When your college age child is sick

[rlk]

They took x-rays and said it was viral. His long-time pediatrician (he hasn't switched yet) said if it is viral, no antibiotics. She did say he should see improvement in a day or two, if not, straight back to the ER.

He finally found a CVS that had Tamiflu in stock. Although he got a Tamiflu prescription at his pediatrician was able to call it in. A friend picked it up for him. I'm hoping it helps because his fever hit 103.4 earlier today. He did call a little while ago and said he was ordering tacos. I'm taking that as a good sign.

 

[McKelly]

This is so hard. Full disclosure - when my 22 year old moved 1300 miles away for a job after college I checked airlines EVERYDAY for two weeks to make sure there were flights available same day if I needed to get there in a hurry becasue she was ill or hurt. Of course, I would only admit that on a message board where I am anonymous.

 

[rlk]

This is so hard. Full disclosure - when my 22 year old moved 1300 miles away for a job after college I checked airlines EVERYDAY for two weeks to make sure there were flights available same day if I needed to get there in a hurry becasue she was ill or hurt. Of course, I would only admit that on a message board where I am anonymous.

If it weren't for my husband stopping me, I would have been on a flight this morning. We balance each other.

 

[Southernmiss]

This is so hard. Full disclosure - when my 22 year old moved 1300 miles away for a job after college I checked airlines EVERYDAY for two weeks to make sure there were flights available same day if I needed to get there in a hurry becasue she was ill or hurt. Of course, I would only admit that on a message board where I am anonymous.

Something I would do, too! If I thought of it.

Checked in with my son to see how he feels. He said still pretty sick and I have a presentation by zoom at 5.

I asked 'Did you take anything? '. He said, 'Oh, good idea.' 'I just took Dayquil.'

Umm helloo. 'You are in your final semester of becoming a pharmacist' lol.

To which he replied, 'Do as I say, not as I do.'

Lol

My first text this morning- 'Get some daytime and nighttime cold and flu meds.'

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Something I would do, too! If I thought of it.

Checked in with my son to see how he feels. He said still pretty sick and I have a presentation by zoom at 5.

I asked 'Did you take anything? '. He said, 'Oh, good idea.' 'I just took Dayquil.'

Umm helloo. 'You are in your final semester of becoming a pharmacist' lol.

To which he replied, 'Do as I say, not as I do.'

Lol

My first text this morning- 'Get some daytime and nighttime cold and flu meds.'

That, "do as I say" made me and my DD laugh. DD is a pharmacist, she Graduated from UT(TN) PharmD program in 2018.

Hope he is feeling better soon.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

It's definitely scary! My son went to college 2500 miles away. He had several visits to the health center for strep, a sprained wrist and flu. This past April, during his last semester, was the worst. He got his 2nd Covid vaccine on a Wednesday. On Thursday evening, he called me and said he was feeling horribly nauseous. He called again after he threw up...the first time. I told him I would keep my phone on all night and he could call or text me if he needed to. He texted each time he threw up, which I think was three more times. I texted his roommate's mom who texted her son for updates. She only lives about 30 miles from the campus. I felt better knowing she was ready to drive down there at a moment's notice if need be. We still don't know if it was a reaction to the vaccine or something like food poisoning. It seemed more like food poisoning, but the timing of the vaccine made us suspicious. He got his booster a few weeks ago (he's about to start work at a school) and did fine with it.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Parenting… not easy!
Good health and safe times to All the students..

 

[indimom]

Completely understand. I took my sister's boyfriend to the ER in college after my sister called and asked me to check on him. (She went to one college, her BF and I went to another college.) He was feverish and looked terrible: he had an abscess in his throat. They lanced it in the ER before it obstructed his airway, and kept him a few days on antibiotics. As an adult, I realize how scary that was. As a young adult, we really didn't get it.

Neither of my kids have been terribly sick since heading out on their own. But, DD called me from four hours away, shaking voice, saying she'd been in an accident on the interstate. She was fine, but broken down, and completely shaken. Thank God for cell phones. I was able to just talk her through the things she should be doing in an attempt to calm her down.
Are your hazard lights on? No. Turn them on.
Did you pull off the road. No. The car won't drive. (YIKES!) Is your seatbelt on? Yes. Ok. That's good.
Where is the other car? Right behind me, it looks destroyed. Do they have their hazards on? Yes. And, she's talking on her phone too. Good, just banged up cars, no one is hurt.
What's traffic like? They're backed up and slowly going around us. OK, now I feel better, she's not going to get hit again by someone flying by at 80mph.
Then we just talked about what happened while we waited on the police, and the tow truck, and a friend who was going to pick her up and take her back to campus, and all figured out the logistics with her car.
I was very happy no one was hurt; and, it was a good learning experience for her in the long run. But. OY, not being able to go help, was rough.

