baseball after mono

Your bio says your son is a 2019.  Is he going to be playing in college?  If so, my priority would be that he's as healthy and strong going into September, thus would not rush back his return in June.

wow, I was just about to post this question.

My 2022 is having a blood test today to determine if he has mono. 

Obviously will take advice from our doctor, but I think we're looking at the end of July. With the biggest concern being a ruptured spleen.

I’m not sure other experiences can offer more than encouragement or discouragement. Each person’s medical situation is their own. I wouldn’t follow any advice other than from his doctor. If I didn’t like the advice I would seek a second opinion from a doctor familiar with treating athletes (or was one himself).

I know from a close friend whose son came back his sophomore year too early that once it is there it is there.  He got it during basketball and came back for playoffs a week early.  He got sick and missed the first several weeks of baseball.  He got some version of mono every year until after he graduated.  I know of several others that it took several years to completely beat because your immune system is weakened.  If he is playing college, he needs to take 6 weeks to heal rather than just 4.  No reason to risk it.

The complications of mono are serious.  Your spleen and/or liver can and would likely be enlarged with a mono diagnosis. Therefore, rupture can happen spontaneously with activity or injury. You should consult a doctor for a second opinion on your son's case if you do not like the advice. I think you will find that this is fairly standard medical advice. His return to baseball is not relevant to how he is feeling currently.  

If you are a RH batter, may as well just paint a target on your side....

Agree with RJM above.  In my own personal situation with mono my senior year, spring time.....I missed a week of school and was back running track (distance) the next week.     I do hear stories of people out of commission for weeks and weeks.....I guess I was lucky.  

Son came down with it a few months ago in March, the middle of his Freshman college season. Team doctor put him out for 4 weeks period (spleen was enlarged), no lifting, no throwing, nothing over 5lbs. Pretty disappointing first year, and since it was past midpoint of season, medical redshirt was off the table. Doctor did release him after 5 weeks, and he played a few games at the end of the year, and now playing Legion for the summer. He is just now getting back to full strength, and velocity is getting close to where it was when he went out. Doctor told him at the beginning that this could be anywhere from a month to several months, it varies. 

There is always a silver lining. Being out that time allowed him to finish very strong academically, they say the freshman year is the worst.   

I am not qualified to offer medical advice so don't think what I post is in any way intended to do that, but most of the above posts above must be somewhat disheartening for you.  There are definitely degrees of severity with mono and hopefully your  son recovers more quickly than some of the boys referenced above.  My HS Freshman son was diagnosed with the flu, strep throat, and mono about 2 weeks after his team started practice this year.  They did check the spleen which was not enlarged.  He was told to sit out for a week, which was probably as much for the flu as the mono.  His only instructions were to shut it down if he felt fatigued.  We made the coach aware of the diagnosis and he left my son out of the more strenuous activities for an additional week after he returned, but my son was able to participate fully in all other areas of practice with no fatigue.  2 weeks after his diagnosis he went back to full participation and had no ill effects for the remainder of the season.  

It obviously sounds like your son's case is worse than my son's, but try to stay optimistic.  Hopefully the effects won't be as bad or as long-lasting as some of the cases discussed in this thread.  Good luck to your son.

Did a search, as my 2020 son was diagnosed this week.  It has thrown a definite wrench into our Sumer plans. We were scheduled to fly to Atlanta the next day for WWBA.  At this point, I thinking we should just shut him down for summer.  He is a pitcher, so he would need to ramp back up and there’s not much left in terms of tournaments then.  My question is Jupiter. Since he will effectively miss the summer is Jupiter important? We had planned to skip it and shut him down but now feeling that we might need to reconsider. 

If you don't throw this summer and not committed then fall ball and Jupiter is vital.  If you take off the summer, then play some to gear up for Jupiter and then shut down. 

He is committed. He did well at the National  a few weeks ago.  Had several Scours text him asking for his WWBA schedule.  Had to tell everyone he wasn’t playing.  We are going back and forth between whatever happens, happens and we need to plan for Jupiter.

I agree with others' advice to get actual medical advice (which I am not qualified to give), but one thing that did occur to me:  Colleges bring kids from all over and put them in confined spaces (classrooms, dorms, etc.).  One usually sees a lot of colds among students and teachers when everyone returns to campus from breaks, bringing lots of new viruses with them.  Before my kid headed off to that oversized petri dish, I'd want to make sure his immune system was up to snuff.  Allowing for a full recovery from mono (whatever your son's doctor recommends to allow that to happen) certainly seems like a good idea. 

My son is 3+ weeks in (symptoms started 6/5). By all accounts he's had a  mild case. That's according to blood tests and how he's been feeling. Doctor gave him clearance to walk around a bit and have a catch at the 2.5 week mark. Hoping at his next checkup at the 4 week mark he'll give him clearance to return to full activity. At that point he'll get back in the gym, and regular practice. Without setbacks looking at end of July before he's back in a game. 

My son is now 4.5 weeks in, feeling great, doctor's visit early next week that will hopefully declare him eligible to resume activity.  I've read a lot about mono and atheletes now, here are the two keys:

- with mono, the spleen might be enlarged, and could rupture upon impact or pressure on abdomen (as from sit-ups).  (as a side note, I found an article about a kid who, after mono, was in the batting cage and got hit in the side by an errant ball and his spleen ruptured).  But, unless someone took an ultrasound of the spleen before the mono began (which never happens), there is NO real way to know when and how much it is enlarged after the mono begins.  What they do know is that over 90% of ruptured spleen cases happen in the first four weeks after the start of symptoms, which is why they recommend sitting out for 4 weeks. 

- the other issue with mono is feeling tired; I know when I had it (as an adult) I could barely walk for about 6 weeks, then it just went away.  But, if you're not feeling tired, then you're not - so, that part of it depends on how you feel, not so much on what a doctor can tell you.  I'm guessing that my son will discover that not exercising for a month will take a while to ease back into things, not so much for the mono per se, but from a conditioning point of view.

I agree with the germs thing at college, although germs are everywhere!  But if it had to happen, these four weeks have been about the best time, with no school or other obligations.

Rough timing for baseballHS's son - but I assume your question regarding Jupiter is about the draft?

anotherparent posted:

I'm guessing that my son will discover that not exercising for a month will take a while to ease back into things, not so much for the mono per se, but from a conditioning point of view.

Very true. But for the young, so much easier than for us old folks...