Sick people coming to work

[admin]

Nothing ***** me more than sick pricks turning upto work and passing on there flu to me and forcing me to have over a week off the bike &gt;<br />beats me why they dont just take a few days off<br />cheers!

 

[ness]

i hear ya.. my boss is the best one for that.. here i am avoiding public transport on doctors advice in a bid to avoid coming down with the flu AGAIN.. and my boss comes in to work for 5 days, coughing and spluttering.. giving us all a nice dose!!!

 

[admin]

[quote author=ness link=board=10;threadid=2451;start=0#21123 date=1032748133]<br />i hear ya.. my boss is the best one for that.. here i am avoiding public transport on doctors advice in a bid to avoid coming down with the flu AGAIN.. and my boss comes in to work for 5 days, coughing and spluttering.. giving us all a nice dose!!! &gt;<br />[/quote]<br /><br />HAHA our office plebs do that, it really ***** me &gt;

 

[Chris_L]

The reality of it is, of course, that many people don't believe they can afford a day off. Heck, I've only had one sick day in all of 2002, yet I find myself working overtime 3-4 days per week anyway. Add a few sick days, and that's a heck of a lot of catching up to do. <br /><br />I, for one, am not going to let the 'flu or anything else put me in a position whereby I have to give up my weekend to catch up on worktime that I have missed. If anything, perhaps we should be complaining to people who set stupid targets, deadlines and budgets that don't take into account the fact that people do occasionally get sick.<br /><br />In any case, is riding with the 'flu that bad? I've continued to ride every time I've had the 'flu over the last four years or so, and I've only ever felt better for it.

 

[Animal]

That pisses me off too.<br /><br />I do everything I can not to get sick so that I can keep my training progressing. And then some idiot thinks they are being a hero by exposing 50 people at the office to their germs!<br /><br />Where's the benefit to the company in doing an extra 4 days of work and infecting 10 other poeopls???? Stupid feckers!

 

[Lazarus-g]

just to expand this a bit.<br /><br />My wife has the flu at the moment and I cannot for the life of me convince her to sleep in the shed , so that she doesn't pass on her germs to me and the kids.<br /><br />Any Ideas ?

 

[admin]

[quote author=Lazarus-g link=board=10;threadid=2451;start=0#21400 date=1033513169]<br />just to expand this a bit.<br /><br />My wife has the flu at the moment and I cannot for the life of me convince her to sleep in the shed , so that she doesn't pass on her germs to me and the kids.<br /><br />Any Ideas ?<br />[/quote]<br />Maybe you could sleep out there?

 

[Vo2]

File for divorce ;D

 

[Lab_Rat]

Hey ChrisL, <br /><br />Riding with flu is really not such a good idea. Firstly, your HR will be elevated, and you'll probably also not be able to breathe properly thereby not getting enough oxygen into the blood. The additional strain could cause tears in the muscle (heart) and apparently these scars never go away. End result, potential permanent heart damage.<br /><br />This was confirmed by a sports scientist during one of our club talks and I'm not willing to gamble with my heart.<br /><br />I do not tolerate sick people at work and refuse to meet with them while they are ill. While I was employed at another institution, a young girl that we worked with was ill and still came to work. Suddenly one day she did not come in and we learned that she had passed away due liver failure. At least her career was still on track. . .<br /><br />

 

[Lazarus-g]

[quote author=Steve link=board=10;threadid=2451;start=0#21401 date=1033513635]<br />Maybe you could sleep out there? <br />[/quote]<br /><br />She already tells me I love my bike's more than her, if I start sleeping with them as well it would only convince her more. ;D<br /><br />

 

[Chris_L]

[quote author=Lab_Rat link=board=10;threadid=2451;start=0#21408 date=1033543411]<br />Hey ChrisL, <br /><br />Riding with flu is really not such a good idea. Firstly, your HR will be elevated, and you'll probably also not be able to breathe properly thereby not getting enough oxygen into the blood. The additional strain could cause tears in the muscle (heart) and apparently these scars never go away. End result, potential permanent heart damage.<br /><br />This was confirmed by a sports scientist during one of our club talks and I'm not willing to gamble with my heart.<br /><br />I do not tolerate sick people at work and refuse to meet with them while they are ill. While I was employed at another institution, a young girl that we worked with was ill and still came to work. Suddenly one day she did not come in and we learned that she had passed away due liver failure. At least her career was still on track. . .[/quote]<br /><br />A distinction needs to be made between liver failure and a simple case of the 'flu. I have been riding with the 'flu for years and I'm yet to see any problems. On the contrary, there have been occasions where I couldn't get rid of it any other way. Of course, one does need to take some precautions, such as listening to their body and backing off when the going gets too tough, but I don't think it's any more dangerous than riding in extreme heat (something I also have to do from time to time). <br /><br />As I said before, it's all well and good to talk about trying to do the right thing and whatever else, maybe you have a boss who encourages people to take time off when they are not feeling well. Most people don't have that luxury.

