Going back to work

[Blowoutthecandle]

Hi everyone! Quick question.. i'm due back at work this September, its only part time but due to severe asthma and allergies i cough/sneeze/wheeze even on a good day. I'm worried I'll get sent home all the time since this covid pandemic. No-one has bothered at work before if i cough/sneeze/wheeze etc but now everyone seems paranoid. Anyone got any ideas how i can tell people at work its 'normal' for me?

[_Badger_]

I'm looking forward to people's suggestions here as I'm a constant cougher too. I raised with work what would happen when I go back if I'm coughing and I was just told "well you'll know your own body and if it's an asthma cough or a covid cough". I absolutely do not know the difference between my dry asthma cough and the dry covid cough we're supposed to look out for.

Are your colleagues aware of your asthma and how it affects you? You could maybe try reassuring them that you have a cough because of your asthma and if you feel the slightest bit unwell otherwise you'll take it seriously.

I also bought a badge that says "I have asthma" so I (hopefully)don't have to keep explaining myself to people.

[AirIsUnderrated in reply to _Badger_]

I think the key is that you would feel different from whatever your normal is. If you developed new symptoms, whether it's Covid or a chest infection or an asthma flare or whatever, you should be isolating until either you get a negative Covid test or are better.

My suspected Covid began with just breathlessness and then within a couple of days I had a fever, aches and fatigue. That was different from my normal. I didn't have a cough.

The only time I got a Covid test was at week 10 with my second chest infection. Everyone knew it was a chest infection but by the end of May, cough + fever + breathlessness = Covid test first, then antibiotics. If only it had been like that when it started in March. Ho hum.

[AirIsUnderrated]

What kind of work do you do? Is it customer-facing? Are you able to wear the sort of cloth mask that doesn't obstruct your breathing but might make your colleagues feel safer? That's what I do when I'm out and about. The surgical masks we wear in work make my chest feel so sore with labouring to breathe, but the fabric ones I wear to the shops are comfortable by comparison.

I would be tempted to get a cheap fabric mask and write on it with a Sharpie "don't panic, I'm asthmatic!" or something similarly light-hearted. 😜

[Blowoutthecandle in reply to AirIsUnderrated]

Hi i work in a school at lunchtimes helping feed disabled children and clearing up after them its only for 3 hours a day. The cleaning sprays we use at work are a huge trigger for me aswell so i can be fine in the morning. I have to walk to work anyway but by the end of my 3 hours i'm always wheezy etc due to the sprays.

[AirIsUnderrated in reply to Blowoutthecandle]

Oh poor you. Yes, smelly cleaners are my nemesis too. A friend introduced me to the Koh cleaning system for home, and I'm fine with that, but it wouldn't be any good for schools. Is it worth trying a mask?

[Blowoutthecandle in reply to AirIsUnderrated]

Yes i'll have to when i go back. Currently everyone else has to at work aswell which will be very interesting to communicate as i have dual-sensory loss too (hearing and sight) so i communicate with touch and standing very close to lip read or see sign language. Oh well needs must I suppose😷

[AirIsUnderrated in reply to Blowoutthecandle]

That's a tough one. Have you seen those masks with plastic windows so that hearing impaired people can lip-read through them? Of course, they would have to be worn by everyone you work with rather than by you, but they are available.

Good luck!

[Blowoutthecandle in reply to AirIsUnderrated]

Thanks yes. Hoping by september the guidelines will change or they might move me to a different class with less need for masks. Who knows. I can adapt well if needed but cannot (unfortunatly) change my hearing and sight difficultes to suit whatever the guidelines will be. I'm more worried about being sent home every time i cough/sneeze/wheeze/ gasp for breath. I am sensible and obvously dont work if i'm poorly.. i have to walk 2.5 miles each way so i just hope they dont panic. Still i've got to get thru 2 1/2 weeks of school runs for my own kids then 7 weeks of no school. Hope by then staff will be a bit less panicky!!

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Good luck! Hope it all goes okay for you when you go back! I work in a nursery, and I’ve been furloughed since lockdown, I’m due to go back Friday (boss wanted me back before that but my GP said no and signed me off because my asthma flared due to hay fever!) and I’m dreading going back! As the pollen is still high, and although my asthma is doing better since I started Fostair I don’t have complete control, and I know that some of my colleagues have been repainting and redecorating some of the rooms in our nursery, so I’m worried! I think all I would say is to ensure you have your reliever inhaler, and also might be handy to have a copy of your asthma plan (if you have one?) to show! Hope it all goes smoothly for you in September x