New job and appointments

I am in the pre-op stage and still have several appointments left to go. I just got a new job that starts in April... right around the time that I have an entire day of appointments booked. What do you think I should tell my new employer about why I need the time off? Should I cancel the appointments and wait until I'm past the probationary period?

If/when I do have the surgery, I have no intention of telling my co-workers and boss what the surgery is. Did anyone lie about what kind of surgery they were having?

I wouldn't cancel that whole day of appointments. I would tell them up front that you have these appointments and that they were made months ago. Typically, something that has already been booked and you are upfront about, doesn't get anyone worked up.

You don't have to tel them what kind of surgery you are having. Telling them you are having abdominal surgery is sufficient.

I agree with SweetRide, be honest and tell them that you have some medical appointments that were booked months ago.

Also you don't need to tell them anything other than I am having surgery. They can't ask you for what and you don't need to tell them.

I didn't give any indication to my employer as to what part of my body needed surgery, just that I would be off for 8 weeks. The insurance form goes to the insurance company and I got a separate note from my family doctor to give to my employer stating that I would be off as a result of surgery.

The employer is not entitled to details of your private life.

I am in the same boat as you. I am trying to figure a way to take the time off after surgery. I am wondering if they can fire you if your doctor says you need the time off.

If you're not past your probationary period, they can fire you. It happened to a couple of people I know from a facebook weight loss page.

They can't fire you for medical reasons. They would need to come up with some other excuse.

I would tell your new employer that you need X day off for a series of pre op appts for an upcoming medical leave (they are going to need to know about the surgery eventually). If they ask about what that is just say "surgery." If they push on "what" surgery you can say "oh not to worry I will discuss that with Occupational Health dept or Human Resources (if you have those at your work). Its no one's business "what" surgery. You don't need to lie, just say "surgery" or "medical leave," neither is a lie.

For future after you are post op if anyone asks what kind of surgery you had you can say "oh I only discuss those kinds of things with by spouse/kids or my doctor, but thank you for asking" and walk away.

Best of luck!

This is an amazing answer! I was thinking about this the other day :-)

Not sure which appointments you still have but when I met with the social worker a big part of the question was affording time off and that you needed to be able to take 6-8 weeks off depending on recovery. I get 7 sick days and this year 3 weeks vacation, so have been able work around with those as I have a desk job my plan was always to go back after 2 weeks at least part days barring complications. I had to basically promise that I'd have financial support if I couldn't go back to work right away, thankfully my parents had already volunteered to help out if need.

If you work for a small company secrecy is pretty hard, depends on the policies of the company. I wouldn't cancell the appointments as it's always easy to tell them you need a day up front. You can always get through the approval process then delay surgery if you can't take time off right away.