Glandular Fever... can't start this term

M.E.

My daughter has glandular fever (is in hospital at the moment). She will not be able to go back to Uni.. her final year. Have other people experienced an illness before the start of a year and missed a term? Should she think of having a year off as the doctors have said she is unlikely to recover for at least this next term.

ajdj

I remember way back being at school and a girl got glandular fever in GCSE year, she initially thought she would be off for 3 months and this turned into a year. Third year at uni is vital and she shouldn't really be under any pressure to return, but encouraged to focus on looking after herself and getting better. Her immune system will be so low that she will pick up any cough/cold/flu going so staying away from the uni environment might not be a bad thing!

Speak to the uni concerned and see what they advise, but if you are in a position to support her financially whilst she can't study and work then I would think it would be best to defer her third year. She should be given the opportunity to come out with the best grades possible.

Baileys_Babe

I also think she should defer as this will give her a chance to full regain her strength at an appropriate pace without feeling she has to be fit for the new year, which is not that far away when your dealing with an illness like glandular fever. If she is fortunate enough to recover with quite a lot of the accademic year remaining she could look at getting a part time job to boost her finances and to build up her strength without over doing it. I hope she recovers soon.

rb10

Your username is spookily rather closely connected to Glandular Fever. See here - https://www.ayme.org.uk. This illness can often develop from Glandular Fever, and, I'm afraid to say, can last several years.

You must keep an eye out, and if it looks like it might be turning into ME (see a list of the most common symptoms here), then follow all the advice given on the AYME website to the letter. Ignore doctors if they are telling you otherwise - some are not very supportive at all.

Don't push back to uni, if she needs to take a year out, then so be it. One year's delay is far, far better than going back to uni, over-doing it, and having the possibility of the Glandular Fever developing into ME, which could easily last five years or more.

Take care. Don't let her use more than 70% of her energy. I appreciate that this is very difficult to do, but she needs to listen to her body, and when symptoms come on, reduce her activity levels.

If it was me, I would speak to the uni, take the year off, and be very, very careful.


(PS - I don't want to alarm you at all, many people have GF, and get over it fine. It's just that I think it's better that you are prepared for what could potentially happen. Knowing now means you will be more on the look-out, and so if it does develop into ME, she should have a better chance of a quick recovery if you are careful from the start.)

nad1611

QUOTE RB10 "]Your username is spookily rather closely connected to Glandular Fever. See here - www.ayme.org.uk. This illness can often develop from Glandular Fever, and, I'm afraid to say, can last several years".

"You must keep an eye out, and if it looks like it might be turning into ME (see a list of the most common symptoms here), then follow all the advice given on the AYME website to the letter. Ignore doctors if they are telling you otherwise - some are not very supportive at all"



No offense rb10 but I think that the mother and daughter have enough on their plate without loading on a very minor possibility that the glandular fever may proceed to ME. They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and I think this is a good example of it. You are just as likely to become ill with ME as this girl with glandular fever and I just don't think you should be filling their minds with it at a time when they're already obviously worried. Any infection is in effect a predisposing factor, so we're all as likely or unlikely as one another, to develop the ME following illness,trauma etc.

As a person from a medical background and having suffered from glandular fever myself I agree with everyone else that glandular fever can last several months or longer but the after effects of it take longer,although everyone is different. You wouldn't want to be setting your daughter goals of getting back to Uni and then finding she's not well enough causing needless stress. I think mentally your daughter will initially feel upset by the decision to delay but will soon realise that it was the right decision and as another post says give her a much better chance if she defers her final year. The University will understand completely, as your daughter will not be the first student with a need to delay, on medical grounds

MrsManda

As nad said, don't worry about your daughter getting ME as a result of glandular fever, it's unlikely. Deferring the year is probably for the best however she shouldn't make the decision until she's spoken to her year tutor as they may suggest an alternative - a friend of mind missed almost an entire year of her degree due to serious illness and as her other work was so good they allowed her to get a degree despite missing a couple of her core modules.
The sooner the university is contacted and the situation explained, the better. The university will be understanding if they're kept informed and your daughter will get better sooner once the stress of what to do about her degree has been sorted.

Hope she gets better soon, Glandular Fever is horrible but doesn't have to lead to complications. I got glandular fever when I was 15, I was actualy in hospital with something else when the symptoms kicked in. I was ill for a few weeks but recovered relatively easily and a month later you'd have never known I'd been ill. I've not had any reoccuring symptoms, (10yrs later)

LadyMorticia

Hello.

I don't really have any advice for you but I just wanted to say that I hope your daughter gets better soon.

I had Glandular Fever earlier this year and was also in hospital for it (the sore throat part of it got complicated, a quinsy developed, I couldn't drink or eat etc).

I'm still recovering from a lot of the symptoms and I got it about 6 months ago.

I hope she makes a faster recovery than me.

sp1987

Someone I know had glandular fever part way through her final year last year and was told she needed to come back this year to finish her course as she was just getting worse by the day. She was struggling in, fainting, being sick from fatigue....not good!!

Taking a year off is easily arranged by the uni and would make much more sense than taking a term off. I could not fathom catching up a couple of weeks of missed work let alone a term; half the years work basically. We had two terms then the exams. The first term is all the work to build on for the second term, so effectively she would have to learn this work before going back so the second term did not fall behind too. It just screams stress/disaster/resits. Even the most talented and dedicated student will underperform at best.

Especially as it is her final year she needs to be at her full learning capacity to get the most out of it she can. If she is ill that just will not happen.

Talk to the uni, they are lovely, people defer all the time (I deferred my post grad year this year and they are only too happy to help you do this).

If she does get better within a few short months she can talk to the tutors about the workload for the final year and get a headstart on the reading lists (if she really is that dedicated!) or get a part time job in the area she wants a career in.

charliecheese

With relevant documents from the doctor, I don't see any reason why she wouldn't be able to defer for a year, I know many students that did this. On the other hand I had to withdraw from my university because of illness and they were unwilling to give me a year to recover. I had a friend who also was in a similar position, and despite needing dialysis and now a kidney transplant, she was unable to defer. It's very strange. Just make sure you really bombard the university with documents and information, do not take no for an answer and you should be fine.

costaerer

def defer for the year!!! not worth the stress catching up.
if she recovers quickly she could get a job.....im sure she'd like the money!

luellaaa

Defer!!! I had glandular fever and had to take a year out during my Highers. I went back to school soon after but I was constantly ill afterwards( not saying this will happen to everyone who gets GF) and eventually had to take more time off. I sat my exams again the next year but I have never been the same since. Her last year is very important. I have had time off for another illness which took me a month to recover from, in the middle of university exams, and the university informed me that they would rather see me sit them better, and defer the exams, than struggle through and end up with a mediocre grade that didn't reflect my true potential! Uni's can be very supportive, it is best to talk to them now and discuss your daughters options with her. Stress can make these type of illnesses worse though, so maybe it would be best for her to defer and not have to stress about what she is missing while she is off ill?