<p>Over spring break my college freshman son learned the source of his exhaustion and feeling terrible: he has mono. </p>
<p>Looking for help from parents who've lived through this - how did your student survive? </p>
<p>My daughter just had this. She took a few days off work & classes to sleep & eat Kim chi soup.
Apparently knocked it right out.
YMMV.</p>
<p>Kim chi soup may be a challenge but hey . . . if he feels bad enough I guess he’ll try anything! Thanks so much!</p>
<p>My daughter came down with strep and mono after a couple of weeks in her first year of college. Doctor’s orders: rest. Ha! She was in art school, in which there is no rest for the weary (or anybody else). She had to reduce her course load and therefore dropped one course, which, however meant that she didn’t complete her “foundation year” courses in her first year. She ended up attending summer school.</p>
<p>My son dropped a writing course and orchestra and slept as much as he could.</p>
<p>I’m sorry your son is sick. Mono is really tough for a college student. My daughter had it over winter break and still had a tough month or so when she returned to school. Each case is different, so hopefully his won’t be too bad. If he was already exhausted before spring break, hopefully he’s already through the worst of it. All he can do it try to rest as much as possible and limit EC and social stuff to save his energy for academics. He may need to drop a course or get some extensions. </p>
<p>I would say each case varies depending on the severity. I had mono for a solid three weeks before I went back to school. I tried going to school a few of the days, but I was sent home. I would just shake from the chills, and I lost 10+ pounds. I ended up sleeping 18+ hours of the day. Luckily I was in high school, so the course work wasn’t too much of an issue. The best way to recover is to sleep/rest; my body ended up getting worse when I tried to do anything.</p>
<p>No one has mentioned this but no drinking alcohol! Really! Even if you think he doesn’t drink, warn him of this. It will make recovery harder. </p>
<p>The hard thing is that it takes time to recover. D had it freshman year of college. She had to pare everything that wasn’t necessary down. Went to class and did homework, that was all for a while. If you take care of yourself and don’t try to push it, it will get better quicker. Most college students have a tough time with this. </p>
<p>No contact sports for a while. D1 had mono freshman spring. She didn’t go out for a while. She went to classes and did her schoolwork. She cut back on everything else. Her case wasn’t too severe. </p>
<p>My oldest got it right before finals, she took one on Friday, one on Saturday, and then it hit. She didn’t get out of bed for a week. She was sent home, very very sick. She was excused from finals and made them up after winter break. It took a full month to recover. There is no way she could have gone to class or done anything for the first week, then by 3 weeks, she was able to work 4 hour shifts. By the time school started back, she was fine. The dr contacted the dean of her school, and her professors were great. They gave her as much time as she needed.</p>
<p>Two of my kids had to deal with this, one as a college senior and one in her first year as an elementary school teacher. The onset (high fever, swollen glands, painful sore throat) was by far the worst part for them. My middle d went into work, thinking she was coming down with a bad cold, and actually fainted in her first grade classroom (causing quite a stir). The other was in the ER twice in 24 hours over a holiday weekend because they somehow misdiagnosed her on the first visit. This led to her responding to a heavy dose of antibiotics with a vivid, stubborn rash that covered 80 percent of her body. I mention the gory details to underline that mono can be a miserable experience during the initial period as well as the recovery period.</p>
<p>It’s so helpful when your kids are far from home if they have friends and roommates who can do the legwork for them. Getting good food is important, as is staying hydrated. If the student has really been sacked by mono, I would think an email to the dean of students is a good idea, as well as to all the professors, to the extent of “I’m ill with mono and trying to keep up with all assignments. Please excuse my absence from class this week” or whatever the period might be. Health Services might have guidelines for contacting professors (what to say, etc.).</p>
<p>The spleen is vulnerable even in cases of mono that seem mild. I agree it’s important to limit physical activity. </p>
<p>I had mono in college. My floormates were a huge help (one drove me to the health center so I wouldn’t have to walk) but they could only do so much. Have her contact her professors of course - and absolutely no drinking! My parents didn’t do this for me, but if one of my kids got mono in college, I might actually consider taking a few days off of work, getting a hotel room near the school, and letting my kid rest. It’s hard to get good rest in a dorm. If it’s a really bad case, he may need to come home.</p>
