Being Sick In College: How to Deal

I've had a few people asking me when I'll make a blog post again. I haven't posted in 12 days! Unfortunately, I had a lot thrown on me at once. It started with a heavy workload, continued with the stomach flu, and ended with a family emergency leaving me with a heavier workload. I don't have the stomach flu anymore though and my family is doing better, so now all I have to focus on is catching up on work, both for school and my blog! I have some fun ideas for future posts, and I should be posting more actively in the next few weeks.

One of my best friends at school is a freshman and she is currently sick. It's her first time being sick away from home, so she's kind of freaked out. Being sick away from home is scary, but you can make it through. I thought that it'd be a good idea to make a blog post with some of my tips for dealing with sickness in college. 

1. Buy a thermometer before you get sick. Last year I went to school without a thermometer. It was just something that never crossed my mind. Then when I got sick for the first time (on my birthday!) I was like, "Oh yeah. That would be useful..." But when you're sick, you're likely in no position to go to the drugstore to buy one. This issue can be solved by getting one before you get sick!

2. Email your professors ASAP. If I know that I'm going to be sick enough to miss class, I email my professors as soon as I can. Different professors have different policies. Some of them have a certain number of classes you can miss before you need official documentation, and others might require you to have a note from a doctor or something. Make sure you know what their policies are. If you're sending the email within a few hours of class or even after class, be sure to apologize for the late notice. You do not need to go into full detail explaining the details of your night spent by the toilet throwing up, but you should say a little more than "I'm sick, I won't be in class." Ask about what you missed if it's not on the syllabus, and sometimes you can even offer to go to their office hours to catch up.

3. Ask people what's going on in your classes. Make sure that in every class, you have at least one person who you can text, Facebook message or email to find out what you missed. This, in addition to talking to your professor, will guarantee that you have all of your bases covered.

4. Don't be afraid to rest. For me, the worst thing about being sick in college (besides being away from home) is the fact that I feel like I should be going to classes. However, you need to take care of yourself. If you are contagious then you need to keep others in mind too. Don't be afraid to stay in your room and sleep.

5. Eat what you can. I just had the stomach flu and my stomach was very sensitive for about a week. I lived on ginger ale, bananas, and toast. Unfortunately, I didn't stock any of these in my room. My friends were more than happy to bring food to my room for me, which helped out a ton. Eventually I had just enough energy to walk to the dining hall to get food for myself, but I still had to eat very blandly. It was important to get some food in my stomach though, because you need energy to get better!

6. Go to the health center if you think it's serious. When in doubt, try going to the health center. They will be able to give you any medications that might help and will let you know what you should be doing to recover. They can also write notes that verify that you are sick, which will help you if you're trying to get extensions on your schoolwork.

7. Don't party until you have fully recovered. I still have not fully recovered from my stomach flu, due to immense amounts of stress and a lack of sleep. It's very tempting to go out this weekend to party the stress away, but I know that I really should be resting. Maybe I'll go out once, but I'm definitely not going to pull a three nights in a row weekend this time.

Getting sick is one of the worst aspects of college, but you can totally deal with it. What are some of your tips for dealing with illness in college?