Medical Issues

[DrPepper]

And then a lot of jobs became sitting at desk in front of computers. And Covid pushed the technology to allow most of those and others to at least partially remote. In addition, advances in medicine now allow a lot of people that would ordinarily have been dead by now to still be breathing, but they are very susceptible to stuff so we have to really protect them from germs are they will die anyway.

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

only millenials and gen z weaklings stay home when they don't feel well.

how would anything get done if we all stayed home.

BIG differences in "don't feel well". If you're cool working with people who are extremely sick, you getting sick because of it, and then you getting someone you love sick, fantastic! Good for you!
I'm not cool with it..
I do agree with you, if "we all" stayed home, then there would be a big problem.
The company I work for, 90% of the employees are either "remote" or "hybrid".
"Remote" for us equates to 2 or 3 days a week in the office, 2 or 3 days a week at home.
We get done what needs to get done.

[Overlander]

Wait, when did Mich start to “care”?

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

Gutter, does your team of desk jockeys have zero remote days allowed? It seems your employer breeds the culture of coming to the office at all costs... damn you, the environment and the health of their worker pawns.

I may see my supervisor in person three times a year. We are a professional staff (4 people and the supervisor) and treated as such. If I have a sore throat, wimpy pet, didn't sleep well, etc I send a note on Teams and say I am sleeping in, working remote, taking the day off, etc. It would be seen as very rude to spread germs. We don't want our people to get sick or spread gunk to their families. Seriously seen as rude.

Every one of us has a remote set up, vpn, and all info is kept in the cloud. Except for a couple of activities (and we are cross-trained on those so that we can back each other up), I can work from anywhere. Had a guy this time last year who dad was dying in Germany. So he worked from Germany for 3-4 months while caring for his parents and family matters.

I realize that not everyone is a desk jockey. But a significant chunk of adults in careers are. Thank you, covid, for showing us who is really keeping us going (front line workers) and that we can find a way to do a LOT remotely.

Thanks for taking the time to respond!

"Desk jockeys" in our office are primarily remote. My ass covers for "desk jockeys" when they should be in the office but are not. Thus, the need for me to be in the office 5 days a week - and ALL the people in my department are required to be in the office 5 days a week. It's not really a necessity but I don't fight it being that during the height of Covid I was getting paid to do very little. I'm thankful and grateful to have my job and frankly, I get paid more to do it than I probably deserve to get paid - in comparison to others doing similar roles and responsibilities as me.

Your situation is ideal - and that's how the majority of our company operates.
I know I mentioned on here that at the onset of Covid none of us knew how we would/could adapt and work remotely. I'll never forget after the first quarter our CEO said that we adapted surprisingly (and probably shockingly to him) well.
None of us knew it would become the new "norm".
Problem for me is 3 years later I am still adjusting to the "new norm", because the "new norm" for ME is NOT the "new norm", it's still the "old norm".

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

only millenials and gen z weaklings stay home when they don't feel well.

how would anything get done if we all stayed home.

Only selfish assholes go in to work when they don't feel well.

How would anything get done if an entire group or organization gets infected and sick thanks to an ill coworker coming in despite knowing they are sick and no one is available to work?

Gee, someone gets it! Or at least shares the same thought/s and sentiment as me.

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

the medical term for crappy work ethic is millenialitis

In my company we have 20 something year olds up to 80 something year olds.
I promise you some of the younger people have better work ethics than some of the older people BUT....
Hold on to your hat! That's just in our company. You may be right about your assumption. I'm not the one who should be pretending to know if it's a fact or not that generally speaking, millennials have crappy work ethic.

[jfish26]

This is more for the Professionalism thread, but the biggest workplace-culture issue I've faced - long, long before Covid - was when people who came up in the professional world WITHOUT cell phones (and remotely-accessible email) discovered and lorded you-must-be-connected-at-all-times power over the rank-and-file. In other words, people exercising power that cripples family/personal life, without having had any first-hand understanding of the consequences of being on the other end.

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

the medical term for crappy work ethic is millenialitis

What does age have to do with the notion that if sick people can work from home, it makes sense for them to do so in order to avoid, you know, making other people sick?

Obviously, this has nothing to do with Mich, but "the notion that if sick people can work from home, it makes sense for them to do so" is very age/generation-dependent. For Boomers and Xers, that option simply did not exist for most of their/our careers.

I agree 100% that age/generation is a huge factor.
Although, I have to assume it was a question of if you truly had to be at work or not - and if you were able to work or not.
My father owned an advertising agency in the 60s and 70s. My parents owned a flower shop in the 80s and early 90s. They didn't force their employees to come in when they were sick. Nor did they want them coming in to the office/store if they were sick. Of course there were many other businesses that couldn't survive if people didn't show upon to work.
Different times. It is much different today being that A LOT more people do have the ability to actually WORK from home.

[twocoach]

some might say that going to work when you don't feel your best. is one of the least self-centered things you can do. putting the company first.

If your job is one where you don't run the risk of getting 10 other people sick then yeah sure, I'd agree with you. But if that isn't the case and you end up getting everyone else sick then you have done harm to your employer. It's not a complicated thing to understand that there is a variety of different situations. Gutter seems to be in a work environment where one sick coworker generates multiple sick coworkers due to space and work environment. Maybe you aren't.

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

some might say that going to work when you don't feel your best. is one of the least self-centered things you can do. putting the company first.