<p>Thanks so much everyone - for the advice and encouragement! </p>
<p>I know this isn’t what you want to hear. But our son had it February of last year. He was in engineering and was really sick for about 4 weeks taking about 6 to be really recovered. After one week we brought him home. After 3 weeks he realized he couldn’t keep up. He had been in touch with his teachers but eventually had to withdraw. Thankfully we had insurance for his tuition. At the start of his next semester when scholarship money came into question he was asked if he had asked his teachers about taking incompletes in their classes. Although he had been in contact with his profs and his advisor and we all met with a rep at the financial aid office no one had even hinted that this was something he could have done. I hope your S has a milder case. But for us it seemed that withdrawing was the best way to go. The only regret we had was not asking about taking incompletes instead of withdrawing from all of his classes. </p>
<p>Because he is so sick and exhausted, it might be appropriate for you to be more involved than usual. Did he sign a release?</p>
<p>The health services/MD and dean should be in touch with professors as well, and between them a plan can be implemented. I doubt disabilities services needs to get involved, but you might ask.</p>
<p>If he really cannot work for more than 2 or 3 weeks, he might consider withdrawing, but for most I think extensions, incompletes, excused absences, make-ups and notes from professor or friends can help avoid withdrawal. It depends on how sick he is.</p>
<p>Can he get rest in his room or does he have very active roommates? Asking for an alternative room for a few weeks might help, or perhaps a roommate is helpful and he can stay. Do you live relatively nearby? Can he commute for a bit, or can you bring in food and support?</p>
<p>Mondut everyone here had great advice. Hopefully your son can manage to hang on to his semester, weak and tired but getting the essentials done. Have got to listen to the body and take care of the situation so that his recovery will not be drawn out due to trying to do too much too early.</p>
<p>A very severe case needs very severe limitations. Sounds like his case is not quite so severe, so hopefully he will have less impact on his completion of his current classes.</p>
<p>It really depends upon the severity of the case. My DH got it and it wiped him out He should have taken medical leave, but managed to eke out the term as it was so near the end, but it did impact his performance. </p>
<p>If this were my college kid, I would investigate the possibility of finishing out the term at home on line. If not possible, I would try to get at least a course load reduction even at this late date (he has 6 weeks left) and try to be there (not easy since he’s 7 hours away by car) to get him through this. Of course, if he’s really hit hard, I’d try to talk him into dropping the courses this term, which for him would be an issue as he’s doing well and a lot rides on this set of courses.</p>
<p>Talk to the Dean of Students and Health Services and let them know what is going on. Your son may have to take a medical withdrawal.
He should drop all extracurricular activities for now,especially sports as the spleen is vulnerable.
He should stop working.
He should not drink…mono and alcohol can cause liver damage.
If he is up to it, the only thing he should do is go to class and study. And if he needs to withdraw from a class, then that may be an idea.</p>
<p>So based on how he is feeling, you have to weigh:
If he withdrew, how much prorated tuitionetc would he get back?
How is he doing in his classes so far?
Is it worth withdrawing for the semester to keep up his GPA?</p>
<p>A friend of my duaghter’s had to go on medical leave, lost an entire semester which snowballed into having to repeat an aditional semester so he is now graduating a year behind. But he’s recovered and graduating this year.</p>
<p>@spectrum2 - yeah that’s definitely not what I want to hear, but better to have a heads-up just in case. I’ve already suggested he can drop one of his gen ed courses if he needs to lighten his load - but I’ll mention to him the idea of taking an incomplete if necessary. So far he’s doing well in all his classes so I know he’d be heartbroken if he had to drop any. </p>
<p>@compmom - he’s over 2000 miles from home (which definitely makes it harder on me!) I told him I could fly out to check on him in about a week. He waved me off and said “Mom - guess what I have at school: lots of NURSING STUDENTS! They LIVE to take care of others!” </p>
<p>At least he still has his sense of humor intact. </p>
<p>@SOSConcern - I was so relieved yesterday morning when he woke up and first thing he said was “OK so are you and dad going to let me fly home today?” He’s still feeling pretty rough but just the day prior he didn’t think he had the strength to get on a plane. </p>
<p>I made him promise to call me more than usual, and respond if I text him (instead of ignoring me, like usual) - I’ll keep reminding him that his health is job #1 right now. </p>
<p>Thanks again to all the wonderful CCers for great advice and support. </p>