Oh no - Mono! How to support college student diagnosed with mononucleosis. All suggestions welcome!

<p>compmom I’m glad you mentioned disabilities services:</p>

<p>I hadn’t considered that before, but now I’ve just gotten off the phone with the school’s disabilities services office and found out my son can request transportation services to help him get around campus. What a relief! This will be a great help because it’s a big campus and just getting back and forth to class was going to be a challenge for him. </p>

<p>I’d agree it’s very individual as to how each person responds to mono. I had it at the end of my 1st winter away from home. I went to the student health center and they would NOT release me to take my finals. I had to get incompletes in all of them. I flew from cool OR to freezing MI to visit my sister, who was attending grad school at U of MI. I did NOT give her or her room mate my mono, but had a very low key winter break with them. When I returned I was fine and able to make up my incompletes in the 1st month back.</p>

<p>I would at least alert the office of disabilities and send an email to all his instructors, so they can figure out how to work with your S–wether that means getting an I or allowing a medical withdrawal. If you have tuition insurance, I’d look at the policy and see what is required, JUST IN CASE!</p>

<p>Sadly, our D was derailed by health issues and and an awful spring term and had to spend an extra year at her U because the classes she bombed were in a sequence and only offered in the spring. Hopefully, your child will have a mild case, but it’s best to wait and see (preparing for the worst case, just to know what the options are).</p>

<p>My senior DD had it last semester. It really helped that her housemates had it earlier in their college years and could help her through it. She was lonely as she spent a lot of time just watching TV shows on the computer. Student health wrote a letter to the Dean which allowed her a medical excuse for academics. She got one incomplete and wrote the paper for that over winter break. </p>

<p>Make sure he does not do what my nephew did when he had mono. He struggled with classes without telling his parents and ultimately failed several of them requiring an extra semester. </p>

<p>I think an important point, and he may already be doing this, is to enlist a health services person to document the illness for a dean who can then document it for professors. In other words, your son probably will benefit from backup communication, or even primary communication from a dean or other administrator directly to professors so they are not just responding to your son.Also, disabilities office people will probably supply him with a letter to share with professors and anyone else.
Good luck and fingers crossed for a relatively quick recovery!</p>

<p>Mondut sounds like your son is level headed. Glad you were able to get transportation services for across campus situation.I never had mono, but I did have a lot of chemo, and I was able to ask for transportation service at airport which certainly helps when you are very fatigued.</p>

<p>As long as scholarships can stay intact, and working things out with profs. I did have bronchitis during my first graduate semester, and the doctor note was enough to have my paper delivered to prof with accommodation.</p>

<p>The sequencing of classes is a situation that would need to be considered if medical situation required stopping out.</p>

<p>Sounds like your son will get through.I guess his flight home was for spring break? Glad to have the extra days for lots of rest. My daughter has tests this week and starts spring break on Saturday.</p>

<p>You might want to make sure he does many good health kind of things so he can build up his immune system and strength as he recovers. Also being careful to stay away from coughers and those with sniffles.</p>