He woke up one morning. He tried to get out of bed. He stumbled. He immediately knew he wasn’t going to school today, or probably for the next two weeks.

Sophomore Austin Broussard struggles with an incredibly weak immune system. Although he has missed 30 school days, he always makes up his assignments and has managed to only have 15 make-up hours.

“I get sick quite often,” Broussard said. “So it’s hard for me to come to school, much less make it to all of my practices.”

Being unable to go to school not only affects his amount of homework, but also his participation in the sports he is apart of.

“When I’m sick, it’s very hard for me to come to school,” Broussard said. “It puts me at a disadvantage in soccer and my other sports because I miss so much.”

While Broussard isn’t in the classroom, he is able to make up all of his schoolwork. He even gets ahead in some subjects.

“I try to do all of my homework as soon as possible,” Broussard said. “But I also spread it out because I still have to do chores when I stay at home.”

Most recently, Broussard was out with a blocked eustachian tube in his ear which created fluid pressure build up. He has struggled with fluid build up in his ears for years.

“It  caused me to have Vertigo and headaches,” Broussard said. “It was to the point to where I couldn’t walk or read, so I couldn’t go to school.”

Broussard is also allergic to penicillin, so this treatment does not work for him.
“I’ve built up an immunity to most of the medicines, so it takes awhile for anything to work,” Broussard said. “I usually have to try new things.”