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Help, please! The boy has mono...


swimmermom3
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  • 4 weeks later...

I hope he feels so loved and happy to be home!  Both of our kids had mono at the same time - let them sleep, nap, nap, nap, and sleep.  Each of our dc lost about 7 lbs, so would also say to feed him whatever he is craving.  They always think they're healthy before they are truly recovered.  

 

 

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I wanted to thank everyone for their advice and good wishes and to give you an update.

 

Ds is very pleased with his DC doctor who gave him effective cough syrup and steroids about two days before he came home.  His throat was so swollen his first night home, he could barely eat or talk. Two days later on the steroids, with some sleep, and he felt much better.

 

He will take an incomplete in one class that he has an "A" in. His professor encouraged him to take a little extra time and make his final paper a very good one. The paper is due before Christmas.

 

He says he feels 100% better now that he's back at school, but of course is a bit stressed in making up missed work and prepping for finals.

 

I really can't believe he's doing this and I am so grateful to all of you who've held my hand the past few years. 

 

Three of the top seniors for the sailing club are doing study abroad next semester, so ds will be Commodore for the team.  He and the captain went to the draft where they work through spring sailing season. Yep, it's done just like a football draft, so the lowly teams (mostly clubs) get to pick really late. Ds said he got a good look at the politics and finances of sailing in a competitive league. It will be good experience for him trying to increase membership and participation. I just hope it doesn't interfere with school. He's using ZipCar and driving in DC to take new sailors to practice. It gives me a heart attack.

 

On Wednesdays, there are few classes and the kids are encouraged to make the most of DC.  He sent pictures of the interior of the National Gallery in its Christmas finery.  He and one of his roommates spent a long day studying in the reading room of the Library of Congress and took a break to have lunch at Union Station, where his roommate had never been. Roomie says he'll return the favor and take ds to Penn Station. :tongue_smilie:

 

Tonight, there was an event at the Argentinian embassy that included a poetry reading in Spanish, food, and dancing. My rather shy son put on a suit and went on his own. He had a blast and loved his interactions with professionals and graduate students there and the opportunity to practice Spanish.  He's sad that he will not be able to return next week for the tango event as it is finals. :blink:  You all have to understand that this boy's limbs don't work like a normal person's unless he is in water and please don't pass him a ball.

 

The second foreign language choice is now completely up in the air. His first choice was Arabic and study abroad in Jordan, but he's in an outstanding seminar on modern China and has a Chinese roommate. The senior that he sails with speaks Russian and will be studying abroad next semester in Russia and ds's favorite TA also is studying national security and Russian studies. The world is truly his oyster as long as he keeps his end of the deal and maintains his scholarship.

 

He says that homeschooling was a great preparation for his classwork. He assured me any shortcomings are his own habits and not his education. I'll hold my breath and wait to see the first grade report.

 

Too much info, but many of you have asked and have been instrumental in helping us craft an education that helped him go where he wanted to be and be prepared for it.

Edited by swimmermom3
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Thanks for the update, Lisa; I'm glad to hear that your son is much recovered and so happily busy and engaged.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Thank you!  I've used up all my likes today on threads I probably shouldn't have been playing in.  Any chance you are heading my way any time soon? I'd love to catch up on what your dd is doing.

 

I have to add that tonight's bad news (to his parents) was that he has already started to submit resumes to local yacht clubs in DC for the summer and beyond and he is working with academic advising on putting together his application for an internship.  He really wants a chance to work with his favorite senator, but that's very competitive and the work isn't really in the same area that he's headed in, but we'll see.

 

His little PNW soul will wilt in a DC summer.  It needs rain. We drove to the coast while he was home sick. It was gray and raining the entire day and he said, "This makes me so happy."

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What a wonderful update!

 

(Well maybe except the part about not coming home for the summer...  :crying: )

 

I have kind of known that with Sailor Dude, once he flew from the nest, it could be a long time before he landed at home, if ever.

 

That said, he is still expected to make his summer financial contribution to his education. It will be difficult to live in DC over the summer and save money.  

 

Is your son applying to colleges this year?

 

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I have kind of known that with Sailor Dude, once he flew from the nest, it could be a long time before he landed at home, if ever.

 

That said, he is still expected to make his summer financial contribution to his education. It will be difficult to live in DC over the summer and save money.  

 

Is your son applying to colleges this year?

 

 

He's taking a gap year next year to focus on fencing. His competition schedule this year is nuts — 6 national and 4 international competitions, each of which involves anywhere from 4-7 days away from home. We are leaving this weekend for the 3rd World Cup of the season! He will start seriously talking to coaches in the spring after Junior Olympics, and I expect he will commit in July right after Nationals. So hopefully when it's time to apply, it will not only be one-&-done, it will be a done deal. Although filling out all the stupid NCAA paperwork is almost worse than having to do lots of college apps!

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Argh!  3:30am phone call. Vomited last night, still dry heaving. He wanted to know how to wash bedding that's a mess. He was going to huddle up on the laundry room floor with a large bath sheet and try to study for his first final while his bedding was in the laundry.

 

I feel like the last couple years of our lives with our adult kids have been like a Chevy Chase vacation movie on steroids - only not funny.

 

His premed roommate says ds has sick so much because he was homeschooled. Shoot. He taught kids to sail all summer. I thought that for sure would have helped his immune system. :tongue_smilie:

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I have seen this thread, and avoided it because it terrified me (dd is cross-country from us, and had a round of illness at the beginning of the semester had me anguished and second-guessing the decision to send her so far away! I couldn't mentally accept the possibility that the mono could cause a whole other issue (she's already had mono and then had a couple relapses that knocked her flat to the floor... and that was WITH me at her side taking care of her... and thus I avoided opening this thread because of my overactive imagination/anxiety...).

 

Now that dd is home for winter break & I can read this without it sending me into a bout of anxiety, I read the posts, and I am really happy to read the next-to-most-recent update and hope that he's fully recovered again from the recent bout of illness!!! What a first semester he's had!!! I am so sorry! What a driven kid he is, though! In the midst of all of this, making plans for summer and keeping up with his sport!! My dd would have just rolled over and waved a white flag at this point, I think. lol

 

{hugs} to you, mom! What a roller coaster!

Edited by hopskipjump
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Argh! 3:30am phone call. Vomited last night, still dry heaving. He wanted to know how to wash bedding that's a mess. He was going to huddle up on the laundry room floor with a large bath sheet and try to study for his first final while his bedding was in the laundry.

 

I feel like the last couple years of our lives with our adult kids have been like a Chevy Chase vacation movie on steroids - only not funny.

 

His premed roommate says ds has sick so much because he was homeschooled. Shoot. He taught kids to sail all summer. I thought that for sure would have helped his immune system. :tongue_smilie:

Hope he is doing better now.

 

Btw, I call bogus on his roommate's analysis. Stress, diet, lack of sleep, maybe different strains of germs on the east coast vs the west, but your ds is not a bubble boy. No need for guilt where none exists!

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