I'm having sleeve surgery on 08/2/17. I am wondering how long most people take off from...

I was surprised my surgeon informed me I can return to work on Monday after having surgery on Wednesday as long as i was no longer taking pain pills.

You'll see that it varies greatly. I took three weeks off, after planning for two. I've seen many go back as quick as your doctors is ok with.

Same for me. I took 2 weeks off however upon returning I found I needed another week at home. I had a reaction to the glue and also popped some stitches which of course were unplanned for. I'd recommend a week to get over being sore. If you have time take two as it gives you time to establish your eating habits. Yet have a back up plan in case some small issues come up.

I took two weeks after planning for one.

Some people require many weeks to heal, others of us are back to work in a week and feel we could have even gone back after 4 or 5 days. It all depends on age, health, comorbidities, mindset, maybe even genetics and other factors! I can tell you how it was for ME, but there will be plenty of people who say "I took 4 weeks off and couldn't imagine being home with babies after a week!". For me, I had surgery on Friday, and since it was laparoscopic, it only took about 1.5 hours. I did not have drains. I had small steri strips glued onto my 4 (or 5?) tiny incisions. I woke up in recovery and thanks to the anti-nausea patch I had on, I felt ok. I was up, walking and peeing in the bathroom within maybe an hour or two. They kept me overnight and then I was sent home around noon on Saturday.

I chilled on the couch Saturday through maybe Tuesday, and then Wednesday I walked to the grocery store with my mom and carried groceries home. I didn't feel pain in my abdominal area, though some people do from what I gather.

Friday I was out with friends, sipping my protein shake and enjoying being out of my house!

Monday, I was back at my desk job. I wanted naps in the afternoon that first week back at work, but I was fine for the most part.

I was 36 and 5'4" and 350 lbs day of surgery, with no comorbidities (yet!).

^^^This^^^

i started working from home about 3 days later and went back to work a week after my surgery date. i have a desk job though.

my surgeon recommended 2 weeks but i took 3. I felt fine at the end of 2 weeks but had some issues starting soft food on week 3 so glad i had that extra time. If you can play it by ear, that might work best. As someone else said, you never know how your body will react. Good luck to you!

Totally what everyone else said about it being an individual thing...

here is mine

I was 43 with no co-morbidities and 236 day of surgery at 5'3"

Because of insurance changes my planned early summer surgery got pushed back to 2 weeks before the start of the school year.

I work with the very young and frequently there is lifting early on in those first couple of days but honestly going back to work turned out to be the best thing for me.

I stayed in the hospital 3 days - but was on my feet and self care almost immediately - I was only kept because I was throwing up constantly - ironically as soon as I left the hospital I stopped the pain meds and voila no more throwing up.

But I must have been babying my abdomen a lot because even though I was moving around and taking care of life I still had one incision that hurt like crazy... so much so that the night before work I was in tears worrying about how I was going to deal.

But you know by the end of that first day everything must have loosened up because I was so much better (despite being kicked by an irritated 3 year old) than I could have imagined and by the end of day 3 pain was a memory.

Good luck!

I have a desk job with work from home capability.

I had surgery on Wed, was out completely Thurs & Fri, and worked from home starting the following Monday for a week, then was back in the office 3 days out of 5 for the next several weeks.

I did OK, with no complications to speak of. Had very little pain, and by the end of the weekend wasn't even taking pain pills to sleep anymore. Not everyone is so lucky.

However, I would really have preferred to take a full week completely off work. Going back, even work from home, while still on liquids was really draining. Just staying hydrated and trying to get protein in is practically a full time job for several weeks. I know I wasn't anywhere near as effective an employee as normal that first couple of weeks back.