My DS suffers migraine every few weeks. It hits in the late afternoon/early evening, and is a fully debilitating circulation disorder. Cannot walk, throbbing/piercing behind eye socket, and vomits multiple times. Then he passes out until morning and is weak/foggy for about 12 hours.Then he resets to normal. This is literally the only reason I hesitate to send him to a BS.
So my question is: Has any other student handled this? Do they give a 24 hr pass on assignments and tests? His current school will allow him to attend class the day after the event, but let’s him push out tests for 24 hrs. This is all medically supported by his neurologist. There is no reason to exclude him from classes, but he couldn’t possibly sit an exam.
If the snowball effect of missing one night/day every 2 to 4 weeks will be too much, we should take this into consideration, and stay here at his home day school which is excellent and goes to 12. He has come to a place of acceptance, that this is something he must push through in life. More medication options will be available at age 18.
He is a good, hardworking kid. It is a terrible invisible disability. He wants so much to go to an East Coast BS, and I am hoping another parent can explain how their DC navigated a path with migraine. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I want to support him and his choice, but I am concerned about support. I am sure all of the schools will say they support, but what is the reality like?
He is focused on a few schools, acceptance rates 10-25 percent. Competitive environments.
Well, it’s not a very migraine-friendly environment. The biggest issues are the intensity/stress, lack of sleep, and inconsistent nutrition/hydration, which can be hard to deal with far from home (like if you miss dining hours, you are at the mercy of whatever snacks you have, which is OK once but not great if it happens regularly)–for my kid, these are all things that can trigger onsets. BS kids have little downtime-- my kid’s school has 6 days a week of intense school and sports, and then Sundays are half spent doing homework. My kid has managed, but also does not suffer currently with migraines as intensely as your child (it was worse when she was a younger). She’s learned over the years to spot her migraines’ arrival better, immediately adjust, and sometimes fend things off…but her ability to do this gets compromised when her sleep is going badly. While her teachers have been generally accommodating (YMMV), even with a 24 hour pass, remember that the work is doubled the next day – meaning less sleep, more intensity, more risk of migraine. I think sleep health is really important for migraine mitigation-- my kid was in a clinical trial once where they were testing melatonin as a migraine therapy-- and sleep is just very hard to come by in these intense environments. Keep in mind, I am describing only my own child’s experience with one of the more traditional and intense Saturday-class type schools. I will add that my kid was a varsity athlete from freshman year and took difficult classes. If your kid does a less demanding schedule, or lighter sports, that might make the experience more manageable, but it depends on the school and the kid. With migraines as bad as your kid’s are, however, I would be cautious.
Agree with the above post. Once you start falling behind it is VERY hard to catch back up.
One of my sons had migraines, not as bad as yours. He was at a “kinder, gentler” boarding school where, if he missed a day, he could get back on track without too much difficulty.
This type of school is excellent! With excellent education and outcomes. There are many schools that would fit the bill; the school I’m talking about is Millbrook.
My other two sons went to Hotchkiss, so I am very familiar with the more intense model of boarding school as well.