THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

moneyistooshorttomention

"caused by an infection - most commonly bacteria and viruses which are infectious"....is a phrase the NHS Choices website has got on it.

So - I've gone by that.

GreyQueen

Well said, fuddle.

The person with pneumonia in my department was just a tiny wee bit snuffly and off-colour on a Thursday and in intensive care on the Saturday night. Their desk is all of 3 yards from mine, and others were even closer. None of us 'caught' pneumonia although our colleague was gravely ill and it was touch and go for them for a few days.

It's scary to see a person go from well to death's door in about three days but it isn't the plague. Thank gawd for modern medicine.

We swim in a stew of organisms, some of which have the potential to cause severe illnesses. There is often no rhyme nor reason to why some people get sick and others escape scot-free. What the currently-well attribute to good practises and virtuous lifestyle choices may be nothing more than random luck.

greenbee

By the time you are up and about the bugs are long gone MTSM. And they're not specific ones - as fuddle says, they're the same ones that cause snot in little kids. They just get lucky... Usually when you are run down. I vaguely remember having pneumonia, but as I was apparently delirious I'm not sure what is memory and what was dream. I do know I tried to carry on working and my boss overruled me and made me see the doctor! (My ex-OH didn't appear to have noticed)

As for 'fit notes'. Essentially if you don't have a note that says you're NOT fit to work, then you are. So anything explicitly saying you are fit to return isn't down to the NHS to provide - if an employer wants more they should pay. Obviously, if you're volunteering it is more complicated, but you're already donating your time so why you should pay for a note to say you are fit to work I can't see... They need to work with the system. You no longer have paperwork to say you are NOT fit, therefore you ARE fit.

fuddle

My last post as my Friday evening is worth more than a tussle with yourself.

Yes, like I said the germs that cause pneumonia are infectious hence infected airways. But pneumonia itself isn't contagious.

Pnemonia recovery isn't a public health issue. It's a personal battle in getting lung function restored. In my experience a sufferer would have been blasted with so many antibiotics that on hospital release there will be no infectious organisms left.

westcoastscot

Hi Fuddle,
Totally agree, pneumonia is triggered in some people by the same germs that cause no more than a sniffle in others - hope you're fully recovered. I've been left with a "sensitivity" in my lungs which I'm treating with great caution. I'm immune-suppressed so going to do anything I can to improve my resilience. WCS

maryb

I had "ambulant pneumonia" twice when I was working in a very high stress job. The first time I had it, I went to my GP when I couldn't shift a bad cough. How long have you had it? Six weeks... SIX WEEKS!! he spluttered and got out his stethoscope. He then told me that that whistling noise I heard with every breath was NOT a good sign. Apparently it was a mycoplasma bacterial infection. However my employer at the time basically told me I could NOT be sick that week. Antibiotics dealt with the worst of it

But it still took me ages to recover from that. Eventually I was so desperate that I went to an alternative health centre and said what can you offer? The only appointment they had was with an acupressure practitioner so I went with it

And it really helped. I'm convinced it was more than a placebo effect but anyway, it was a real turning pint

18 months later I had it again, coughing up bloody phlegm ( sorry if tmi). But that was just before Easter when we were due to have a week off. I came home from work on Maundy Thursday and DH took one look at me and we agreed I was in no fit state to go away. So I used up a week of annual leave just to get over it. I would never have got away with taking that much sick leave, they used to give you the "managed return" approach ( ie first stage of dismissal) after three days sickness.

I was scrupulous about trapping my germs in a handkerchief (a la Tony Hancock, lol) and washed my hands constantly. None of my coworkers came down with anything. But that is very probably how bacterial illnesses spread, when someone who should be following medical advice to stay warm, rest and have plenty of fluids, is simply not in a position to resist the pressure to go to work regardless.

After my second bout of pneumonia my GP told me I probably had bronchiolitis and would always be prone to bad chest infections. I started putting myself first after that - s0d the pressure to turn up even if really sick.

ivyleaf

maryb - :mad: at your employer demanding that people turn up for work when seriously ill!

[Deleted User]

Been looking for an oil stone for some time.

Called in a local, traditional hardware store (think The Two Ronnies Four Candles sketch), but all they had on the shelf was Carborundum stones.

However, in the back, they had some bits of old stuff from a car boot sale.

Hey presto, an oil stone, for just £4. :cool:

As you can see, the wooden case has seen better days, but the stone itself, is in excellent condition.

maryb

When I told my boss it was pneumonia he replied "I thought it was something like that". And that was it, there was a big meeting the next day and he made it clear that as I was able to stand he expected me there.

I'm not sure what he would have said if it had been more severe than ambulant pneumonia

Soooo glad I no longer work in the City!!

thriftwizard

I've just been nursing my 90 y.o. mother through a bout of pneumonia. We haven't told her what the diagnosis is; she coped with having a bit of a "lung infection" but "pneumonia" would undoubtedly have killed her! I was really worried two nights ago, and genuinely thought we might lose her, but she turned a corner this afternoon; cooled down, started to eat & drink again and hopefully she'll bounce back now. Just as well because I have something (voluntary) to do tomorrow that I really can't wriggle out of, because no-one else can do it... mind you, one of my brothers is free to take care of her tomorrow. And will no doubt think I was exaggerating...

One of the things I love about being self-employed is that I can pull out of events if I'm not well or something excremental has hit the domestic fan. It doesn't do to make a habit of it; reputation is all, and I've only done it twice in six years. But I'm free to do so if I really need to, and the decision is mine alone. If only everyone had that option... I'm horrified at how quickly kids are hustled back into school when they've been seriously ill, and how people are expected back at their desks even when they're infectious or even terminally ill. It's the protestant work ethic gone mad, and the only people it's benefitting are the bean counters.