 

[mrs. magoo]

It is tough. Earlier this Fall mine who is 3 hours away was sick for 10 days. She had 3 negative Covid tests and finally was diagnosed with RSV. I would call her daily and sometimes multiple times to check in on her. She was given an antibiotics for probable strep and was allergic to them so that was an additional few days. She powered through but as a mom it was tough to not be there.
ETA: She is my dramatic one and sometimes I am not sure if she is actually sick or being drama filled. She was actually sick for all 10 days but played lacrosse. She is also my one who has some struggles with mental health issues so I was a nervous wreck until I knew she was back to full strength.

 

[mamamary]

Hope he feels better soon. Luckily none of mine ever got really sick in college. Dd had COVID but during winter break so she was home.

 

[rlk]

Last evening my son said his fever spiked to 103.7. He said the ER told him 104.1 was when he should return. Thankfully, it didn't get to that point. He took medicine and a cool shower instead of a bath because he was worried he would pass out. I told my husband that I was getting a flight to Austin, but I spoke with my son early this morning and he said he is feeling better, still has a low-grade fever, but nothing like yesterday.

One of my son's roommates had the flu last week and another one is currently sick as well. My son said several of his fraternity brothers are sick now too.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Last evening my son said his fever spiked to 103.7. He said the ER told him 104.1 was when he should return. Thankfully, it didn't get to that point. He took medicine and a cool shower instead of a bath because he was worried he would pass out. I told my husband that I was getting a flight to Austin, but I spoke with my son early this morning and he said he is feeling better, still has a low-grade fever, but nothing like yesterday.

One of my son's roommates had the flu last week and another one is currently sick as well. My son said several of his fraternity brothers are sick now too.

Thank goodness! I've seen the Tamiflu work in front of my own eyes, it just literally turns the whole thing off to the point that you might second guess & think the person wasn't really sick, encourage him to take absolutely all of it. Eating and having a lot of water with it helps the bit of belly upset you can get, although I'm never really sure if that's just the Flu itself or the medicine... either way it's less than the Flu.

I think it's like twice a day if you are infected while the high risk people in the household (immunocompromised or other asthmatics etc ) exposed get a 1 tablet a day for 10 days, which I have had to do countless times. Since I'm like a canary in the mines it has been working for the past 12 years knock on wood, truly a Godsend.

 

[rlk]

Update: Today is the first day my son is fever-free and feeling up to tackling schoolwork. He emailed his professors letting him know that he was missing classes this week. Unfortunately, he's a quiz this afternoon and a mid-term tomorrow. His math professor said no makeups for the quiz and he is waiting to hear from his other professor about his mid-term.

I am so grateful he is recovering but feel for him because of the situation he is in. If he was just not pulling his weight, I would understand, but he is normally a very conscientious student. Ugh, watching from the sideline is hard!

 

[RogueX]

I had just gotten through the door from a trip to Morocco and my youngest sister called me in tears because she was sick and wanted me to come over. So, exhausted and despite living a state over, I went to her apartment, found out that she she had her wisdom teeth pulled, got dry sockets and the OTC pain medication wasn't working. We never got along when we were younger, but she knew that I could help her get through to the dentist for assistance..and that I did. I slept for 2 days straight after all of that.

 

[mjkacmom]

Update: Today is the first day my son is fever-free and feeling up to tackling schoolwork. He emailed his professors letting him know that he was missing classes this week. Unfortunately, he's a quiz this afternoon and a mid-term tomorrow. His math professor said no makeups for the quiz and he is waiting to hear from his other professor about his mid-term.

I am so grateful he is recovering but feel for him because of the situation he is in. If he was just not pulling his weight, I would understand, but he is normally a very conscientious student. Ugh, watching from the sideline is hard!

My daughter just started tamiflu today, her fever broke. From my kids’ experiences professors tend to be very hard on kids with makeups. I wish him luck.

 

[AustinTink]

Update: Today is the first day my son is fever-free and feeling up to tackling schoolwork. He emailed his professors letting him know that he was missing classes this week. Unfortunately, he's a quiz this afternoon and a mid-term tomorrow. His math professor said no makeups for the quiz and he is waiting to hear from his other professor about his mid-term.

I am so grateful he is recovering but feel for him because of the situation he is in. If he was just not pulling his weight, I would understand, but he is normally a very conscientious student. Ugh, watching from the sideline is hard!

