It's tough making that call.
If I catch a cold and decide to stay home from work both to get some rest and to avoid infecting the rest of my office, the first question I'm asked is "Have you seen your doctor yet?". No - because docs can't prescribe any magic potions to fix cold viruses and they don't want me in their office infecting their other patients and staff. So I soldier up and report for duty, despite either being whacked on on cold meds or whacked out from not getting any sleep. Oh, and I'm salaried and generally log plenty of unpaid overtime each year. They can do without me on the rare occasion that I get sick; and I'd heal up faster too. I don't appreciate the implication that if I don't see a doc, then I'm not "trying" very hard to get to work.
On the other hand, I have gone to the doc for things that were just "weird". One was a sore foot that turned out to be a nasty MRSA infection (down to the bone in 3 places); another was a feeling like a garden-variety ear infection that turned out to be a very large brain tumor. Both could have been seriously life-altering or lethal had I ignored them and I was grateful to the doc that he took them seriously -- even if I didn't.
Last edited by nkfrench; 02-13-11 at 09:17 PM.