Infectious Mononucleosis! A Musical Adventure Through the Perilous Land of Illness and Disease

1. Infectious Mononucleosis!A Musical Adventure Through the Perilous Land of Illness and Disease Team Number Three Starring: Lydia L, Christina D, Omar Orozco, Ellie K, Chanelle L, Emily F.

2. Meet the Cast! • Mon O’Nucleosis, played by Omar. • Chanelle, played by Lydia. • ChanEllie, played by Ellie. • Nurse Chanelle, played by Christina. • Doctor Chanelle, played by Emily. • Informative Rock, played by Chanelle.

3. Act One, Scene One • ChanEllie and Chanelle, two innocent lambs, meet in Wilburn’s Classroom. • Suddenly! ChanEllie feels the pangs of thirst gripping at her belly! • Chanelle grabs a mug of Joe. • Mon O’Nucleosis laughs evilly, as he often does.

4. Act One, Scene Two! • Ellie drinks some coffee. • LITTLE DO THEY KNOW... Ellie has been exposed to Mononucleosis! • Mon O’Nucleosis laughs again. It’s what he’s best at.

5. Musical Outburst #1: “How Did This Happen?” (totally not to the tune of “You Drive Me Crazy” by Britney. How did this happen? It just can’t be. Mononucleosis, no, not for me. How did this happen? Did I swap saliva! That’s just not me! Maybe I just drank somebody else’s tea.

6. Brief Intermission

7. End of Intermission Pretty sure we told you it’d be brief.

8. Act Two, Scene One • Chanelle and ChanEllie find themselves FOUR TO SEVEN WEEKS older and suffering from a multitude of symptoms. • Mon O’Nucleosis counts them: CONSTANT FATIGUE, FEVER, SORE THROAT, LOSS OF APPETITE, SWOLLEN LYMPH NODES, HEADACHES, SORE MUSCLES, SKIN RASH, ABDOMINAL PAIN, ENLARGED/SPLEEN LIVER, to name a few.

9. Act Two, Scene Two: Doctor’s Office • The lovely and slightly dazed Nurse Chanelle greets them, asks them to explain their symptoms. • ChanEllie tries to explain, with very little luck and pretty much no elan.

10. Musical Outburst #2: “How Am I Feeling?!” (Not at all similar to “I Gotta Feeling”) How am I feeling? (boo hoo) Like the victim of a rabies shark bite. Like I’m gonna faint tonight. Fatigued like a bear at a bullfight. How am I feelin?! (boo hoo) Like my spleen might explode, is that right? Like my throat burns like nightlight. Like death is in pretty close, close sight. How am I feeling? (boooooo hoooooo)

11. Act Two, Scene Three • Nurse Chanelle doesn’t understand. • Doctor Chanelle takes over, brooding and solemn.

12. Musical Outburst #3: “What’s Yo’ Problem?” (Of no resemblance to “What’s Yo’ Flava?”) What’s Yo’ Problem? Tell me what’s yo’ problem? (What’s yo’ symptoms!?) What’s Yo’ Problem? Tell me what’s yo’ problem? (What’s yo’ symptoms!?)

13. Musical Outburst #3, Part II: “Hot N’ Cold” (okay, fine. This is totally to the tune of “Hot N’ Cold. We’re not even going to try and hide it.) • We’ve got bad fevers, headaches, and sore throats, yeah, we are so tired, you don’t even know, and we do not think this is more than a cold, you should know our fevers come and gooooo. We’re hot and we’re cold, our spleens might explode, our headaches are bad, our lymph nodes are sad, our muscles all ache, we’re barely awake, our consciousness goes and nobody knows. We don’t know what else to say, oh. We hope that these symptoms won’t stay, no. We’ve no diagnosis, what’s your prognosis? Tell us before we infect our friends more.

14. Act Three, Scene One: • The doctor diagnoses the two girls. • Shocked and dismayed, they cry in each other’s arms, desperate for comfort. • The doctor explains methods of treatment.

15. Meanwhile… • The rock is upset at the doctor’s mild incompetence! The doctor completely forgot to mention the fact that it is an Acute Infectious Disease, member of the herpesvirus family, and could REALLY cause their spleens and livers to explode! • Mon O’Nucleosis is still laughing, oblivious to all plots against him.

16. Act Three, Scene Two • The young girls prepare for battle, arming themselves with bed rest, ibuprofen, and a healthier diet.

17. Act Three, Scene Three • The rock is still upset because the doctor forgot to warn them that anyone can get mono, despite it being more prevalent in teens and young adults.

18. Act Four, Scene One • We find Mon O’Nucleosis slowly dying in a chair, having been beaten to death with science. • The girls have regained their strength and returned to work on their health project. • The rock is in Anger Management Classes. • The Nurse is still really nice. • The Doctor has finally won the fight against mono.

19. The End. (Coming To Broadway Fall 2385)

20. References • kidshealth.org • health.howstuffworks.com • herpesdoctor.com • webmd.com • http://www.medicinenet.com/infectious_mononucleosis/page2.htm#3whatare • http://www.health.state.ny.us/diseases/communicable/mononucleosis/fact_sheet.htm

21. QUIZ • TRUE OR FALSE: MONONUCLEOSIS CAN CAUSE SWELLING AND RUPTURE OF THE HEART AND OR LYMPH NODE • HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET INFECTED? • IN WHOM IS MONO MOST COMMON? • IS THERE A DEFINITE MEDICINAL CURE TO MONO? • IS IT POSSIBLE TO GET MONO MORE THAN ONCE?

22. ANSWERS • FALSE: IT CAUSES SWELLING AND RUPTURE OF THE SPLEEN AND LIVER. • FOUR TO SEVEN WEEKS. • EVERYONE IS SUSCEPTIBLE, BUT IS MOST COMMON IN TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS. • THERE IS NO DEFINITE CURE OR PREVENTION METHOD. • YES, IN FACT, ONCE YOU’VE HAD MONO ONCE, YOU’RE MORE LIKELY TO GET IT AGAIN.