 

[Lab_Rat]

Point taken Chris, however . . .<br /><br />The point I was making re: liver failure, was that this girl thought the world would end if she didn't go to work. It proved to be quite the opposite. That's why I take time off. (I've been off ill less than a week in 3 years so I have been lucky. I'll take a day off as I'm getting ill and dose myself up with vitamins and you can normally nip it in the bud)<br /><br />When you are sick, you need to rest. Also, if you have the flu and work in a large air-conditioned building, it's going to take forever to get rid of the flu and unless you're willing to stop training while you wait it out, you have no option but to train with it.<br /><br />But then if we do, are we listening to our bodies? <br /><br />Just a point, use it, don't use it.

 

[ouzo]

Since I've been training I have only once got a mild case of the flu. seems my body fights it quite well. You can train whilst sick, but take it easy keeping the heart rate below 65% . This is extremely difficult on the road, but I've found on the trainer all I do is set the resistance to nothing and pedal at around 60 rpm.

 

[ltsop]

Training while sick depends on how sick you actually are. I've got a blocked up nose at the moment (that sometimes decides to run...) and when I was on the bike last night, I actually felt a lot better - my nose must have opened up, cause I could actually breathe through it. When I stopped, it was back to the sniffles. Not the 'flu I know, but it goes to show that you don't have to stop training every time you get a little illness (IMO).

 

[Chris_L]

[quote author=ltsop link=board=10;threadid=2451;start=0#21486 date=1033694631]<br />Training while sick depends on how sick you actually are. I've got a blocked up nose at the moment (that sometimes decides to run...) and when I was on the bike last night, I actually felt a lot better - my nose must have opened up, cause I could actually breathe through it. When I stopped, it was back to the sniffles. Not the 'flu I know, but it goes to show that you don't have to stop training every time you get a little illness (IMO).<br />[/quote]<br /><br />Yes, this was my point. I haven't actually had what I'd call a serious illness in over 10 years. If I was having difficulty breathing or anything of that nature, I'd go and see a doctor right away. However, when I get the 'flu, it's generally pretty minor. If anything I'd probably work up a faster heart-rate staying home and doing nothing because I would get bored and stressed about all the other things I could be doing.<br /><br />At least a ride would get my mind off the illness, and might even allow me to get a decent night's sleep, which can't harm the recovery at all.

 

[tifosi]

Lets differentiate a bit here.. if you can ride a bike without falling off when you have the flu... then you haven't got the flu, you've got a cold. Both viruses... different effects. There's lots of cold virus strains (which change... the reason why the cold hasn't been cured!) but there's only ever one or 2 strains of 'flu circulating... with names! and normally a pre-vaccine.
Colds are an annoyance and can make you feel ill and crappy. Flu is debilitating and potentially dangerous and fatal! (the 1920 pandemic killed 20million!!)
Exercising with the flu is NOT recommended and can cause serious heart muscle damage. Exercising with a cold may 'clear the pipes' and let you think you feel better but won't cure you. Some of how we feel ill is psychological.

Chris... you have been exercising with a cold not flu. I've had lots of colds but only flu 3 times in 30odd years... each time put me in bed for a week!!

trust me I'm a doctor....

 

[Chris_L]

I'll take your word for it. Heck, if I've never had the 'flu as such, it probably makes my overall health look even better.

 

[Lazarus-g]

Yep you've guess it.

i've been infected by some almighty germ generously brought to work by a fellow worker !

They spent all last week sniffing and coughing, and on one occassion grabbing me after I told one man to keep his distance.

Saturday I didn't feel quite right but still went for a ride, sunday and today I feel like ****.

So I for one shall keep away from work until I'm right.

If I'm not well enough to ride to work then I'm not well enough to work.

Laz (who feel like he wants to go back to the grave)

 

[Lazy legs]

I'm caught between a rock and a hard place! In April 2000 I had an aortic valve replacement after I had infection on the heart valve which caused a tear in the valve and impaired the circulation of oxygenated blood to the rest of my body. By the time I started feeling the side effects of this my heart was already enlarged and I had to go in for emergency surgery.
The operation was a success and I was told by the cardiologist that I can carry on as before, but I must be very careful for ANY infection, it will target the area where the new valve is sutured to the heart and in the long run cause the valve to fail prematurely. That means that I might have to go through the whole surgery again!
Now I have to go on a course of anti-biotics if I have any kind off infection or before I have any kind of surgery (especially dental surgery). This is quite a killer for any medical aid; consultation fees and medication are quite pricy!
Because of this I get highly p...ed off when somebody comes to work with flu, etc. just to pass it on to me. I have to take extra care to stay healthy and some joker comes along and stuffs it up in a couple of days. I can't afford to go for this kind surgery again and be off work for at least a month because of someone else trying to be a hero. (in 2000 when I had the operation the surgery, hospital, doctors, etc. costed around R85 000)

 

[Lazarus-g]

Lazy Legs you have very very valid reasons for being mad and I don't blame you.

I'd also like to tell you about myself, I'm proud to say I've been selected to be a Bone marrow donor, Whilst catching a cold doesn't really hurt me, it can have drastic repercussions.

Somebody Somewhere is very ill and I've got a chance to help them, in 3 weeks time I'm going into hospital for a couple of days, so after passing several health tests, the last thing I want is to catch some goddam cold.

Fortunately I caught the cold last week which will give me time to rid my body of the germs before I get admitted into hospital.

Thankfully right now I feel fine again, but last week I was angry and worried.

Laz