College/University Students!

Hi all! I'm 20 years old and I'm a junior at Boston College - right now, I don't know if I'm going to pursue surgery but I'm curious to hear how the students on the board juggled surgery and academics. I'm originally from New Jersey and I'm considering having surgery in Boston. Did you opt to have surgery near home or near school? How long was it before you were able to return to the dorms and go to class? Did you do surgery over winter, spring, or summer break? Or did you just go ahead and have it during the school year? Were professors understanding? Were you worried about complications interfering with your semester? Thanks SO much! ~Jen

I had surgery back in March... right between winter and spring quarter during spring break. I finished all my finals during the last week of class and took off finals week. So I had two weeks off instead of just one week. I had surgery near my mom's home since it was just easier for her to take care of me in case anything happened. I was able to return right on schedule to start of spring quarter. It was tough returning to class since i was still tired and recovering, but i made it. Finding things to eat while on campus was tough too so I brought food with me just in case. Well with my professors I kinda didn't tell the whole truth, I just had my surgeon write a note on his letterhead saying I was scheduled for surgery and didn't get into why I was having surgery. If I were to do it again I would have picked "easier" classes to take during spring quarter so I wouldn't have spent so much time on campus and more time recovering.

well im going to be having surgery on december 27th for the winter break so ill have about 3 weeks to relax and like was said b4 i chose to take easier classes and actually less classes than usual im taking 5 instead of 6 and i spread them out during the week so i dont have to carry heavy books and stuff....i would definitly do it either in winter break or summer break because u NEVER knwo wat could happen and if u might need extra time ... also id do it close to home where u can have ur family taking care of u lol i know myself and ill need my mom by my side lol btw im 20 too lol im a big baby but thats ok!!!.also u have to see if there can be a way for u to change ur meal plan to accomodate ur new diet thats what i have to deal with now but ill let u knwo how that goes ...another thing im gonna do is at the beginning of the semester let my professors know what ive just undergone and to please understand if for anyreason i have to miss class or walk out of class...ill definitly let u know how things go though lol if u wanna talk my screen name is heavensangel8143...hope i helped smooches!!! good luck and welcome to OH!!! Jenn

Is it possible for you to take off a quarter of the school year and just like, stay at yours moms house or somthing?? ~Amy

Hi Jen, before I forget I just wanted to wish you good luck if you do decided to get the surgery. I had my surgery in early June so that I would have plenty of time to rest before school started again. I have just transferred colleges, but I do go to school and had my surgery done in my hometown so that wasn't a problem. Because of some complications I have had, I have taken this semester off and am hopefully going to return in the spring. If I were you, I would definitly wait until summer or maybe winter break to have the surgery. Everyone takes a different amount of time to heal and I imagine it would be extremely stressful to go to school and have the surgery at the same time...why do that when you don't necessarily have to? However, if you want the surgery ASAP maybe you could just enroll in online classes if your school offers them. That was originally my plan when I wasn't feeling well but all of the classes were full by the time I was out of the hospital. Just an idea, good luck! Sarah

I'm in pretty much the same situation as you. I live in Louisiana, but I go to school in Indiana. I opted to have my surgery scheduled for Dec. 15th in Louisiana...and hopefully I will be able to come back to school for the next term in the middle of January. Who knows if it will actually work out like that, but I'm planning on coming back to Indiana.

Hey Jen, I had surgery about two weeks after I got out of school for summer break. I definitely needed that time to adjust to all the emotional and physical changes caused by this surgery. I felt pretty good after about a month, but I didn't start to feel "normal" until just a few weeks before this semester began. If you can plan it so that you have surgery soon after summer begins I would definitely recommend that. It will just make for a better experience overall. If you aren't stressed during recovery it will go a lot faster. If you have any questions feel free to IM me, my screen name is toputia. Good Luck! Maggie

Hey Jen! I had my surgery last Summer Break. I made sure to have it at the very beginning of the break (like 7 days after I got home from school) just in case of complications. It was also nice for me to be able to adjust to the new eating habits and figure out what I could and could not eat. Most of my story is on my profile. Talk to you later! If you have any questions, feel free to email me! ~Jenny