D had a severe case of mono last semester. Missed 3 weeks of school and has incompletes in her classes, that she will finish in January.
If your child has Mono, be sure to reach out to the Dean of Students office right away to navigate what needs to be done to work out a plan to manage the work and tests that she is missing. A lot depends on how far into the term the student is. Also, schools vary significantly in how much control over these situations resides with the Dean of Students versus how much control rests with the individual professors. In our case, we submitted all documentation required to the Dean of Students, and they reviewed and approved it so the professors did not have to each review it individually.
What does one need, in terms of paperwork, to be able to in the loop in case of further medical issues needing evaluation/treatment at the school health center? Will a signed release from the student suffice or does it have to be done by the lawyer?
Mono is a tough one, and every case is different. I had a mild case in college (found it when I got treated for what I thought was a strep throat, reacted to the antibiotic they gave me, they tested for mono and I was positive). I didn’t have to withdraw or anything, I was told to take it easy, to get rest, not to drink, eat well, and if it looked like it was getting worse to come back in. I did sleep a lot, I basically went to class, then spent the rest of my time in my room sleeping or studying.
The biggest thing is not to treat this lightly, it is very easy for mono to go from a mild case to a major problem. The summer after my brother’s junior year he came down with mono, but was working at the school radio station and doing other things, didn’t rest, and in the fall semester he came home, was a total mess, slept like 16 hours a day and they were really worried about his liver functions. He ended up I seem to recall with incompletes on his classes (he may have withdrawn), then the next semester went back, did his classes and finished up the incompletes as well and graduated on time, though personally I think he could have taken the next semester off, he was that bad.
Mono is a viral infection, so there isn’t much you can do to treat it from what I know, the best things I know of are to get a lot of rest, eat well, lot of protein, soups are great, and possibly take things like Zinc and anything that boosts the immune system, like Echinacea, might help, but talk to a doctor about taking anything like that.
Your kid needs to not drink alcohol! Even if you think they don’t drink, warn them. No drinking with mono. It’s bad, bad, bad! It will destroy your liver and the recovery will be longer.
^^What deb said. It is no joke. I was so glad that kid had her case of mono while she was at home. We did not open a single bottle of booze while she was recovering and did not order any drinks with dinners.
Also, no vigirous exercise for a while no matter how antsy they get or how ready they feel.
Yes, if the patient takes it easy, better chance for a quick and FULL recovery. Chronic mono is awful–D has been dealing with it off and on for 16 years now.
and the recovery will be longer.