Stay Home or Go to Work

If someone came into work sick, I would be the first person to tell them to go home and recuperate. Yet I’m the employee who pushes her health to the limit until a full-on collapse occurs. This past week, I have been miserably sick, but I just returned from vacation and we all know that looks bad, so I made a gallant effort to go to work. I kept insisting to Miss Delia that changes had to be made to our website, so I would come in. She proceeded to tell our boss, who said the changes could wait. Though still sick, I came in for my weekend shift because a former employer of mine once told me, someone better be dead for you not to show up for your weekend schedule. My current boss recommended I use some of my accumulated sick hours and go home.

You might question why a reasonable person would continue to work after being told to take care of themselves. There is a reason behind my madness. I used to believe in the mantra of don’t spread your germs or your health comes first then I had the boss from hell who beat those sentiments out of me.

Years ago, I suffered a horrific infection that led to two emergency room visits in the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. I had made the effort of trying to come into work, but nearly passed out and was sent to a clinic. I was the good employee who called repeatedly to inform her employer the latest status, including a call from the ER. I returned to work with five doctor’s notes. I should have been protected from any ramifications, said my former HR voice. Imagine my shock when my boss essentially told me I was one step shy from being fired. She had plenty more to say, including giving me a horrible six month review, where I was marked marginal for interpersonal relations, teamwork, and job performance, since my unsatisfactory attendance affected everything. I complained up the food chain, all the way to the county HR and was told FL was an “at will” state and I could be let go for being a bad fit.

A year later, I was still working for the same employer, but under a new supervisor, when I was taken to the hospital for possible appendicitis, which led to a ruptured and infected vein in my arm, plus the i.v. solution used for abdomen ct-scans had been injected into my muscles causing a different infection. I called in, not because I had been in the hospital, but to obtain treatment for the red line infection that ran from wrist to elbow. Numerous injections later, I returned to work, icing and heating my infected arm while on the desk. My former supervisor had the nerve to comment to my new supervisor that I should be documented for calling out the one day. I couldn't believe it as I sat at the desk, obviously in pain dealing with something that could have turned life threatening if not addressed.

I know I don't work under those same conditions any longer, but they have left their mark on me, so it does take a lot for me to overcome my fear and call in sick to work.