College kid is sick

[Anonymous]

I just went through this a week ago with my college freshman. It was the weekend and student health was closed. Kid was miserable and felt awful even getting out of bed.

He made a telehealth appointment and they sent a prescription for xofluza (1 pill flu med) to the pharmacy across the street. He texted the RA who dropped off a Covid test from a vending machine in the dorm. Test was negative. Pharmacy was out of flu med and wouldn’t get it in for about 2 days, so I helped transfer the prescription to Amazon pharmacy and it was delivered that evening.

Kid was feeling better the next morning and almost back to normal the day after.

It’s hard to be so far away when your kid is really miserable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He can do this. BTDT with my 2 college boys. One with mono (the worst!).

Yeah, I had mono my Junior year of college and it did suck. Lost 20 lbs because the idea of food made me nauseous. At no point did I even consider asking my parents to come, that would have been weird.

[Anonymous]

Going through this right now, my college sophomore got diagnosed with mono last week and I am 3,000 miles away. DC went to student health after sore throat was getting worse not better. A lot is going around so yours should get tested even if he needs a friend to support him on the walk over and back. It’s so hard having them really sick and far away. We’ve also dealt with a er visit and follow up for an injury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Going through this right now, my college sophomore got diagnosed with mono last week and I am 3,000 miles away. DC went to student health after sore throat was getting worse not better. A lot is going around so yours should get tested even if he needs a friend to support him on the walk over and back. It’s so hard having them really sick and far away. We’ve also dealt with a er visit and follow up for an injury.

OP here and it turned out to be the flu. Idk why several people focused on the student health services needing to be the place to go to because I explained it, but student health services are physically very far from ds and also apparently very busy and slow. He went to the clinic closer to him which could see him this morning. I got him soup and another thing for dinner.

[Anonymous]

I focused on student health because worst case, RA can get campus security to help transport kid too sick to walk. Must be a huge campus, OP if minute care thing is closer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I focused on student health because worst case, RA can get campus security to help transport kid too sick to walk. Must be a huge campus, OP if minute care thing is closer.

It is a very very large campus. The health center is a far walk and the clinic is just across the street so it was a no brainer.

[Anonymous]

I think the important thing is to not panic. Your original post sounded like you were afraid he was going to die, but he was at the grocery store.

I’m glad he got help and he’s feeling better. I’m not saying to abandon your kid while they’re sick, but panicking can make them feel like they can’t handle things without you.

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine used to be a nurse practitioner on a college campus. Her advice was to make sure your kid is well hydrated. When a kid is sick, they sleep all day, their roommate is at classes all day so NO ONE is checking them. (As a parent, you wake your child up and insist they drink a Gatorade). My nurse friend would often have to send kids to the ER to get IV fluids to rehydrate. Hope your son feels better soon And, send him a few Covid/flu at home tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just went through this a week ago with my college freshman. It was the weekend and student health was closed. Kid was miserable and felt awful even getting out of bed.

He made a telehealth appointment and they sent a prescription for xofluza (1 pill flu med) to the pharmacy across the street. He texted the RA who dropped off a Covid test from a vending machine in the dorm. Test was negative. Pharmacy was out of flu med and wouldn’t get it in for about 2 days, so I helped transfer the prescription to Amazon pharmacy and it was delivered that evening.

Kid was feeling better the next morning and almost back to normal the day after.

It’s hard to be so far away when your kid is really miserable.

Sounds like you and your freshman handled this well. Great template for future.
Glad they got feeling better fast and this should give them confidence.

[Anonymous]

Another thing to get every college kid is a pulse oximeter. It takes up no space and they can easily check. If their pulse ox drops below 96, he should go in definitely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FaceTime him and make him do the simple meningitis tests. You can find them on line—like ability to bend neck to touch chest. Meningitis is worst case but you really need to exclude it.

I would say sepsis is worst case.

It’s definitely a good time to teach the kid some self-triage skills if he does not already have them: fever, pulse (maybe even pulse ox if someone has one), can he eat and drink, can he walk to bathroom or not, etc. The meningitis screen is in there somewhere but it’s not the only thing.

[Anonymous]

Instacart him covid/flu home tests. Set up a virtual Telehealth if one is positive. Might be able to get tamiflu if flu.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He can do this. BTDT with my 2 college boys. One with mono (the worst!).

Yeah, I had mono my Junior year of college and it did suck. Lost 20 lbs because the idea of food made me nauseous. At no point did I even consider asking my parents to come, that would have been weird.

Not weird if you were truly sick and needed help. Very sick people could use assistance. That’s not weird.

[Anonymous]

This thread is wild. You raised an adult who cannot figure out what to do when sick? Someone actually drove there and rented a hotel room? That is so disturbing to me.

Make sure they have basic meds at move in and know where the nearest pharmacy is to refill as needed. Sending info on closest clinic makes sense too. After that, wish them well, check in once a day, and move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This year is rough. I actually took the train up, booked a hotel and had him stay with me for several days. Took him to urgent care in an uber. They gave him prednisone and antibiotics. He was feeling so much better in 48 hours. It hit him the week before finals. He’s in a room on the top bunk. He was freaking out about missing last tests before finals etc.

Once he goes to urgent care and is set up, he can also do video appointments. If you send him some flu/covid tests they might accept those. My kid also probably felt so weak and horrible as he hadn’t eaten in several days and probably didn’t drink enough liquids.

Everyone at his school is sick again. He’s doing better with getting sick now, will take Zicam, drink juice, get more sleep and go to urgent care before he feels like he is dying.

You’re a good parent! ❤️