Wow, Halloween weekend was scary! Yes, it was Halloween, but for me that was not the scary part. I was very frightened when my daughter Julia texted me that she skipped class and was huddled on her bed, crying because she was in so much pain. I told her to go to the nurse NOW to be seen. She has been battling a mystery pain in her abdomen for several months, and was tired of being poked and prodded with no resolution, but this could not be ignored. Long story short, she ended up in the emergency room in Lynchburg General Hospital, diagnosed with a kidney infection, and had to be given morphine to make the pain subside to a tolerable level. Thankfully a friend had driven her to the ER, and in the wee hours of the morning she was back in her dorm room. Needless to say, that next morning my husband and I drove down to see how she was doing, and to spend the weekend caring for her. Hopefully you have never needed to know that a kidney infection is extremely painful! We got her on a consistent schedule of narcotic and non-narcotic pain meds, antibiotics and anti-nausea medications, and by Sunday night she actually wanted to eat a piece of pizza. Thankfully, she was back to classes while she finishes her antibiotics, and hopefully that is the last of the kidney infection.
There’s nothing like being too many miles away to help when your daughter is really sick to make you feel helpless. But there were several wonderful things that happened that should make you feel good about your daughter being at Sweet Briar:
Even though this ordeal started early Friday afternoon and lasted well past midnight, several friends didn’t hesitate to take time out of their busy Halloween Friday to drive Julia to Lynchburg General, stay with her, bring her food, drive her to the pharmacy to get her medications and ensure she took them as prescribed, drive her back to Sweet Briar, put her to bed and ensure she had what she needed. They kept an eye on her and helped as needed until we arrived. What another heartwarming display of how these young women truly look out for each other, and take care of each another without a second thought. Not how anyone wants to spend a Friday night on any weekend, much less on Halloween weekend when I’m sure there were many more fun and exciting things these girls would rather have been doing. But instead they did what was needed, just like you would do for your own family. They are only sophomores, but these Sweet Briar women already truly function as an extended family.
In addition, Julia missed a class on Friday, all of her classes on Monday and Tuesday, and couldn’t even spell her name properly over the weekend, so homework was out of the question. She emailed her teachers to let them know why, and they were all very understanding, sympathetic, and encouraged her not to worry about class and assignments, that when she was well enough to resume, they would work with her so that she can catch up on what she missed. You don’t see anything close to that kind of compassion and flexibility at a larger school. Julia is taking 18 tough credit hours this semester, and without her teachers’ flexibility, I really don’t know how she would be able to catch up. Instead of being stressed out the whole time she was sick, she could relax so she could heal as quickly as possible, and knew that she could work things out when she was better.
While I would never wish for this to happen, the silver lining is that Julia is on the mend, and we got to see that no matter what happens, we can count on Sweet Briar to take care of their own, both students and faculty, even when we can’t be there! That thought gives me great comfort; I hope it does for all of you, especially those who are far away, to know that your daughter has a community who will watch out for her in your absence. While of course we would always prefer to be there to care for our daughter when she is sick, her sisters will care for as good as (well, allllllmost as good as 🙂 you would, and her teachers will work with her when she is ready to resume her studies. I sure do love Sweet Briar!
One more quick topic for today: Do you know about the Vixen Den? The Vixen Den provides treats at sporting events, treats in the quad, and other treats on special occasions for the students on campus. Just a little thing, but a great morale booster! Many of the events can be totally funded for $100. Others can cost $1,000. Having many members in the Vixen Den who are willing to participate in funding events increases the number of events and the quality of the goodies. It’s easy to join by searching the Vixen Den on Facebook and requesting to join the group; then you can follow the requests for participation and choose which events to help fund. Won’t you please be open to joining the Vixen Den?
That’s all for today 🙂 What topics would YOU like me to address? Send them to me at SBCParentToParent@gmail.com, and I’ll address them in upcoming posts, or sooner if needed. Until then, talk to you soon!