Having ear infections / Illness every month & I'm on the firing line because of it. What to do?

Charleyalmostking · 30 June 2018 at 1:54PM

I am hard of hearing and wear hearing aids in both ears.

I used to have a few grommits placed in my ears when I was a child and had a few years without them. I then had them put back in again for 2 years befor taking them out and having a T-Bar grommit in my left ear around 4 years ago now. Due to this I may have a hole in my ear canel.

Anyway,

I started my job in November and since January, each month I've been getting illnesses. I've had 1 week off with tonsillitis and have had 5/6 weeks off due to bad ear infections, my last one was last week where I had both an inner & outer ear infection which caused me to be in agony to the point where I couldn't eat or sleep for 3 days and was given a cocktail of different medications to deal with this .

The ear pain is coming back again a week after but the pain meds i've got are holding it back however this morning , there was a bit of gunk in my ear.

I've had a meeting with my work and they are not happy at all.

They have 'considered my disability' but is still giving me the last chance to improve my health or my employment with them will be reconsidered...it doesn't look good. I work in a nursery looking after 2-4 year olds.

I take Vitamin D tablets, Iron & Vitamin C tablets as well as Omega 3 tablets ,

I eat fairly healthy as my fiance cooks from fresh produce alot and I don't smoke or take any other drugs apart from normal pain meds.

I asked my doctors why i get so ill and they said some people have a weak immune system even when prevention methods like the above are put into place.

Work isn't happy and even though i've said i keep asking why or to look into it, my work said i'm not trying to give myself better health and that it's unacceptable.
they think i can control the infections when ever i want.

What can I do to improve my health?

I've asked for Ears,Nose, Throat referral but symptoms improves before the time they said (if it's still bad in 2 weeks we'll see what the next steps are etc)

I just feel so stuck as there isn't much i can do about my hearing / ear infections...

elsien · 30 June 2018 at 2:10PM

Charleyalmostking wrote: »

I am hard of hearing and wear hearing aids in both ears.

I used to have a few grommits placed in my ears when I was a child and had a few years without them. I then had them put back in again for 2 years befor taking them out and having a T-Bar grommit in my left ear around 4 years ago now. Due to this I may have a hole in my ear canel.

Anyway,

I started my job in November and since January, each month I've been getting illnesses. I've had 1 week off with tonsillitis and have had 5/6 weeks off due to bad ear infections, my last one was last week where I had both an inner & outer ear infection which caused me to be in agony to the point where I couldn't eat or sleep for 3 days and was given a cocktail of different medications to deal with this .

The ear pain is coming back again a week after but the pain meds i've got are holding it back however this morning , there was a bit of gunk in my ear.

I've had a meeting with my work and they are not happy at all.

They have 'considered my disability' but is still giving me the last chance to improve my health or my employment with them will be reconsidered...it doesn't look good. I work in a nursery looking after 2-4 year olds.

I take Vitamin D tablets, Iron & Vitamin C tablets as well as Omega 3 tablets ,

I eat fairly healthy as my fiance cooks from fresh produce alot and I don't smoke or take any other drugs apart from normal pain meds.

I asked my doctors why i get so ill and they said some people have a weak immune system even when prevention methods like the above are put into place.

Work isn't happy and even though i've said i keep asking why or to look into it, my work said i'm not trying to give myself better health and that it's unacceptable.
they think i can control the infections when ever i want.

What can I do to improve my health?

I've asked for Ears,Nose, Throat referral but symptoms improves before the time they said (if it's still bad in 2 weeks we'll see what the next steps are etc)

I just feel so stuck as there isn't much i can do about my hearing / ear infections...

An employer has the right to expect employees to turn up to work on a regular basis. So it's not about them thinking you can control the infections whenever you want, but about them saying that whatever the reason they can't function with you with this level of illness. That's the reality.

We can't give medical advice, however I would be going back to the Gp to tell them your job is at risk and push for a referral. Do you have a lower pain threshold than other people and do you think and could this be impacting on your level of time off?
Health wise, aside from diet, what about the other aspects of your lifestyle such as exercise?

The other aspect is that you are working with young children who are probably more prone to illness/infection because their own immune systems are still learning to cope, so there might be more infections for you to pick up than in a different environment. Could you consider a different line of work where this might be less of an issue?

Charleyalmostking · 30 June 2018 at 2:16PM

elsien wrote: »

Do you have a lower pain threshold than other people do you think and could this be impacting on your level of time off? Could you consider a different line of work where this might be less of an issue?

Nope - as i've said i had 2 infections at the same time and it was so bad the doctors gave me tramadol , pain threshold is very good actually.

With the "they think i can control it" they literally asked me if i could. I said no i can't and they got really funny about it. I understand that they need reliable people but I am doing my best i only ever call in when I cannot carryout normal everyday tasks.

And i've been looking for other jobs & asked for a transfer to another branch as I have ongoing issues with the manager as personality clashes and she's just... a few choice words (made 3 people leave in the 2 months she's been manager)

lulu650 · 30 June 2018 at 7:23PM

With less than two years employment your employer could dismiss you very easily due to the level of sickness leave taken this year.

You think you may have a hole in your ear canal but have not taken up a hospital appointment. Have I understood that correctly? I would suggest getting a referral to a consultant asap before you get another infection.

As elsien has pointed out, working in a nursery environment will make you more prone to viruses/infections

You've posted on the redundancy board but presumably your job isn't being made redundant is it?

Charleyalmostking · 30 June 2018 at 8:12PM

lulu650 wrote: »

With less than two years employment your employer could dismiss you very easily due to the level of sickness leave taken this year.

You think you may have a hole in your ear canal but have not taken up a hospital appointment. Have I understood that correctly? I would suggest getting a referral to a consultant asap before you get another infection.

As elsien has pointed out, working in a nursery environment will make you more prone to viruses/infections

You've posted on the redundancy board but presumably your job isn't being made redundant is it?

I do apologies i didn't know where to post it to get a suited response.
The surgeon after i had the Tbar said that usually he'd worry about it but because my ears couldn't drain themselves he wasn't.

I'll try to make an appointment with ENT and see if work can swap my afternoons in to having the afternoons off to attend it

Having ear infections / Illness every month & I'm on the firing line because of it. What to do?

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