Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering what happens if your college student is far from home and needs to be hospitalized.
Did anyone's student experience that? What did you do? Were they able to handle it on their own/with the help of friends or the college? Did you have the ability to fly out there and be with them?

Do you mean hospitalized for mental health, and injury, or a preexisting condition, OP?

All three. Hospitalized for any reason... did your student experience it?

I’ve heard this is something we all should do so that doctors can speak to us about out (adult) children’s care W/o violating HIPAA.

+100

The first week of sophomore year my daughter went with a boy she had just met to the hospital. She had only known him for 30 min when the issue started. One of his buddies offered to drive snd no one else was offering to go so she hopped in the car and made him give her is phone password. He was losing the ability to talk quickly. She took him into the ER and even though it was covid times the hospital let her stay so she could answer questions. She got ahold of his parents, filled out all the forms and stayed 20 hours until his parents got there.

A year later our dd was the one in the ER 2 states away with a massive concussion. 3 of her team mates (club sport, no coach) stayed with her at the hospital and called us with updates. Both my dh and I drove to her that night. She got released form the ER while we were driving and her teammates drove her the 2 hours back to school and we met them there.

When I was in college I was sick and confined to my dorm room for 3 weeks. I was not contagious it was a bleeding disorder. My boyfriend, now husband, took care of me between classes. He brought meals from the dining hall and taught me my missed school work. We were the same major and had many classes together. He also took me to lots of dr. Appointments. My parents never flew out. They were 3000 miles away and I told them not to come. I was sick but not dying and there wasn't much they could have done to help.

^^ we also used Mama Bear legal forms, easy and relatively inexpensive

Anonymous wrote:Somewhat related: I was thinking of getting a healthcare power of attorney before my 18 year old goes OOS to college this fall. This would be in case of something really bad like a car accident and the kid isn’t able to communicate. Anyone hear or have experience that this is necessary or is it overkill since I’m the parent?

Every parent absolutely needs to have POAs (general and healthcare) and a HIPAA waiver. Your student will also need to sign a FERPA waiver for you to have access to any of their academic information, as well.

I’m a lawyer and I used Mama Bear legal forms, just because it was easy & they have forms tailored to the state where your kid can will be attending school.FWIW, not every state has the same age of majority (it’s not always 18). This *may* be overkill, but because of certain legal differences, I did a set of documents for our home state and a set for the state of the university.

That is good to think about, as there are a couple options we are considering that are a plane ride away.

I spent a couple nights in student health hooked up to IVs as a freshman (nasty stomach bug). My mom did come at some point, but it was also right before finals. My boyfriend had carried me in as I was not able to walk myself in. I had to reschedule finals that were supposed to be that Monday, but luckily my profs were quite kind and understanding (fairly small school).

We had to coordinate care for our daughter 5 hours from home last summer - she had picked up something non-Covid but was at a summer program on a college campus. An intern had taken her to an urgent care in town one night, but the program director drove her to the ER about 30 minutes away a couple nights after that. My husband went to pick her up the next day. We were in frequent communication with the program director and our daughter.

Definitely will get that power of attorney thing done if she goes more than an hour away!

OP I have 3 in college. They have had varying issues which needed medical attention. Most of the time you don't have to drop anything to get there immediately. You have time to assess (though we haven't had mental health issues).

Stomach pump from drinking? No need to go
Stitches from tripping up stairs? No need to go
Think they are dying- ear infection + step? They will feel better after 24 hrs on meds

We have found that the student health centers are great and get this population. I have only had to go twice and really o LT once for an emergency. The rest were they caught something and were sick and wanted me to come. That said even when dealing with massive Covid vaccine heart reaction or a good old stomach pump I have had no problems with the doctors talking to me. I can't see online records but I can see their online bills!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP, are you concerned about your own kid going off to college next year and what might happen in the event your kid was hospitalized? Or does your kid have any specific condition that could land them in the hospital so you're worried? If you have specific questions around that, let us know and I'm sure you'll get some good input here.

