Anyone preop have fear of taking off all that time off work for surgery recovery?

jarabacoagirl
on 10/6/12 12:25 pm

VSG on 12/17/12

From the sounds of things it seems I'm putting my job at risk taking off for surgery. Anyone else have this fear of losing their job. I told my boss it could be up to 4 to 6 weeks but hopefully not that long. He did not seem happy and commented that they will probably have to hire someone else to do my job. Is that time frame an overestimate for an office job? I really do not want to and can not afford to lose my job. But at the same time I came so far with this preop stuff that I don't wanna cancel surgery either for my job plus my health is at risk if I don't start getting this weight off soon. It's a no win.

HW 302 lbs. SW 279.8 lbs. CW 193.8 lbs MFP Jarabacoagirl Preop diets 22.2 lbs, 1st month 21.2 lbs, 2nd month 14.6 lbs, 3rd month 11.2 lbs, 4th month 7 lbs, 5th month 7 lbs, 6th month 6.8 lbs, 7th month 5.2 lbs, 8th month 4.4 lbs 9 and 10th months slowed down didn't record exactly

108.2 lbs lost from highest weight!

(86.2 lbs of that was lost since surgery date)

rudgie99
on 10/6/12 12:42 pm - Bangor Area, ME

My doctors said with a sit down desk job 1-2 weeks if you don't have any lifting. Did you ask about the family medical leave act paperwork? They have to save a job for you. I had saved 3 weeks vacation for surgery but the dr appts had taken up 1 whole week so now i have only 2 weeks left. i played around with the calendar to figure out the best time...i am scheduled for 11/15 thursday (only do i on mondays and thursdays) I hope to take 1 keek off and then work half days for 1 -2 weeks. i will just need to get up and walk every hour or so. maybe this type of schedule will make your boss happier.

Antimony40
on 10/6/12 9:16 pm - VA

VSG on 12/06/12 with

how big is your workplace? dependent on size (number of employees) and your length of service, you should be covered my FMLA which guarantees you come back to a job if you've been there fore a year or more...

that said, I'm planning on 2 weeks off of my office job, with some probable working from home on week two...

HW 286.7--SW 264.4--CW 184.2 M1-24.8//M2-14.8//M3-7.6//M4-10.0//M5-3.8//M6-8.4//M7-6.4//M8- 4.8//M9 +1

RedStar98
on 10/6/12 12:43 pm - Johnston, RI

VSG on 10/02/12

Everyone is different, but I had surgey on 10/2, I feel great, was riding my motorcycle today, and i'll be back to my office job on Tuesday.

JAlston
on 10/6/12 12:52 pm

VSG on 12/07/12

My surgeon recommends 2 weeks for recovery. My friend who had the same surgeon and had VSG in June was only out of work for 1 week. I work in an office. I will be using short term disability so I am not worried about losing my job. I am not sure how many employees work at your job but if there are at least 50 then you are covered by FML and they can't fire you for a medical leave for 12 weeks. Are you using time off, disability or going un-paid while you are recovery?

Jessica

(HW: 305) (SW: 271.9) (33.1 lbs lost prior to surgery) (MsJexi on MFP)

25813786

jarabacoagirl
on 10/6/12 4:13 pm

VSG on 12/17/12

I'm taking unpaid time off. The problem is I'm just a long-term temp.

HW 302 lbs. SW 279.8 lbs. CW 193.8 lbs MFP Jarabacoagirl Preop diets 22.2 lbs, 1st month 21.2 lbs, 2nd month 14.6 lbs, 3rd month 11.2 lbs, 4th month 7 lbs, 5th month 7 lbs, 6th month 6.8 lbs, 7th month 5.2 lbs, 8th month 4.4 lbs 9 and 10th months slowed down didn't record exactly

108.2 lbs lost from highest weight!

(86.2 lbs of that was lost since surgery date)

4seasons
on 10/6/12 1:16 pm

VSG on 08/13/12

I took four weeks off then went back half days for two weeks. I filed for the Family Medical Leave Act before surgery. You can not lose your job after that with anything that's related to that specific "illness". Check into the FMLA.

I didn't need to take off all of that time but my doctor said I could and I had plenty of sick leave built up. I did actually still get tired in the afternoons up to the six week mark though.

"It's not about perfect. It's about effort. And when you bring that effort every single day, that's where transformation happens. That's how change occurs."

HW: 310 ~ SW: 289 ~ GW: 175

blessedbutlers
on 10/6/12 1:22 pm - TX

From what I have heard you shouldn't need that much time. I am having surgery on a Thursday and returning to work that Monday. I don't do any lifting or physical work though.

sevencats
on 10/6/12 1:36 pm

If I were you I'd stop by my Human Resources office and ask about FMLA. If your employer is big enough, and you've worked there for 180 days, you should be covered. Some states also have medical leave acts, so you should ask about a state MLA as well.
That being said, I think your doc is being pretty conservative--4-6 weeks sounds more like if they had to do the surgery open, which is a possibility with any surgery, but not likely. I've told my supervisor that I'm planning on two weeks; it could always be longer; it also could be less.
If there's a time that your absence would have less impact on your workplace, it would probably be good to schedule the surgery with that in mind as well.
Good luck.

KathyA999
on 10/6/12 1:37 pm

VSG on 08/09/10

I have an office job, I was 60 when I had surgery and had no major health issues other than obesity. (I did, and do, have GERD and had metabolic syndrome back then.)

At my company we're able to work from home if we need to (we have laptops we cart back and forth, and I forward my office phone to my Blackberry), so I had surgery on a Monday and was off the rest of that week. The next week I worked from home, although I certainly could have gone to the office. After that I went in as usual and have never looked back.

Everyone is different, but I think 2 weeks would probably be plenty for someone who is otherwise healthy and has no surgical complications.

Height 5' 7" High Wt 268 / Consult Wt 246 / Surgery Wt 241 / Goal Wt 150 / Happy place 135-137 / Current Wt 143
Tracker starts at consult weight

In maintenance since December 2011.

Anyone preop have fear of taking off all that time off work for surgery recovery?

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Anyone preop have fear of taking off all that time off work for surgery recovery?