ILLNESS AT WORK
Should I stay home?
There are many things about the working world that I find straight forward. You wake up early, you turn-up to your work on time, you dress appropriately, you listen to you boss and you dedicate yourself to the task ahead of you. OK. That understood. However, there has always been an area of confusion from my perspective about when you are part of the work-force and suddenly, you fall ill.
When I was working as a volunteer administrator at Thornton Heath Citizen's Advice Bureau between June 2010 and August 2012, there were unfortunately, too many days when I would have to call unwell to my manager because of persistant medical symptoms. Those symptoms included cold and flu, headaches, hay-fever, asthma, and diarrhoea. My manager seemed to be fine with me calling off work due to poor health. However, I was getting moans from one of my key workers saying that I should not be having so many days of work.
The Mystery Illness
I never intended to have so many days of work but my body clearly had other ideas. It should also be noted that at the time of working in the bureau that I had to move home and had this "mystery illness" which was yet to be properly diagnosed. I was going through hell medically as it seemed that I would fall ill for no reason. I had countless appointments with my GP about what was going on with my body. Why was I having so many headaches? Why was I having on-going cold and flu symptoms?Would it ever end? My confidence in the working world got lower and lower and I seriously questioned if I was really fit for the working world.
In early 2011, I just felt more and more dysfunctional. I wasn't able to walk very far because of my on-going symptoms and everyday felt like a struggle. At first I got the diagnosis of sinusitis in order to explain the headaches that I was getting and then I was re-diagnosed with allergic rhinitis six months later. Finally, I got to know what the "mystery illness" was and I can finally get the relevant treatment for the symptoms. That said, I was still struggling with constant fatigue which would occasionally make me feel drowsy and often oversleep.
The Health Problems Continue
Going into the new year of 2012, I thought I would have seen the end of my period of persistant illness. However, in March of that year I had an aggressive form of diarrhoea which saw me in hospital for a weekend. In May, I had the first of 2 asthma attacks of that year and I would have the other one in June. It was after the June attack that I decided to resign from my post as a volunteer administrator for the Thornton Heath Citizen's Advice Bureau.
Last year (2017) I saw an internet article saying that flu symptom does affect both your physical and your mental performance and therefore will affect your productivity.
The Unanswered Question
I am just being honest when I say that I am not able to work properly when my body is in a dysfunctional state but the question remains: When I am not feeling well, do I stay home or do I try to commit myself to the working day despite my symptoms?
Until that question is answered, I don't think I will ever have the confidence to be part of the working world as a don't believe that I will be able to keep a job for long.
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