TEEN CENTER :: COLLEGE CENTER

FRESHMAN JOURNAL: MARCH 11, 2005

Pass the Kleenex

By Abha Bhattarai

Sunday morning, I woke up with a throbbing pain in my legs that made it difficult to even roll over in bed. I had a fever, and not knowing what to do, I called my mom and then the local hospital. I'd been out dancing at the dorm formal for hours the night before, and I was stuck in bed with another reason to call the doctor. Even the fun things in college had become dangerous.

It's a little unnerving to be a college student in the winter, when everyone around is coughing and sneezing and taking medicine to fall asleep at night. I shared in on the frequent cold- and flu-like symptoms with my suitemates and for almost a month, we passed around a thermometer and boxes of Kleenex from room to room.

It's been a challenge dealing with being sick while being so far away from home. I was clueless at first, thinking that a couple of ibuprofen pills could solve anything. For six weeks, I relied on the same bottle of over-the-counter medication to stop my headaches and stomachaches, coughing fits and sore throats.

By the time I finally made it to health services, the doctor told me I had bronchitis. It took a prescription of decongestants and two sets of antibiotics to make the coughing go away, and here I was thinking a glass of water and two pills every four hours would keep me healthy.

It worried me a little that I couldn't tell the difference between a cold and a case of bronchitis. After that, I started relying on health services to offer a solution to every little problem. Every time my cough seemed worse than normal, or my temperature teetered over 98.6, I made an appointment, bundled up and headed over to see the doctor.

Now I realize that five visits in two months is a little excessive and, well, unnecessary. I've learned to be more careful about how much sleep I get and what I eat, which has been harder than I'd imagined because what looks good in the cafeteria isn't always what's most nutritious, and getting enough sleep becomes harder and harder as the quarter progresses.

But now I've begun dispensing some of the advice my parents reiterated to me on the phone: drink herbal tea, stay warm, get enough rest. (Although there were some things I chose to disregard, like when my mom told me not to go anywhere in the snow, "not even for groceries, we'll mail them to you.")

Before I left for college, a group of my dad's colleagues gave me an emergency first-aid kit with bottles of over-the-counter medication, anti-bacterial ointment and an instant cold pack as a going-away gift. Back at my graduation party in May, I'd never imagined that that survival kit would become my favorite present. But now I know better.