Just ran across this thread right now. Sorry to hear your son has been ill. My son is also a UT student and has been sick this week. Covid test was negative yesterday. His girlfriend was sick as well. UT is such a germ zone. It gets like this every November with the flu. I'm local, so pm me if I can be of assistance.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Update: Today is the first day my son is fever-free and feeling up to tackling schoolwork. He emailed his professors letting him know that he was missing classes this week. Unfortunately, he's a quiz this afternoon and a mid-term tomorrow. His math professor said no makeups for the quiz and he is waiting to hear from his other professor about his mid-term.

I am so grateful he is recovering but feel for him because of the situation he is in. If he was just not pulling his weight, I would understand, but he is normally a very conscientious student. Ugh, watching from the sideline is hard!

I'm glad to hear he's getting better (and hopefully it stays that way)

I had a course in college where it was 5 tests but only 4 would count meaning you could drop either the lowest score or just not take it (well this was the case with other courses but the number of tests varied). No exceptions, it was meant that way to be fair to all students. Well I ended up in the ER with food poisoning. Most of my symptoms were gone but I had a high enough fever that allowed me to seek medical care (according to the nurse hotline) and was treated for dehydration (because I couldn't keep anything down and hadn't been able to for more than 36 hours). Anyways as luck would have it I missed a test for that course...it really sucked. But those policies are usually in place to try to be the most fair to all students. There are countless reasons why someone would miss a test or an assignment.

In my case my husband (then boyfriend) drove home from working 30miles away, took me to the hospital, and then my mom came about an hour later (lived actually really close to where my husband was working). I think he called her but also she was my emergency contact at that time. It was nice to have my mom there in the hospital but honestly afterwards I didn't really want any company save my boyfriend. My mom came over to the apartment for a quick time and then left. In the midst of my food poisoning I really did not want my mom there because well it was food poisoning, I was basically a throwing up machine and really didn't even want my boyfriend to hear but I happened to be over at his apartment at that time and was in no shape to go back to my apartment. Admittedly though at that time I had been dating him for 2 years. I'm more of a private person so if I'm sick I would probably just rather have the ability to talk over the phone and draw comfort in that than have the person right there but that's me.

I agree with others though it's nice to be able to talk with your parents and completely understandable to feel between a rock and a hard place when your kid is sick and you can't be there

 

[aprilgail]

It is horrible when they are away and sick. My daughter got into a car accident in Boston while she was in an Uber- she Called crying and I had her go directly to Boston children’s hospital-I was fully prepared to get in the car and drink the 4-5 hours there but she was ok. Last year she tested positive for COVID and luckily her boyfriend was there helping Her move in (she tested positive on arrival to school after winter break) so the left Boston and she stayed in CT with him-I was happy because I didn’t want her staying there with no one to take care of her And I knew he would make sure she was ok.

 

[barkley]

i'm so sorry-i hope your son feels better soon.

mine attended school/lived local to us so it was easier when an illness came up to help out but i will always give credit to her university for entering into a contract with the local clinic/urgent care that was just a single block away from campus. all students were/are required as part of their student fees to pay a 'health fee' which provided them with affiliation and coverage for a myriad of routine and urgent care issues.

pharmacies-i would always suggest that the parent or student check to see what pharmacies are in proximity to their campus/housing b/c in our experience the little local independent is MUCH better to work w/ vs. the 2 national chains we have in our college town. they will have a scrip the doctor electronically sends ready within minutes (at most an hour if backed up) vs. hours on end/up to a day later at the nationals (and it only takes a call to a local independent to inquire if your student's health insurance is accepted-most belong to national affiliations that enable them to accept the bulk of insurance plans). my oldest is ill right now and called me upon exiting that urgent care yesterday-5 minutes later she was able to pick up her scrips. i'm doing the requisite juice and other necessities run and drop off for her today.

 

[Princessclab]

Update: Today is the first day my son is fever-free and feeling up to tackling schoolwork. He emailed his professors letting him know that he was missing classes this week. Unfortunately, he's a quiz this afternoon and a mid-term tomorrow. His math professor said no makeups for the quiz and he is waiting to hear from his other professor about his mid-term.

I am so grateful he is recovering but feel for him because of the situation he is in. If he was just not pulling his weight, I would understand, but he is normally a very conscientious student. Ugh, watching from the sideline is hard!

Does the math professor want him to come to class sick? He could be contagious, that is not the professor's call. Has the professor learned nothing from the pandemic?
This should be reported to the school. It is not his fault he is sick and should not be academically penalized.
Glad he is on the mend.