If your job is one where you don't run the risk of getting 10 other people sick then yeah sure, I'd agree with you. But if that isn't the case and you end up getting everyone else sick then you have done harm to your employer. It's not a complicated thing to understand that there is a variety of different situations. Gutter seems to be in a work environment where one sick coworker generates multiple sick coworkers due to space and work environment. Maybe you aren't.

As I basically said before, there can be a BIG difference between not feeling your best and being extremely sick and knowing it.
As someone else basically said, you're not putting the company first if you are getting other employees sick to the point that they are too sick to come in to the office (and/or they claim they are too sick to even work from home - which I have experienced often).

Yes, I work in an environment where one sick co-worker generates multiple sick co-workers. Space probably being a big factor.
Heck, forgetting being in the office, every employee who comes in to the office takes at least 4 elevator rides. Some days (such as yesterday) I may take as many as 20 elevator rides. Not a good place to be if I don't want to be exposed to sick people.
EVERY day at work I am working within 4 feet of other employees for one reason or another.

Moving on - and back to medical issues.......
I have been having a bunch.
* I think I'm diabetic.
* I think my heart disease is getting worse (heart disease rarely gets better).
* I'm not 100% sure but I am confident my lungs are damaged more then they were the last time I had them checked (a couple of years ago).
* I'm 20 pounds heavier than the last time I had a physical (last year).
* For the past 10 years or so I have noticed I am extremely weak in regards to my physical strength. I joke that pound for pound I am probably the weakest person I know. Thing is, it's probably true and it's not funny. I attribute it to some "medical issue".
* I get cramps in different parts of my body fairly easily. I don't know why.
* My brain is broken. Hard to explain exactly how and why other than to say it just doesn't work well for many reasons. One of many examples being last night I watched a movie. This morning when I woke up I forgot what movie I watched. One more example being, either I get overly emotional (various emotions) when I probably should NOT be emotional or I don't get emotional at all when I probably should be getting emotional.

My biggest worry is I develop some major medical condition/s in which I suffer immensely. No thanks. Please kill me if/when that happens. My life isn't so wonderful that would I prefer to live in physical (and mental) pain and suffering - over bering dead.

How's that for an uplifting/happy post!

[jhawks99]

Take care of yourself, Gutter. Be well.

[DeletedUser]

Do you wear a mask in the elevators (and in the office) gutter? You should if you are worried about others getting you sick.

[Shirley]

Gutter, you sound depressed.

Which is not to say that you shouldn't look into your physical issues, you certainly should.

Soon.

[TDub]

is gutter "men"opausal?

[TDub]

man, I dont understand. We've been sick for like a month. Not horribly I'll, just not well. Can't get rid of the cough, deep chested coughs with all of us. Just lethargic and snot nosed. Everyrime we seem to round the corner into feeling better we get like a day of feeling good and then back to the shit. Its so dumb.

I dunno what it is but it's annoying more than anything. I think I've probably got the least of it from any of us but still got the cough and lack of energy, I just dont have any energy, it's ridiculous. ready for it be done.



from the sounds of it, we aren't alone, seems the whole county, state and NW has similar strains of whatever this ravaging the area. dumb dumb

[Shirley]

Sorry to hear that Tdub.

I've heard that complaint from a number of different people.

Have any of you seen a physician?

[TDub]

no, we haven't gone in. Maybe we should, it's just that it seems like a cold or something that should just go away but won't. We've each only had a fever for a day or so really so we haven't bothered making an appointment etc. Usually if we don't have fevers or if the fever is mild and goes away we just kinda ride it out. Juat is taking a long damn time this go round.

[TDub]

I wonder if it could be RSV, but if it is not much they can do about it anyway.

[Shirley]

no, we haven't gone in. Maybe we should, it's just that it seems like a cold or something that should just go away but won't. We've each only had a fever for a day or so really so we haven't bothered making an appointment etc. Usually if we don't have fevers or if the fever is mild and goes away we just kinda ride it out. Just is taking a long damn time this go round.

100% agree. Without any systemic symptoms, I wouldn't have bothered seeing a physician, either. A "cold", an upper respiratory infection, is viral and doesn't need and won't respond to throwing antibiotics at it. When it doesn't resolve after ~ 10 days the residual symptoms are most likely due to inflammation leftover from the infection, and not the original infection itself. (This can happen to anyone but is more common in people who have asthma, an inflammatory condition, but I doubt that applies to your entire family, of course.) The frustrating part is that your only choice is then what you're already doing, wait for it to go away.





And this is the point where, after explaining that to a mother who just got a call from daycare or school saying "come pick up your child and don't bring them back until they're well", who had to ask their boss if they could leave work early who then called your office and was added on to your schedule and spent 45 minutes in your waiting room with all the other sick people says: So, you're not going to do anything!?" And to make them happy you give them an Rx for an antibiotic that won't help but makes them feel better. And if you don't, they think you don't care, and they will leave your practice and find a new Dr who will...

I wonder if it could be RSV, but if it is not much they can do about it anyway.

^^^

If it was RSV, the infection itself would have already resolved and...see above.

[jhawks99]

no, we haven't gone in. Maybe we should, it's just that it seems like a cold or something that should just go away but won't. We've each only had a fever for a day or so really so we haven't bothered making an appointment etc. Usually if we don't have fevers or if the fever is mild and goes away we just kinda ride it out. Juat is taking a long damn time this go round.

Sounds like the same crud I've had. Began in mid October. I felt fine for the last couple of weeks but still can't shake the cough. I'm tired of it.