I was wondering how frequently it happens...

My situation is that it is extremely, extremely difficult for me to leave home overnight and would be even harder for me to leave for more than one day. So if my child goes away to school (or anywhere for that matter) and is hospitalized, it would be very difficult for me to just drop everything and fly there.

I am contemplating buying membership in something like MedJet to fly them home in such an emergency, therefore.

No, they have classes, and for some conditions could not be moved.

I would say instead, look into a back up for you at home.

Anonymous wrote:Somewhat related: I was thinking of getting a healthcare power of attorney before my 18 year old goes OOS to college this fall. This would be in case of something really bad like a car accident and the kid isn’t able to communicate. Anyone hear or have experience that this is necessary or is it overkill since I’m the parent?

Good to do.

Make sure that your kid has signed permission for you to know their medical information, or you won't be told what is going on!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP, are you concerned about your own kid going off to college next year and what might happen in the event your kid was hospitalized? Or does your kid have any specific condition that could land them in the hospital so you're worried? If you have specific questions around that, let us know and I'm sure you'll get some good input here.

I was wondering how frequently it happens...

My situation is that it is extremely, extremely difficult for me to leave home overnight and would be even harder for me to leave for more than one day. So if my child goes away to school (or anywhere for that matter) and is hospitalized, it would be very difficult for me to just drop everything and fly there.

I am contemplating buying membership in something like MedJet to fly them home in such an emergency, therefore.

The alternative is to work your network to find local friends of friends-of-friends that could step in. I have been this contact for two kids at AU, neither needed me in the hospital, but I did have grab room stuff for one upon Covid rapid move out. My kid is now in Champaign, IL and a fried hooked me up with a college friend of hers that lives there locally. Probably won’t need her, but I met her at move-in weekend for coffee and I would call her if needed.

DS goes to Illinois. He has a seizure disorder. He had a seizure as a freshman and face planted into a door. He needed to go to the ER for the seizure by ambulance and needed stitches. Carle Hospital ER was very patient and very understanding with me on the phone as we navigated that situation. I wasn't particularly impressed with the neurologist who did the follow up appointment, but the Carle ER near campus was really great.

Anonymous wrote:Somewhat related: I was thinking of getting a healthcare power of attorney before my 18 year old goes OOS to college this fall. This would be in case of something really bad like a car accident and the kid isn’t able to communicate. Anyone hear or have experience that this is necessary or is it overkill since I’m the parent?

If your child is 18, they are an adult and just like any other adult family member, you need a healthcare power of attorney if you are going to make appointments or request records or talk with the doctor about treatment decisions or make medical decisions for them. It's not overkill.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering what happens if your college student is far from home and needs to be hospitalized.
Did anyone's student experience that? What did you do? Were they able to handle it on their own/with the help of friends or the college? Did you have the ability to fly out there and be with them?

Do you mean hospitalized for mental health, and injury, or a preexisting condition, OP?

All three. Hospitalized for any reason... did your student experience it?

I’ve heard this is something we all should do so that doctors can speak to us about out (adult) children’s care W/o violating HIPAA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering what happens if your college student is far from home and needs to be hospitalized.
Did anyone's student experience that? What did you do? Were they able to handle it on their own/with the help of friends or the college? Did you have the ability to fly out there and be with them?

Do you mean hospitalized for mental health, and injury, or a preexisting condition, OP?

All three. Hospitalized for any reason... did your student experience it?

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering what happens if your college student is far from home and needs to be hospitalized.
Did anyone's student experience that? What did you do? Were they able to handle it on their own/with the help of friends or the college? Did you have the ability to fly out there and be with them?

Do you mean hospitalized for mental health, and injury, or a preexisting condition, OP?

Somewhat related: I was thinking of getting a healthcare power of attorney before my 18 year old goes OOS to college this fall. This would be in case of something really bad like a car accident and the kid isn’t able to communicate. Anyone hear or have experience that this is necessary or is it overkill since I’m the parent?