‘We're Sorry to Hear You've Been Unwell…’ Personal Reflections on Health and Well‐being in the Workplace

• Date: 01 January 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12186
• Author: Andrea Prothero
• Published date: 01 January 2017

‘We’re Sorry to Hear You’ve Been Unwell...’ Personal

Reflections on Health and Well-being in the

Workplace

Andrea Prothero

University College Dublin

OPEN HEART SURGERY

At 6pm on 16 December 2014 while sat at my kitchen table and slowly marking 5001

exams I received a call from my cardiologist. As expected, the various tests I had com-

pleted all proved to be normal. However, a cardiac CT scan had surprisingly identified

a rare and life-threatening anomaly. It seemed I suffered from a condition which occurs

in less than one per cent of the population and could (though might not) lead to me

becoming a victim of sudden cardiac death. Open heart surgery beckoned five weeks

later. I was not seriously ill before my surgery; tests were sparked by a single fainting epi-

sode and a low heart rate detected via an App. Neither the cardiologist nor my 47 year-

old self expected such an outcome. Open-heart surgery is serious business, recovery

takes about six months to be on the right side of ‘normal’ and another six before you are

‘fully’ recovered. Thankfully, long-term prognosis is excellent and I have recently been

discharged from the cardiologists’ care.

What then was my experience of returning to work after a lengthy absence? Here, I

provide an intimate introspective account and hope it provides food for thought for

future managerial research in the health and well-being arena.

It should be noted that an income protection policy meant I did not have to worry

about money during my absence from work, a privilege that is not afforded to many

others with long term illness.

Address for reprints: Andrea Prothero, School of Business, Graduate School of Business, University College

Dublin, Carysfort Avenue, Blackrock Co. Dublin, Ireland (andrea.prothero@ucd.ie).

For your comments about this discussion, please visit http://www.socadms.org.uk/sorry-to-hear-youve-

been-unwell.

V

C2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies

Journal of Management Studies 54:1 January 2017

doi: 10.1111/joms.12186