i've been working nonstop since i was 18. never took a sick day unless i absolutely had to. never used my PTO. always the first one in last one out. thought that's just what you do.
for the last ten years i had a good routine going. stable job, decent pay, never missed a deadline. my body started telling me something was off about two years ago. headaches that wouldn't go away, back pain that got worse every month, couldn't sleep right. i kept pushing through because that's what i always did.
then six months ago my body just quit on me. ended up in the hospital for a week and the doctor told me i needed to take at least three months off to recover properly. no negotiating. three months minimum.
i told my job and they were understanding at first. then week four hit and they started asking when i was coming back. week six they said they needed to fill my role. week eight they let me go. twenty years of never missing a beat and eight weeks is all it took for them to replace me.
the only reason we survived financially is because my wife had been telling me for years to build an emergency fund and i finally listened about three years ago. we had about eight months of expenses saved up. if we didn't have that i honestly don't know what we would've done.
so here's my advice to everyone. take care of your body. use your PTO. go to the doctor when something feels off. don't wait until your body forces you to stop because your job will not wait for you no matter how loyal you've been.
and save your money. seriously. stop spending on stuff you don't need. put something away every paycheck even if it's small. because one day you might not be able to work and the only thing standing between you and disaster is whatever you put aside when times were good.
i hope nobody goes through what i did but if you do i hope you're ready for it.