C.C.
Wow! I went through a similar scenario with my 9 year old daughter. It started when she was 7. Although usually she did have strep, but then it wound up infecting her tonsils and she would get the spots, really bad fevers, etc. And last summer, during another bout of tonsillitis, the doctor said she had mono. He didn't do bloodwork because he said it is often inconclusive, but it was because her spleen was enlarged which is a sure symptom of mono. Then no sooner did school start then she was sick again with tonsillitis! At that point I asked her pediatrician if perhaps it was time to go to an ENT, and she didn't think so! And I guaranteed her that my daughter would be back in 6-8 weeks because that was how often she was getting sick. Well, it was only 5 weeks and I said "that's it" and took her to an ENT. She got her tonsils and adenoids out in November and has been so much healthier since. (The adenoids were removed because they were enlarged and between them and the tonsils my daughter was snoring and not breathing properly during sleep.) She actually had strep last December (you can still get strep w/o tonsils) but it was barely anything . . . minor pain, no fever. I was actually surprised, but then excited to know that a bout of strep was no longer going to make her so sick.