{"id":27356,"date":"2016-02-11T09:27:53","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T14:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=27356"},"modified":"2016-03-29T19:39:22","modified_gmt":"2016-03-29T23:39:22","slug":"sick-in-the-6ix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2016\/02\/11\/sick-in-the-6ix\/","title":{"rendered":"Sick in the 6ix"},"content":{"rendered":"My alarm goes off. I sit up and my head is spinning. I reach for my alarm and miss it the first two times. I finally get it to switch off, lie back down, and assess the situation. I\u2019m drenched in sweat. My head is pounding. My throat is really sore; it hurts to swallow. I feel too cold and too hot at the same time. Memories of my dreams start to trickle back: flying donuts, green skies, canoeing on a chocolate river. I start to put the pieces together.<\/span>\r\n\r\n
\"Pictured:
<\/span> This fever dream is brought to you by Wonka\u2019s Chocolate Factory\u2122 and Pure Imagination\u2122 Picture courtesy of \u00a0http:\/\/www.frenchtoastsunday.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nYep. I\u2019m sick. Now what?\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nSTAGE ONE: DENIAL<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\nI can\u2019t be sick; I have far too much to do today. The solution is simple: I\u2019ll stop being sick. Mind over matter, as they say. I stumble down the steps of my bunk bed, fumble my way through my morning routine, and head to the library. I set to work as best I can; I find it hard to focus but I struggle on. I have dinner plans but I\u2019m feeling a bit too nauseous to enjoy myself. I already bought tickets to see a show, so there will be no backing out now. I can\u2019t wait for it to be over so I can go home and sleep. As soon as I return home, my head hits the pillow and I\u2019m out like a light. It\u2019s a night of tossing and turning and fitful waking moments. Matter: 1, Mind: 0.<\/span>\r\n\r\nSTAGE TWO: DESPAIR<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\nWhen I groggily come to\u2014I didn\u2019t set an alarm for today\u2014I\u2019m unsurprised to find that I feel even worse than yesterday. I stay in bed for another hour or so, despairing at the fact that I have to start getting ready for class. I descend the bunk bed stairs slowly, aches and pains burdening my every step, and stumble miserably into the kitchen. I make myself some toast but lose my appetite after one bite. I lie on the couch and enter my symptoms into Google.<\/span>\r\n\r\n
\"Pictured:<\/a>
<\/span> Bad idea. Not one of these looks remotely palatable.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nI build a cocoon for myself out of blankets and pillows and remain there for hours. My missed class will be a problem for Future Emma. Around 8pm, I grudgingly shuffle back into my room, blankets and pillows trailing behind me. I promptly fall asleep, despairing at the idea of a day wasted and worrying about all I will have to compensate for tomorrow.<\/span>\r\n\r\nSTAGE THREE: ACCEPTANCE<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\nAfter yet another restless night\u2014this time courtesy of stinging red blisters that have reared their ugly heads on my extremities\u2014I awake early with my alarm and go straight to the clinic. I leave with antihistamines. It turns out I have contracted some sort of viral-chickenpox-for-adults-hellish-nightmare. I have been told to rest and drink lots of liquids. I follow the doctor\u2019s orders, alternating between napping and doing easy readings. One of my classes has an audiobook, which makes things a lot easier and less taxing. I do all the work I can, without pushing myself too far. I make the appropriate excuses to my professors and make arrangements for getting my notes and keeping up with assignments. It\u2019s a pretty miserable day, but at least I\u2019m getting on with it.<\/span>\r\n\r\nIf you\u2019re wondering how things turned out, it took me a little over a week to start recovering. Oh boy! Things got a lot worse before they got better! I\u2019m lucky enough to have family nearby, so when things started to get really bad, they came to get me. I had to visit two more doctors, get some more prescriptions filled, and get a doctor\u2019s note. I was ultimately instructed to stay off school for a week. That\u2019s right, folks, I missed a week of classes! I\u2019m still alive though; I\u2019m quite stressed, but I\u2019m alive and recovering.<\/span>\r\n\r\nIf you\u2019re not lucky enough to have family close-by to help you out (a.k.a. Do everything for you while you lie on the couch moaning), the university has services for you! You can book an appointment<\/a> at the UofT clinic, located on the second floor of the Koffler Centre.\u00a0Last year, they helped me get glass out of my foot (A reverse-Cinderella situation, one might say).\u00a0UTSU explains the details of UofT health coverage better than I ever could here<\/a>. Additional information for part-time students is available here\u00a0<\/a>and for grad students here<\/a>.\u00a0Useful info on the various health services offered through UofT and the preferred network for services in Toronto not affiliated with the university is available here<\/a>. Keep in mind that if your illness is severely impacting your schoolwork, communication is key. Keeping your course instructors informed means that they will be able to understand the situation and help you develop a game plan for getting back on track. You can also contact your college registrar <\/a>with any questions or concerns you might have.<\/span>\r\n\r\nGetting sick is the worst, especially when you\u2019re a university student and every day brings with it a new deadline and a new chance to fall behind. I have learned that it\u2019s much better to get back to 100% as quickly as possible rather than push yourself to get to 50% and make yourself sicker in the process. That being said, I found it better for my mental state when I was doing at least a few productive things whenever I could manage to. The key is to be as productive as you can without impeding your body\u2019s healing process. Yes, I'm frantically playing catch-up now that I\u2019m feeling better, but I can handle that. What I can\u2019t handle is feeling ill and miserable for any longer than is absolutely necessary.<\/span>\r\n\r\n
\"\"
<\/span> Get well, UofT! Gif courtesy of static1.squarespace.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My alarm goes off. I sit up and my head is spinning. I reach for my alarm and miss it the first two times. I finally get it to switch off, lie back down, and assess the situation. I\u2019m drenched in sweat. My head is pounding. My throat is really sore; it hurts to swallow. I feel too cold and too hot at the same time. Memories of my dreams start to trickle back: flying donuts, green skies, canoeing on a chocolate river. I start to put the pieces together.<\/span>\r\n\r\n
\"Pictured:
<\/span> This fever dream is brought to you by Wonka\u2019s Chocolate Factory\u2122 and Pure Imagination\u2122 Picture courtesy of \u00a0http:\/\/www.frenchtoastsunday.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nYep. I\u2019m sick. Now what?\u00a0<\/span>
Continue reading “Sick in the 6ix”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":271,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[542,1816,326,172,1460,25507,1837],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27356"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/271"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27356"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28161,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27356\/revisions\/28161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}