Question for Dr. Houston's RNYers

I am in the process of planning my time off for surgery. I am assuming I will not be approved for VSG and am planning for RNY.  Sept -Dec are the dates I expect to schedule.

Do you think two weeks off is a reasonable plan? I have a desk/phone job. This will be time off without pay. I have short term disability but would have to be off 30 days before it would kick in.  If I wanted to take six weeks off wouldn't it require a doctor's note? I don't think I could get that if most return after two to four weeks.
 

Disclaimer: every person heals at a different rate and has a higher tolerance for "discomfort" than others

Dr. Houston will probably let you take off as long as you feel you need to recover, however, I chose to return to work after 2 weeks. I also have a desk/phone job and had no complications or problems whatsoever after surgery.

Having said that, I would recommend taking the 2 weeks, and on the 3rd week, move to working 1/2 days. Sitting at home for 6 weeks is probably not healthy for you. Get back into your (new) routine as quick as possible instead of just sitting around the house. After 2-3 weeks, you "should" be able to bend over to pick up things, drive a car, do chores around the house, and sit at a desk and answer phones. :-) Your energy level the 3rd week will still be so-so, but every day it will improve.

Good luck on your new journey. It's a wild ride!

I am the biggest wuss of all times! I hate pain...  and I just took off 2 weeks for my surgery from what I recall...  you won't be doing lifting, manual labor which is good...  so I think its a reasonable assessment....

I would say that 2-3 weeks would be a good amount of time.  Don't get me wrong, you could be very, very sore even when you return, but you should be able to do a desk job at that time.  Of course, Dr. Houston would probably work w/you on whenever you wanted to return.  You only get one chance to do this (well, usually...barring revisions, but don't think about that) and this is a moment in your life when you are doing something completely for you.....don't let it pass you by.....take the time you need to heal and also to get the program working for you.  If you can swing it financially, I'd take off all the time you need to go back 100%!

Good luck! Micheala.

I had my RNY on the 18th of May and my stomach is still sore. You have to give yourself time to heal. I would say at least 3 weeks. Better to be safe than sorry.

I have figured out a way to take four weeks off with the final two weeks working from home. Thanks.