Resection and College

[Cosmojo]

Its my first post on this forum, but I do consider myself somewhat of a Crohn's expert (5 years out from diagnosis, never a remission- no joke) dr's say I've prob had it all my life. Anyways thinking over my first resection (had one 3 years ago in which the surgeon changed his mind during- dumb but whatever) so now I'm on Remicade, mthtx, and tons of other acid/crohnic pain/ vitamins/ ect and they found more ulcers in the same place I always have them. I personally just want that area gone, lots of scar tissue ect. I'm a college student though, double major in fact and I'm not willing to take a semester off and I know full recovery is like 4 weeks and I do not have any breaks that long, how do I approach this with my health in mind w/o killing my GPA?

 

[PsychoJane]

Hello !
I don't want to sound pessemistic right here Cosmo but I don't think there is a million options...

It really depends what type of surgery you are exactly facing, would you be having a stoma and all? Would it be laparoscopic surgery or the whole cut? This will all come in line.

Is there really like noooo way at all you could skip a semester, summer or something? Cause really, you won't wish to go to school for at the least the first couple weeks or more... ( I can't remember very well because it has been like over 10 years ago for me but I remember recovery taking quite a bit of time...)

Could you maybe take a session with less classes and well, could you maybe get some online classes done, would that even be an option? I'm guessing that you might be able to start studying earlier in these conditions rather than having to show up to classes....

Just make sure you don't get yourself sick to the point you can't keep up with your school anymore, then it would not be a better situation than taking a break to get things done when the situation is not too bad.

 

[crazycanuck]

I'm with Jane on this. I'd strongly consider the semester off. In the big picture is a semester off going to seem like a lot when you have the rest of your life to work? After recovering you might find a job to save up some money before going back again and the stress free time might go a long way to helping you feel a lot better. I missed probably about the equivalent of 3 weeks this year just scattered throughout and I got all the notes and handouts from other students and I'm really struggling studying here for my exams. It's just not the same when it's not your notes and you weren't the one hearing them.

I guess about the only option I see for you going to school and having the procedure is doing online courses. You still have to go in for tests obviously but it may be a lot better option and you can use the procedure as a reason to defer the exam time until you can make it in on your own time.

I honestly think health is more important than school, work, money or whatever else and I'd very much consider one of those options as I think your kind of wanting the best of 2 worlds here. As Jane said getting sick to the point of you can't go to class, weren't prepared to miss classes and you've paid for them is a much worse situation to be in.

 

[Emily]

Hey, I needed surgery last fall, super urgent and couldn't be postponed past December. I sat around trying to calculate healing times and online classes. In the end I took the term off and it WAS worth it. Please, if you try to do this during the term, your GPA will suffer far more than were you to just take the term off. It's just a few months, and oh my gosh, there is no way I could have made it through a term of college dealing with all of my problems plus an upcoming surgery, hospital time, and healing time.

I strongly recommend taking the term off. It will fly by, and then you can start the next one off in a better state.
Good luck with your decision!

Edited to add: You have a valid reason for it as well. Nobody (future employers, grad school admissions, etc) will look down upon you for this. There are people that take terms off to just relax, but you have a real, legitimate, documented reason for it, so please don't hesitate. As I said, it'll be a real mistake to try to manuever your surgery around you term.

Sorry for the semi-rant :redface: