knowing when to call in sick

Or not.

You see, this is one thing I am really bad at (another is billing but that’s another topic). I had perfect attendance for all 13 years of public school. A massive feat considering I was sick for much of the first 3.5 years of my life with ear aches and tonsil problems. But I have a really hard time with the “too sick” call.

I hate to admit I’m sick. The problem was exacerbated when I was the solo employee of a critical-to-business department [there are now two of us, though R is sick right now too] or now that I have clients that rely on me. I want to be able to do it all….

I don’t have any good answers for this except I am proud of myself for slightly slowing down the past few days and taking a nap when I got home Wednesday afternoon. [I’m writing this Wednesday evening to post overnight] But, I did still put in about 5 hours at the office and if it weren’t for the nap and realizing on Wednesday that I was really sick … I’d probably still be attempting to do work, which I’d probably have to redo later.

I’m apologizing to clients and I’m not sure what else to do. They understand (mostly) but I still feel bad. I try really hard to take care of myself and try really hard that despite having a diagnosis that labels me having a certain condition (which some say is not a disease and one I do not medicate except with caffeine and an attempt for balance in my work-life) that I can do work and participate at the often insane NYC work environment.

Anyway, I had an nice nap on Wednesday afternoon and woke up feeling better… I’d probably be much better off if I hadn’t done something weird to my back. I don’t bend over.. I don’t know how, I automatically crouch to do something. Wednesday morning I had crouched down to try to find my longjohns in the bottom drawer and when I stood back up something went funky. At the office I opted to medicate the cold, not the pain… When I finally hobbled home I curled up in bed with a laptop, heated “thing”, and the electric blanket. I felt better and then took a nice long hot bath after a dinner of (real) chicken soup/broth and read Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonsong (yes, all of it). I’m now drafting this with more heat at my back and the desire to curl up for sleep shortly. I am frustrated that I’ve not gotten work done the past few days, and that I’m missing deadlines. BUT, I also know that by waiting, hopefully the work will be done properly when I do get to it and I won’t have to redo it.

I also hope in time that I won’t reread the past week’s posts and cringe too much.

Be well. Keep healthy. Regular (achoo!) posting (achoo! achoo!) should hopefully return soon.

• Category: tools