Returning to work after surgery

I am curious how much time people took off work after surgery.

I am having a RNY and sit for 12 hours a day at a very stressful job. I see most Q&A say it is okay to go back to work after 3 weeks. I am hoping to take the full 6 weeks in order to adjust to my new way of life. I'm afraid one of my insurance carriers will say no, you need to go back after 3 weeks since that is standard.

Anyone else have any of these issues?

I had my surgery on a Friday, and went back to work two Mondays later -- so I took off a total of 6 weekdays. I have flexible hours and can get up and move around frequently, so it wasn't a problem at all! My doctor told me that I could go back as long as I could get up and move around every 30 minutes or so, and could sip on water at my desk throughout the day. 

3 weeks is the standard for my surgeon.  He signed off for me to take off an extra week which was great.  In reality I probably could have gone back after 3 weeks.  The two biggest issues was being very tired still and adjusting to the food stages.  We all recover at different rates.  It sounds like you don't do any lifting so the 3 weeks should be fine, but if you have the time I'd say take off as much as you can.  After 12 hours I'm sure you'll be exhausted as soon as you get home.

I've had many, many surgeries before this one and all of them were covered by insurance except my RNY. The insurance listened to whatever my doctor said in every instance. So if you tell the doctor that you work in a stressful 12 hour day environment I'm guessing the doctor would fill out paperwork saying you need x amount of time off work - that's how it has worked for me in the past. They have to take into account what kind of work you do = I work an 8 hour day in an office. That is not the same as DH's 12 hour factory job at all - he would have had to take way more time than I did to recover!

So be honest with your doctors and tell them this so they can fill out the paperwork appropriately, that is the key thing in my experience.

It's not the standard.  I took off 8 weeks and my short-term disability covered me.  If your job requires critical thinking, there's an anesthesia fog that hangs for a while for many of us that can affect your reaction to critical events.

Everyone's experience is different.  I was 36 years old and 350 lbs at the time of surgery, but pretty active and without other health risks.  My surgery was on a Friday, and I went home late morning Saturday.  My mom was visiting and the first few days of week 1, we just hung out, I watched tv, sipped water, sipped protein shakes.  I felt sort of weak, from having 300 calories a day.  But I kept up my sipping (do NOT get dehydrated) and was walking to the store by about Thursday.  I was back at my desk job on the following Monday.  So I took one full week off.  My first few days back at the office, I was tired by late day, but definitely fine to be at my computer (I work in Marketing), take phone calls, and attend meetings.  Hopefully your recovery will be fast and easy as well!

I'm 51. I took a week and a day off, then worked 3/4 days the rest of the second week. I do administrative stuff, so I am on the computer all day. I had the flexibility to return, but leave if I needed to. I did take a nap after I got home from work everyday for probably another week or so though! I was tired, but I didn't want to use my all of my vacation (I had to use that before other things)... 

Honestly, for me, getting back to work got me out of that 'new surgery' time warp. Getting into a routine helped with my recovery.

I was 59, had surgery on a Tuesday, came home on Thursday and by Saturday was cooking and doing light housework.  I went back to a stressful desk job on Monday. 

I carried my protein shake in a blender bottle and sipped that and water through the day.  I also had broth in a thermos. 

I made sure I got up and walked a few minutes every hour to prevent blood clots.

Those were the only adjustments and were easy to make.

My company had an insurance company who administered sick leave and their recommendation was two weeks after RNY for a desk job.  I would have been bored waiting that long.

There's no standard time off.  As long as your doctor gives you the note saying you need to be off, you're off.  He/She has to release you to return to work.  And, of course, you need to have enough leave or PTO if you want to be paid while you're out.

I stayed out for 5-6 weeks.  I physically could have gone back sooner - probably at 3 weeks - but I wanted the extra time to get through all the post-op food stages and to establish some sort of routine with my eating.

I have a desk job but took 3 weeks.. then out of nowhere the weekend before I was scheduled to go back, I got a horrible bladder infection. I got so sick. my job was very patient and understanding and my disability paid for that time off. I think the longer you wait the harder it is to get back on the horse. you will be tired your first week back if you were off for 12 weeks. 

like most things with this surgery, everything went better than what i imagined in my head and fretted about!