I’ve been off sick with COVID, although I’ve recovered now. I know I’ve missed a few things and I had to defer some meetings. As I catch up, I thought I might share my experience.
My relationship with COVID goes way back to the start - at work I’m part of our Business Continuity Team, made up of the Executives and other senior staff to respond to emerging crises. We’ve been meeting regularly on the pandemic since very early 2020, helping guide the company’s response during this challenging time. As an essential business supporting the food and primary industries, we’ve worked throughout. I consider myself lucky that I’ve had an insight into the incredible dedication of these people who have battled through the last few years. So many people working to make sure that there is quality, safe food to buy, eat and export to the world, often unseen and unknown - we owe these people so much and it’s been a privilege to support them.
In mid-May we had our annual leaders forum where my colleague and I received the Safety and Wellbeing Leadership award for helping manage our COVID response. It was very humbling and I was genuinely lost for words (which happens very rarely). While I’m very proud of the work I’ve been involved with, our response has always been a team effort.
Because life isn't without irony, it was only days later when I finally succumbed to the virus. I knew it was positive before the two bars appeared. I'd had false alarms before (spend your day dealing with the pandemic and phantom symptoms become commonplace), but this was different. I know some people test positive and never see the symptoms - somehow in the third year of a global health crisis we still forget that everyone's bodies react differently to infection.
I know I'm fortunate - I'm reasonably young, fit and healthy. I've had three vaccinations. But it was still rough. My throat in particular was very painful. When I was a child I suffered from tonsillitis until they eventually whipped them out but I still get very sore throats and losing my voice isn't unusual. My partner finds this especially funny, given I'm not quiet very often.
I knew what to do (I've spent years telling colleagues the process) and dutifully logged my results, released my Bluetooth tracing data and locked us away for 7 days. Isolating wasn’t hard, we live in the heart of Botany, with anything you could want available for delivery. And I'm fortunate enough to work in a job that can be done from home. Once my throat had recovered, I could drag myself into the spare room that's been converted into my home office and work reasonably effectively. I know I’m privileged and this isn’t an option for everyone. If you haven’t seen the incredible piece on poverty by John Campbell and the OneNews digital team - you should check it out.
I did quickly learn that I needed to listen to my own advice - rest and take it slow. I was a little keen on getting back to work and I overdid it in the first few days, which knocked me back a bit. I’m back at work, although mostly operating from home so I can take breaks when I need to. I know there are lots of jobs where this isn’t possible so I count myself fortunate.
So I’ve done a lot of sleeping over the past few weeks. Caught up on a couple of shows (one day I’ll do some recommendations), finally got into my reading list for the year (never make New Years resolutions) and escaped reality for a bit with some quality gaming time (another list of recommendations on my to do list).
I was gutted to have to cancel meetings, some I’d been trying to organise for weeks. But I was in no state to talk, even online. Infectious period aside, I felt very tried for the first couple of weeks so my wellness tank was pretty low. Unfortunately the bad timing means I’m still working to catch up so apologies if you haven’t heard from me in a while!