Surviving Food Poisoning While At University

You’d think your first week back to university would be fun and relaxing, right? Think again. Last week, on my second day back to school, I got food poisoning after eating at a deep dish pizza place on Bathurst and College (beware!). I spent the rest of the night vomiting, and the next couple of days feverish, weak, with a bad headache, and barely able to eat anything.  Though I wasn't sick for too long, I definitely found it pretty stressful. Here are some tips I picked up for dealing with food poisoning while at school! Rest up!  Getting a major illness during the school year means that you’re often forced to rest in bed, whether you want to or not. For me, my head hurt too much to look at my computer and do my readings. Because of this, I was forced to not do any readings or work for about three days—though this was a lot easier because it was the first week of school, it still stressed me out to not do any work and let my readings pile up.  Now that I’m recovered, I really understand that it was necessary for me to take that time off—resting in bed and not straining myself was essential to getting better, and if I had pushed myself to do lots of work, I probably would have ended up sicker. I also managed to get all my readings done in time after I got better, so I didn't need to worry about letting work pile up. If you’re sick, make sure you’re resting up, no matter the stress that might come with taking some time off.  Call on trusted friends  Getting food poisoning or another major illness also means that you’re going to need some help from friends. For me, I was unable to walk to the grocery store to get food, as I was way too weak. I also needed specialized foods like saltine crackers and apple sauce which were easy on my stomach. So, even though it was a bit awkward to ask, I asked my friends for help getting groceries and running other errands.  I also asked my friends who were in classes with me to send me notes for those classes, as I found that walking to school took a lot of effort that I couldn’t afford to waste.  Reach out to profs, even if you don’t have a doctor’s note  Finally, communicating with professors is super important. I was worried that because a lot of professors have strict policies requiring doctor’s notes, I wouldn’t be able to get any accommodations. However, I found that if I emailed them and explained the situation, I was able to at least inform them of what was going on and get some lenience in terms of assignments and participation. 

If you’re sick, good luck getting better! Remember, resting up, staying calm, and getting the help you need is key.