Tummy Tuck with lipo...5 days off work?!?!

There is no way you will be able to do your job after five days with drains. You will need to plan this during a time you can take a vacation. I recommend two weeks ( at least ).  

Crap. That's what I thought yall would say....lol

I'm sorry to deliver the bad news but you'll be glad once you do get it done. 

I was off work for four weeks after my TT (no lipo) despite having a desk job.  Sorry to say this, but it was the most painful surgical recovery I have ever had, and even when I went back to work, I was still having trouble standing upright when walking... I started out standing up straight, but the longer I walked, the more hunched over I would become.  The muscle was just SO tight and painful. I was on narcotic pain meds for almost 2 weeks solid (and I think that I have a pretty average pain tolerance).

Your experience may be different, of course, but -- even if you had a desk job -- 5 days wouldn't be enough, IMO. I cannot imagine trying to do it with a physcial job or even one that requires a lot of standing!

Mine was around $7500 several years ago and was at a surgical center (rather than a full service hospital) with an overnight stay.

Lora

I would not go back to work with drains in. I would be afraid of infection or accidentally damaging the site or something. I would plan on more time off.

At least I'll be in the hospital lol kidding. 

yeah,and hospitals are the NASTIEST places in the world! If. You have to pull and push and lift and turn patients and raise your arms over your head,which stretches your abdomen,or respond to a code where you are thinking about the patient and not your self,then no I don't think 5 days is nearly enough.

I had a TT with an anchor scar and removal of the panni. 5 days, if that is what you have planned, is absurd. I was off a month and it was not quite enough time- and I was crazy careful to do nothing and promote healing. Don't get me wrong, it was totally worth it! But you will need more time. If I didn't have the muscles cut (vertical scar) it would have taken less time, but no idea how much less. 

After my tummy tuck, I couldn't even stand up straight for almost 2 weeks, let alone go back to work.  Even sitting upright was difficult for several days.  If your doctor is seriously telling you that you can go back to an intensive nursing job only 5 days after a tummy tuck, I think you need to get a new doctor.