Getting back into work after being away for a duration of time can be incredibly difficult, especially if you were away dealing with a complicated issues, such as being horribly sick. It can be even more difficult if you didn't have anyone to cover for you while you were gone and you were expected to makeup all of the work that you had missed out on during your absence. This of course can make coming back to work seem more like your death sentence than your rebuilding.

About two years ago, I was in a situation where I would have to deal with a major illness. I was working on the flight line during a training exercise, we were incredibly short manned and were required to work 12-15 hour shifts in order to ensure that we had adequate coverage. When I first came on shift, I found that one of my coworkers was attempting to service the hydraulic fluid on a jet while it was running. while this isn't normally done, it is an acceptable practice. The biggest issues is that this means that the hydraulic fluid is pressurized. The coworker hooked up the hose, cross threading it in the process. Immediately a deep red hydraulic fluid starting dumping out of the bottom of the aircraft. I immediately ran over attempting to disconnect the servicing hose before the aircraft lost all 14 gallons in the utility reservoir. Unfortunately, by the time I got the hose off, so much hydraulic fluid had been soaked into my clothing that it was literally dripping off of me. But we were also so short manned that I wasn't able to leave to shower.

Upon arriving home that night, I found myself passing out all over the place, only to eventually be taken to the hospital for treatment. Because of my extreme overexposure to a highly toxic chemical for over 15 hours, I was chemically poisoned. I found myself in intensive care for nearly a week before I was released to go home. My skin was peeling horribly, so I found myself wrapped completely in plastic and Vaseline from head to toe. I was forced away from the flight line because of this condition for nearly two months. By the time I was able to return to work, I had forgotten so much about work and lost my ability to handle the long hours. Getting back to work was incredibly difficult.

The main thing that I had learned about the process is that you can't just jump back into work. You have to really take your time and slowly put yourself back into your position. This is especially true after being out sick for a

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