Being ill.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Gotta laugh at those who think you can work through a flu. As in proper flu and not a bad cold or a sniffle. Time and again I hear lads sniffling, or sneezing in work and when asked if they are sick they reply with something like "touch of the flu", "this flu is killing me". It's not a flu, it's a cold, and yes you can work through it.

 

A flu, on the other hand, makes being vertical nearly impossible. Once in my life I have had a proper flu, and no way in hell could anyone work through it. I couldn't stand, let alone walk and working was something I wondered would I ever have the pleasure of doing again. Fever, headache, sweating, shivering (nearly to the point of convulsion), honestly thought the game might be over on a couple of occasions.

 

We're all human, and while I very rarely miss a day through sickness, there are illnesses that can make working impossible. Health cover is a must if you're the breadwinner.

 

 

Last year I got chicken pox for the first time, by day two I was a zombie literarly the walking dead, I didnt call in sick my boss sent me home for a week! some of us would rather die standing than lying down!

[Pedroski]

I read somewhere if you are ill with a cold or the start of flu you could damage your slein if you are lifting weight. Anyone know anything about this.

It's not just your spleen, it can also lead to pneumonia and heart failure. Likely increased risk of heart failure if there's a pre-existing condition - the trouble is, many people with a pre-existing heart condition don't even know about it until they drop down. One study found that something like 35% of heart failure cases were preceded with flu. Always be aware of what your body is doing.....it could be you!

[Andy Collins]

My brother-in-law sneezed, dislodged a clot and suffered a stroke, early 40s previously fit, played footie non smoker. Take it easy out there

[adrian007]

Sickness cover is a good thing..? As a self employed person it is essential to cover for the unexpected.

 

One of the benefits of being self employed is to be able to offset cost of running the business against the profit. Buying plant or investing in your business can reduce the amount of tax owed but it looks like you have had a bad year profit wise.

 

How do others get around this? I mean, if I had to claim on my policy right now, they would request a copy of my last Tax return. Through investment in the company or a clued up accountant, my profit was down considerably from previous years.

 

Therefore all the last few years of payment will be null and void as they will pay out based on the most recent figures.

 

My head hurts trying to work this one out...? Any ideas?

 

 

This is a real problem and someone else says they check their cover annually.

 

You can do this, or there are some companies that ask you to prove your income up front and don't ask again, they take that initial proof as the payout figure.

[Rupe]

A friend of mine worked ten days straight without washing or changing his clothes and not even taking his chainsaw trousers off because he was too ill to do any of those things!! He still made it to work though, you can work through a lot of things!

 

I myself was told to take at least 6 months off when I ruptured a disc (I think herniated disc in L3/L4 is the correct term) but I just had two weeks off then all the pain killers in the world for the next 6 months, I worked through it and the disc actually shed itself and repiared much quicker than if left to just time alone. Anyone who saw me in the summer of 2008 will know what state the (prescription) opiates got me into but I got a lot of work done that year!!