I'm so sorry. Yes, you're doing the right thing, though it's always hard. Sending hugs.

Sending lots of hugs, @Baseballandhockey. It sounds like this would be a good time to step back from big decisions for a bit. Can you give yourself permission and a little time to just grieve and rest? I wish we could offer help and support in person. But I think you're a phenomenal parent in an incredibly difficult place. Anyone would be having trouble in your place, and anyone would be struggling.

I'm so sorry. Yes, it stinks.

This is just really sad. Yesterday and today I've been spending hours in a hospital visiting a patient, and masking has been almost universal. So far I've seen one teenaged boy with his mask drooping below his nose, and one employee pulling it down briefly to talk. Otherwise, everyone is properly masked. This is a big hospital, with hundreds of people moving around-- all masked. The regional variations continue to be huge.

You're right, and I wish I had worded my answer more carefully. Developing polls that answer the questions you intend is exceedingly difficult. Professionals often don't get it right, never mind high school students!

Similarly to the responses above, I found the choices too black and white. Neither option really represents my views, especially about guns and politicians. People, even politicians, aren't monolithic, and some are more focused on themselves than others. Generalizations don't really work for me. Agreeing that polls are hard.

Yep. I know a (now former) nurse from Tennessee who falls into this category.

Ditto this. One teen got a booster yesterday, other is under 18, so the booster just got approved and scheduling it is one of my top priorities today. We'll get whatever updated boosters become available when they're available.

I'm so sorry.

I'd guess this would depend on the model. Ours (an Oster, at least five years old) turns off automatically after about 25 minutes unless you set the timer. I could see that causing problems, though it's also probably a safety feature.

Thanks for this, I'll check it out.

This is the specialist she's talked with, at a good teaching hospital. Do you know for sure that the procedure suggested for you was the same?

Thanks for your thoughts! This is concerning, though. My peep who has this issue has had physical therapy, but due to the knee's morphology, has been told that can't resolve the situation. Yes, it's a birth defect. Atm she's an active young person who must use a brace all the time. Even lying in certain positions in bed makes her feel like the patella is going to slip out of position. She needs to be able to be active for professional reasons. She's far from overweight. She was told that now, her knee has sustained some damage, but not so much that the surgery and recovery would be particularly hard for her as an individual-- everyone does say it's major surgery. If she waits, there will be more damage, making surgery and recovery harder. A knee replacement hasn't been mentioned.

Yes. We have one that's big enough to roast a chicken in, or bake a cake. It's not the most even heat distribution ever, but it does the job.

Plus MPFL reconstruction and lateral release surgery. Any experience at all would be great to hear about, but especially immediate post-op and outcome a year or so later.

For a ten day trip, though, rescheduling would be pointless. If she tests positive, then she can't go at all. This is partly the source of my confusion, aside from just never having purchased travel insurance at all before. I think I need to call the university's study abroad office with some questions.

Thank you, these questions are helpful. My initial thought was to get insurance simply in case we decided the situation had become too risky, or she tested positive at the last moment, but the college hadn't cancelled the trip (because if they do, they refund the money). Clearly I need to think through all the possibilities.

Yeah, I almost think we just shouldn't do it, but I hate for her to miss out on a trip which is so pertinent for her studies. She's in a small, tight department. I think going is important.

Adding that a genuine, doctor-attested medical reason for not going would get consideration of a refund, but isn't guaranteed.

Nope. They say they highly recommend getting it, but don't suggest a source. They do say that if the trip has to be cancelled, all possible portions of the cost will be refunded, but some money may be unrecoverable, hence the recommendation to get insurance. And that doesn't begin to cover our loss if dd tests positive right before leaving, or gets Covid in Italy and can't fly home as scheduled, and so on.

No, not health insurance, but travel insurance.

Nope, in Europe.

The college

The college isn't suggesting anyone to buy insurance from. Not sure if they're using a company to plan things...? I guess that's something to put on my list of questions for them, thanks!

Dd's department is planning a trip in May. Ugh. Of course I want her to be able to go, but the only thing I can be certain of regarding the Covid situation then is that it will be different from the Covid situation now. I haven't done any major travel for twenty years. Where would you get travel insurance? Given that the student is fully vaccinated (a requirement for all students on the trip) and boosted to the greatest degree possible beforehand, and always exercises all the recommended precautions... Would you do this? ETA that eating in restaurants will be unavoidable, so I guess maybe she can't take *all* possible precautions. I'm kinda thinking that this is where we are for the foreseeable future. If she gets to do any travel during her college years, it will be during Covid. The biggest problem would be if she got Covid over there, and I'm planning to ask the college about contingency plans for that. Anything else I should consider?