...when you've got a massive respiratory bug that has you hacking/blowing out nasties continuously, plus you have two unrelated uncomfortable conditions, and you're in the field in the rain.
Luckily, I didn't have to expend much physical effort during this project. So I could scrunch under an overhang and feel sorry for myself.
The problem with fieldwork is that sometimes it takes a lot of money/coordination to get everything set up, and you may have a small window of opportunity to get everything done. It also may be impossible to get someone to cover for you. So most of the time, I just suck it up if I'm sick.
I've only stopped fieldwork because of illness once. In that case, one of the subcontractors was also fighting the same bug, so when I gave up mid-morning, the response was "yay!" and they tore out of there as if they were afraid I would change my mind.
So how much misery does it take you before you give up and go home?
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For me, it's been much the same as you describe... I don't get sick that often, but when I do, it always seems to be at a time when the job has to get done, now. The last week before winter break, when I was teaching, always seemed sickly, but not enough to call in. Then when the pressure was off, I would collapse... and spend the entire break sick and trying to recover. When I was doing forestry field work, again the issue was that this was the day we could get the job done, and the job had to get done.
It's a lot easier to gut it out when you're young. I also think as you get older, you become more sensitive to the idea of trying not to pass the bug on to others.
Sorry you're sick and have to work anyway.
I give up and stay home pretty easily. I figure that I won't get much done at work anyway, I'll just annoy other people with my coughing or whatever, and spread my illness. And I figure I'll get over it faster if I stay home.
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