Cystic Fibrosis teen drop out?

[ToriMom]

Hello Hannah!
I know what you mean about juggling treatments, school, social life. I have both of my children in a home school \distance learning program. My son will be a senior next year. My daughter is the one with CF, and she will be a freshman next year. Look into it because it will expand your options if you change your mind later about educational avenues. My daughter has been able to go into the hospital, do a month of PICC lines, etc without falling way behind. She can do her work on a computer and do many breathing treatments at the same time so she has more free time. The program we use is connected with the district here so she will get the same diploma, walk the stage upon graduation, has a prom--it's been a lifesaver. My son is like you--hates school--but I wouldn't let him get a GED. If your parents are like I am...try the online high school options. I wish it was all easier for the CF community, but computers make it much better than it was when I was a teen to get a degree from home.
Best of LUCK!
Michelle

[TreasureGoddess]

It sucks. No doubt about it. In fact, my son stayed home yesterday only because he was coughing so much that it's embarrassing to him to disrupt the class. He's missed MONTHS this year, his freshman year, and it is so hard. It's hard to stay up with classes, but even working with a tutor provided by the school when he misses, he falls behind. It's even harder to socially keep coming in when you don't know what's happening in class, you've been out of the loop with your friends, etc. Hang in there.

One thing that's helped us is to talk to my son's CF team about it. They actually have an educational advisor that has helped us a ton with the schools, getting a better 504 Plan in place, getting a tutor set up and being able to modify assignments. If that's not available, talk to your social worker with the CF team for their input. Can you attend school online instead? Even if your district doesn't have this, ours SAYS they have an online program but it stinks, there ARE resources in all 50 states that can either work with your school district or you can attend entirely online. For now, my son wants to try to stay in the high school for most of his classes. He takes 2 study halls for hours 1 and 2 so he can go in for a later start. He takes online classes to make up for time he's missed. At some point, he'll probably go to talking all his core classes online and electives like choir and woods class at the local school. Then he may end up entirely online, we'll just wait and see.

Getting your GED will actually take more time and effort and organization than it would just to find an online school to finish out your degree. Lots provide free laptops too. Check that out before you say you want to just quit straight out. You don't want to be shoved into the workforce now, especially if you're not taking care of your health as you should. Your parents probably aren't on board for you to just stay home and not be doing anything. You would enter into more depression and as you know staying home all the time gets boring fast. Hang in there and take at least a few classes at school for some social aspect and check out the online option.

Plus you may end up an old person like Bill.

[Rickengelage]

Hello,

I like to disagree with most people on here saying school is a big deal.
Its not.
Unless ofcourse you have some profession as a goal, and need your get your degree for it.

But it sounds like you dont, in fact u dont like school and probably dont really know what you want.

So quitting and doing what u want for a while and figurinh out where u wanna take things and work on your health is not a weird idea at all.

And i want u to know that school and a "degree" is super overrated and is absolutely not the only option.
Theres many, many more suitable options for you as cf patients.

So dont think of school as a too big of a deal, rather think about, what excites you?

Go do those things, the clock is ticking, for anyone.
Theres no need to do anything u dont or believe in.

Follow your heart even though it takes u on a path less traveled.

And having friends and social life, sure might seem easier with school and everything, but as u say u struggle with it cuz school is so demanding, so even woth school social life is hard.

And trust me you can make friends without school.

And quess what, even if u quit school for a while and u feel better after a while, you can always go back to school.
School is always an option, but definitly not your only option.

[beautifulsoul]

Very helpful Aboveallislove! I understand it's really hard right now but please don't quit. That's exactly what I wanted to do when I was 15. I went to my parents and asked them. Begged them. Gave them pitiful suffering faces. All of which did not work. They would not let me quit even though I was so far behind. They were thinking of my future. They wanted me to LIVE. They believed in me. If they let me quit that would be like giving up on me. They always fought for me no matter what. I ended up graduating 3 years later. I'm happy I did it. If I quit I would have regretted it the rest of my life. Even though it wasn't the greatest experience, I still did it and through the hardest of times. Have a little faith. Think about how bright your future WILL be. You CAN do it. Hugs to you...

[moonsun]

I agree with AboveAllIsLove - do your research and consider all your options. Know you are not alone in the way you feel!

[ghostwriter]

Hang in there for a couple more years and you won't regret it! It takes hard work.

[cysticsufferer]

I'm on the same boat. It's difficult juggling cystic fibrosis with school, especially when there are no other sufferers at your school. Stay strong.