How long did you take off work after surgery?

I was wondering how long you had to take off work after surgery. My work schedule is going to be TIGHT right after my procedure. I scheduled off 2 days and can take a third if needed. Is this long enough? I'm a college professor so my job doesn't involve heavy lifting or any physical demands - just a lot of standing.

congrats on your surgery Melissa,

It really depends on you to be honest . If you are like me I  had no gas pains, no shoulder pains, no incision pains and I was fine . I dont work but I was told usually people take about 5 days off. And because you dont lift anything you should be okay to go back to work after three days there is quite a few people that do that becaue they cant afford to take the time off.

BUT , you could be one of the ones that have alot of pain and gas pains to deal with and if that happens you could be off work as long as week up to two weeks.

It really depends on the person and how well they do after the surgery :o)

I think what saved me from pain was as soon as I got back to my room I was up and walking 15 min later.  I never stopped. I would walk 20 min sit down and rest for 10 min in the chair and I got back up and started all over again.

I did this from 3:15 pm till I went  home at 7 pm that night .  I walked till I got tired of walking . The next day I made my hubby take me to the mall and I walked and looked at shops for a good three hrs with resting in between .

They say walking really helps with the healing and I think that is what really helped me and saved me from having pain :o)

Thanks for the feedback! I was planning on walking as soon as possible - my surgeon said that it would help with healing/pain. I will probably go to the mall the next day to walk - too hot here in Texas to walk outside!I hope I heal well - I have a conference 4 days post surgery that I absolutely have to attend. I guess worse case I will sit near the door so I can get up and move around.

Moving around a lot after surgery is also very important for preventing blood clots, so definitely plan on frequent breaks.

I was self-employed when I had my band surgery, doing sedentary work. I had planned on taking off at least a week, but I was bored and restless and back to work after 3 days. I know a hairdresser who's on her feet a lot, who had her band surgery on a Thursday and went back to work on the following Tuesday. She wasn't very comfortable for the first few days back at work, but she did OK.

Another concern when figuring time off after surgery are that you should not operate a motor vehicle while taking pain meds. Also, general anesthesia usually takes a toll on me. Even if it doesn't cause nausea, I feel like I wa**** by a truck - just very worn out.

Jean

Thanks Jean! I'm hoping I won't have to take too much of my pain meds - I have a pretty high tolerance to pain. I may have to only take them at night once I go back to work. I am also worried about the anestesia - I'm sure I will feel like I've been hit by a truck! Hopefully it won't take too long for it to wear off. My surgery is on a Tuesday and I can take off until Friday. If I can just make it through that Friday then I will have the weekend off. Keeping my fingers crossed

I was off a week and did not take any pain pills. I could have gone back earlier though.

Good Luck,
Carrie

Thanks Carrie! I hope my postop recovery goes that well! Keep your fingers crossed

I booked my surgery for just before a long weekend so I didn't miss any work.  I have a desk job, so it wasn't difficult to take it easy.

Thanks for the feedback Alex! I'm hoping that's how my recovery will go

 Congrats on getting started on your journey to a new you!  I am a teacher and I had surgery about 2 weeks before school started.  I have a high tolerance for pain and took my meds as directed.  There have been several studies that indicate that people who do not take their pain meds take longer to heal than people who do take them.  Pain takes energy and that energy is taken away from our body's healing process.  I would recommend you take your meds, especially if you will be going to work right away.  Also, make sure you rest enough while you are off work, and drink, drink, drink, and get all of your protien or more.  Protien is an important part of the healing process as well.  

I am a standing and moving kind of teacher, but I bought a tall stool that I could lean on while teaching in case I got tired.  I noticed that moving around helped so much more than sitting.  I am sure you will do fine, but take good care of yourself and get plenty of sleep and protien.  GOOD LUCK AND welcome to the loser's bench.