To jump on her for much needed advice re dd a levels - she is ill ..

[ginorwine]

Last week dd had flu like virus and struggled to revise and sit paper 1 of two a levels - we got gp letter explaining she will have been affected by this for exam board . They bay allocate cple extra points .
She has now got white pus like stuff on tonsils - took to gp again - tested glandular fever await blood s results .
Spoke to exam. Officer again as she has not been well enough to revise .
Advised can miss one paper ( wed thur due ) but it a gamble as must sit paper 3 as will get no a levels if misses paper 3
Dd not been able to revise and is saying she thinks she should miss the exams and use time to try to get better for paper 3 rather than struggle thro a paper she likely to do badly on and put self unde r more stress and just aim to do last papers .
It's a massive gamble to me as she cd miss paper 3 and not get any a levels ..
she is sobbing as she feels her university place is disappearing due to illness ..
any advice really appriciated .

Oh no, Sorry to hear your DD is unwell.

My DD is ill at home, started with headache yesterday in biology paper, and this morning it was a fully blown migraine of epic proportions (fainting, vomiting etc). She's on Naproxen.
She's got Maths tomorrow S2.
I'm hoping she will miraculously recover overnight.

I hope your DD hasn't got GF, that is truly nasty. My Dsis had it when were teens, she was in hospital and was ill for months.

Good luck 🍀🍀🍀

Really sorry for your DD & you OP. My DD2 has had a lot of illness this year (yr 12 - just grateful no AS levels to sit) including GF. As others have said, GF tends to hang around in the system & my DD, though not (2 months on) obviously fatigued seems much more vulnerable to infections. Also (I'm sorry to alarm you but feel I should warn you) she ended up having emergency abdominal surgery due to an uncommon but known complication of GF. If it was my DD, I'd definitely delay the jabs but also think I would not feel at all easy about her going to Thailand so soon. mr405 has good advice about contacting uni now about mitigating circumstances - we have seen this advice too.
What a lousy situation.

OP: GF can be awful and last for months, but for plenty of people it's more like flu. My friend thought he had tonsillitis and went to the dr, when the blood test came back the following week he was back to normal and v surprised to find out he'd actually had GF!

Mellifera if DD can face it, take her to boots. The pharmacist there can sell you sumitriptan, an anti-migraine drug. It's not a painkiller- it works to bring the blood flow in the brain back to normal which effectively cures that migraine event.

Also meant to say that my DD was hospitalised overnight with tonsillitis & GF so do go back to GP if worried (we went back when no improvement with antibiotics after 72 hours). Mellifera sorry to hear your DD's unwell - hope she's heaps better tomorrow

My DD had glandular fever last January, she had to drop out of sixth form and estart this academic year. For the first month going to the doctors would result in her just sleeping for the rest of the day.
So far your DD sounds as if it is mild. If she can sit the exams then its probably best if she does, as she can't guarantee she will feel any better in a couple of days - it has a recovery time of weeks.
If it is just tonsillitis she may feel better fairly quickly.
But glandular fever takes it out of you for ages, can relapse and can cause side effect (a niece has a hearing loss as a result).

Thanks all
Yes been in touch with unis today
Have got gp letters

Good op let us know how she goes on won't you? Xx

1. Make sure special circumstances forms go into the exam boards for all exams affected, supported by as much info from doctor as poss- whether she sits them all or not. Better to sit exams if possible.

1. During clearing, get personal references from A-level teachers sent to the unis to explain her ability. Get them to include prior assessment data.

As someone who works for a uni and will be drafted in to answer the phones on A Level results day, I'm glad that you're contacting the unis now. Any "special circumstances" that we're notified of on A Level results day are invariably immediately discounted on the basis that if we've only heard about it at that late stage it's probably codswallop

If she's well enough to go to uni in September, but misses out on a place at her firm / insurance university, then what I would say is that Clearing is not like it was a few years ago. Nowadays the vast majority of unis (all but about 5 last year) will enter into it for some or all of their courses. There is a great deal of choice, and it's not just the dregs and Dance with Engineering at the University of The Arse End of Nowhere.

Once exams are over, get her thinking about where she might apply to if she does go into Clearing - thinking about it in advance rather than going into a blind panic on results day does tend to produce better results in the long term.

Thanks all you have heloed me so much to get myself going to help my dd
This is what I have done
Exam. Officer at school has contacted the board - if she sits 2 papers she will get a grade - she has already sat paper 1 of two subjects
So will rest and see if she can sit paper 3 of two and try sit 3 papers others as not till next week
Rest
!
She less panic now decision
Made
I have gp diagnosis
I have spoke to admissions at uni - am going to ask school to do supporting letters .

Well done OP. You sound like you are sorting this really well. Let us know how things go. for you and DD (and you'd better have gin AND wine!)

THankyou
Gin and wine ha ha !!! Indeed x

Your poor DD. Glad you are on the case for her .

Well done OP. It sounds like you are doing everything you possibly can for her. Good luck to her

I hope she recovers quickly. I had GF as a first year at uni. Bloody awful illness.

I had it at 27 and it took me 5 months to get fully over it. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy - hope for your DD's sake it's just a mild case!

I'm sorry - what awful timing.

For the poster whose daughter has a migraine - I second sumpatriptan and speak to GP again if you can as there's another triptan out now which works in a different way and melts on the tongue - it works very, very quickly.

Just a quick one as off to bed.
Taking antibiotics with GF increases the risks of developing CFS as will adding jabs on top.
Be very careful.
DD 18 had gf at 13 and now has CFS.
A levels really are not worth that risk.

DD sat her exam, she was much improved after a day in a dark room with a cold wet cloth on her face.

I'll aks GP about sumitriptan, in case she has another migraine on an exam days. Only 5 more exams to go 🙈

OP I hope your DD is better soon! 🍀

Hoping your DD is doing ok OP - & everyone else's exam-taking DCs staying well! Last one for mine this Thursday.

I spoke to GP and have got the something-triptan that melts on the tongue at home now.
Absolutely worth speaking to GP about for migraines during exam time. Thank you for the recommendation.
Hopefully we don't need it, she's been ok so far. 3 more exams to go.

OP how is your DD?