let me tell you what I really think…Ten college kids in a house, what’s the worry? (lol) What are the chances he is going to sit quietly and read, play video games or relax in any way while those around him do other things like have crazy fun? Ya, that’s about zippo. His spleen is still susceptible (that lasts awhile) for rupture, is no one gonna accidentally jump on him or run into him while wrestling around? (ok maybe paranoid, but something he should be aware of). My D went through mono and it can hang on and drag on. And you can start getting better then feel miserable again if you go to hard too fast. My guess is part of the feeling better is because he wants to go on the trip. I am with @rickle1 on this one and what @tdy123 said in the last sentence. It sucks, but you are taking him off the hook and he may feel relieved by you making the decision for him. I think the temptation would just be too great to push himself too hard. He may be the best kid in the world, but watching everyone else have fun doing things, while he can’t, well that would be torture for anyone. He is 21+ (unless lower drinking age where you are) and while it is hard to tell them what to do, he is sick and needs to be a grown up and accept the reality (and risks) of it.
My D had mono a year ago while studying abroad and tried the just keep going thing. First week she thought it was a cold. Second week on antibiotics which of course didn’t help a virus. She was traveling for her birthday, just getting sicker. Third week, finally diagnosed as mono by blood test. She had a somewhat enlarged spleen, her liver enzymes were off, and the clinic called in a specialist to look at her severely swollen/abscessed throat. It was scary. She was in bed and on a liquid diet for another week before things began to improve. We saw her another couple of weeks later, much better and back in classes but definitely not full strength.
Mono also remains contagious for quite a while if I recall correctly.
I’d strongly suggest he stay home and rest and recover.
Completely agree with the other posters not to mention he is probably still contagious.
You don’t mention his fatigue level. It’s only been a week and he slept 5/7 of that week. The initial symptoms of fever, swollen tonsils etc. may fade while fatigue worsens for awhile. It can be debilitating fatigue or, as you say, sometimes the case is mild. He cannot really tell yet which way his mono is going to go, I would think.
I am with others in saying it would be wise to tell him not to go. If he is over 18 you can’t stop him I guess, but hope he listens.
The thing about mono is that it really works out better in the long run if you give in to it. Fighting the fatigue for some short term fun may only prolong the illness.
If he wants to return to school after break, he really may NEED to rest. On the other hand , if those 10 days in the sun with friends is important, you could tell him he can choose that over returning to school!!! 
The contagion issue is important as well.
Agree with others – not a good idea for him or the others who will be there. Effects of mono can last for months.
Thank you everyone for your comments! It is helpful to hear that I am not being an overprotective mom worrying about this.
I’m late, but also agree to staying home and resting. It took almost 6 weeks for me to be back to 100% when I had a “mild” case of mono. Mono can also leave you susceptible to picking up other illnesses. A house with 10 other college students just isn’t a good idea. (I got scarlet fever a month after I recovered from mono).
I forgot to mention this and maybe worth sharing with him. While missing a semester, I wanted to visit because I missed my friends. My parents were against it but I was persistent, claimed I was recovered, etc. Can’t believe they let me go. Anyway, just went for a weekend for some big party they were throwing. Something about the noise, the pace, the whole atmosphere had me worn out quickly. I was miserable. Headache came back. Pretty much stuck in that environment for a weekend and hated it. I’m 54 and still remember how miserable I was while everyone else was having the time of their lives around me.
my S got mono in 2016; i have a thread on CC about it. Then, a month later my 13 yo got it. 
My first thoughts are 1) how long is he infectious? Find that out before anything else. 2) Is he caught up with grades/course work and projects? 3) think about the spring break plans; and see if there are any alternatives or compromises. Can he go for just a few days later in the week? Driving or flying? 4) will he lose out on any money? 5) Does he really want to go feeling miserable? If it were me, I wouldn’t give an auto NO - but i’d look at those things first.
When my son was sick, he missed a week of school, then went to classes when he could, slowly recovered over a few weeks; and ended up with a 4.0 for the semester. It’s not all or nothing with recovering - you can still go to classes, hang with friends, watch sporting events, and have very mild fun . . . just no drinking or exertion; and lots of sleep.
D1 had a mild case of mono while in college. She only went to classes and no going out for few months. If D1 had asked me if she could on a spring break vacation with her sorority, I would have said no, but she wouldn’t have asked.
The no exertion is a big deal. Remember these are kids. Not so easy to not exert yourself when that’s happening all around you. Best way to ensure no exertion is to remove yourself from that environment.
This is a temporary thing. None of it is life and death if he misses the trip. The best way to make sure it’s as temporary as possible is to treat it with the respect it deserves or it will drag on unnecessarily. That would be a shame.
Based on my experience when my kid has something similar to mono and was out of commission for a loooong time…
He would be crazy to go off with his friends. He should go home and recoup. He must have some school work to do, but even beyond that, the rest thing is serious.
If he runs himself into the ground on this trip, his semester will be a disaster.
Our daughter came down with it and just walking left her winded for a month after. She is one to push on and push through, but this was pretty brutal and she rested a lot, felt tired and her abdomen felt tender at times. It is nothing to mess around about.
It’s a pretty helpless place as a parent of (so-called) adult children. We can tell them, forward them all the information, but in the end, they need to make the best decision for themselves. I hope he heeds your advice and it doesn’t get passed around that house.
If I remember correctly infectious period is 3 weeks although not sure how they define the beginning since diagnosis timeline varies.
Two of my children contracted mono freshman year, one with strep infection and other with severe tonsillitis. They both needed steroids to reduce swelling, weeks of sleep, semi-liquid diet, lots of cleaning and laundry to keep roommates healthy.
The reason college students get mono is due to their close living conditions and terrible sleep habits/run down immune systems. I would not expose the rest of the rental party to mono or your son to other viruses or bacteria while he has mono. Try telling him it’s to protect his friends.
I am sure you can get the doctor to tell your son - no spring break trip - you need to rest. It might be easier for him to listen to a medical professional instead of a parent.
My daughter came down with mono in her freshman year of college. The college had a very demanding curriculum, so the only way she was going to get the rest she needed was to reduce her course load. That worked, though because the course she dropped was mandatory for her program, this set her back so that she eventually needed an extra summer to complete all graduation requirements.
Mono is serious. No time to party or plan on an exciting week with your pals.
I wish your son well, but you need to set down a rule here.