? about going back to work

Hello-   I know most people are worried about how soon they can go back to work but....  I am wondering what is the most time I could take off of work.  I can take short term disability through my employer and I want to take advantage of it.  I want the most time to heal and only return to work when I am feeling up to it.  I have heard that you can take 4-6 weeks off but is this right?  I will be having lap RNY. Thanks much! Shelly

Obviously not knowing how your STD policy reads, not sure any of us could answer. But I also believe that if your surgery is medically necessary, you also are backed by the FMLA leave of 12 weeks, though it may be unpaid by your employer. Just a thought. Your HR representative should be able to help you decipher your specific benefits though. Good luck!

I also used short term disability for part of my leave (we have to use 5 PTO days before ours kicks in) after surgery and the length of time will depend on what your surgeon reccomends, because ultimately that is what the disability company goes by is what the doctor/surgeon reports back to them.  I had 3 weeks off, I had only planned on 2 weeks, but my surgeon told them 3, so I didn't complain since it was right around Christmas.  I would talk with your surgeon and let him know your concerns and then the two of you can figure out how long you should be out of work.  I hope this helps!

Too funny, I thought that same thing....milk it, right? Clearly, you may be dealing with entirely different cirumstances (family, kids, etc), right? For me though, I was BEGGING to go back to work at  one week! They made me wait a week & a half and looking back those first few weeks back at work were exhausting physically. But to have to stay home & watch one more daytime tv show with no one else around, nothing to do, no where to go....KILL ME NOW!!! Relax and enjoy your recovery process and take as much time as you need to heal -  body, mind, and spirit!

I did the same thing you are thinking of - I took 4 weeks off with the surgery - depending on your surgeons office - you just tell them what you want to take off and they will write the note for you.

 

Linda

 

I had lap RNY and was back to work part-time within 1.5 weeks. The one thing you want to be aware of if you use all of your short-term disability when you don't need it, you won't have a safety net if something goes wrong later and you need time off.