Everyone remembers the first time they were sick in college. You’re alone; no one to tell you where to go, what medicine to take, or how to take care of yourselves. Getting sick is obviously never planned, but clearly points out how little college students know about health and how direly dependent we are on our parents in times of need.
1. Denial.
The first phone call home. Mom or Dad tells you to head straight to the doctor after hearing your elaborate symptoms, but you refuse. The second phone call home, they really start to worry. You make every excuse not to go to the doctor. Money. Time. No transportation. It happens to the best of us.
2. True Sickness.
By the time you actually decide you want to go to doctor, you can’t get out of bed. You probably have a high fever, which means no chance of you driving yourself. Then there’s the begging of your friends to take you. You probably should’ve went when your parents said so…
3. The Doctor.
When you manage to get to the doctor, you’re way worse than you should have been. They diagnose you, give you some meds, and tell you to stay in bed. Yeah right.
4. The “Resting Stage.”
To go to class, or to not go to class…are you drinking enough fluids? Taking care of your self the way you should? Probably not. Like they say, “Don’t miss class,” right?
5. The Recovery.
By day four or five, the antibiotics have pretty much done all they can do, or so we think. At home, your parents would make you finish the entire dose, but it’s too hard to keep track of, right? This time though, you’ll take every precaution not to get sick again. Will you follow the same stages as last time, or actually follow your parents’ directions? Who knows!
