WLS in College

Hi Everyone! I am so glad to have found this forum, it is awesome! Anyways, I have had a consult with my surgeon and he has said I would be a great canidate, so he accepted me into the program so now I just have to go through about 5 months of appointments until I am officially cleared.  I was just wondering, did any of you do this surgery while you were in school? How did you do it? Thanksgiving, Winterbreak, Summer?  How long was your recovery...were you able to sit through classes like 1-2 weeks after surgery?? I am having the lap RNY.  Thanks so much! You all are so inspiring.

I have already graduated from school but do work a full time job. Let me tell ya I went back to work 3 days after surgery. It was hard at first to get a routine down with my protein and vitimans but over time I was able to do it. I remember the first day back at work I had a breakdown. My boss was very supportive and I made it through. I also want to mention that I had RNY in Feb 07 and had 5 incisions with no drainage tube. You might want to check with your doctor to see when you would be able to resume your normal activities. My doctor likes to see his patients go back to work within 3 to 5 days.  Good luck with your journey. If you need anything holla back! ~Diana~

Ok, Awesome thanks for your help. Yah I know its all personal and you decide with the surgeon, I just wanted a ball park.  Wow thats great no drainage tube and back in 3 days! Thats amazing....hopefully I can follow in your footsteps, I'm not the type of person who can just sit on the couch for days, I'm going to get bored!!! ~Meg

I did it in June and took 6 weeks off of work. Then went back to school in September. I had open surgery and would have needed 4 weeks before going back to class. Good luck!

Most doctors won't clear you for a return to work for at minimum 2 weeks from surgery. I know I went back two weeks to the day from the date of my lap RNY surgery and was dying. Even though I felt ok at home resting on the couch or on a comfy chair, just the strain of sitting at a desk and walking to and from conference rooms for meetings I was in crazy pain. I wound up working half days and taking that Friday off to work from home. No one at my company knew about my surgery, so I was adamant about keeping it to a 2 week recovery so I could pass off my absence as a "vacation" but let me tell you, I really could have used a third week off. To the people who go back to work after only a few days, I just can't imagine how you'd do it. I didn't have drains or anything like that at home, and I had only the five tiny lap incisions but man did the one through the muscle hurt for a good month. Not to mention, you're just wiped out energy wise. It takes time to regain your overall strength from the whole surgery, especially when you're taking in literally no calories in the beginning. I was still on a clear liquid diet for 10 days after my surgery. Then on full liquids for another 2 weeks before soft foods were allowed. That isn't much nutrition at all so it's hard to have any energy in the beginning. My advice to you is plan for a two week period of pure recovery afterwards, and keep a third week as a buffer. Everyone is so different, and even the process of the surgery for everyone is so different. It's really impossible to compare your recovery to anyone else's. As far as what you'll be able to do when you first get back depends on what you need to do in your day to day world. Does a return to school mean big treks all over campus to get to your classes? Or is it a matter of parking in the parking lot and walking to a classroom? You see what I'm getting at? If it were me, I'd definitely plan it for over an extended vacation i.e. xmas break or summer hiatus. With that being said, it's the best decision in the world. It's amazing how you regret it in the early days because of the pain, but as soon as the pain passes and the weight starts dropping like crazy your whole perspective changes and you realize how amazing this opportunity is. :-) I wish you good luck with your pre-op process. We'll see you soon on the losers bench no doubt!!! :-)

 

Thanks Everyone! Your advice helps a lot.  I think I am going to plan to have it as soon as I get off for break and I will have about 4-5 weeks for recovery so I'll be fine before I go back and I can keep the surgery from those I do not want to tell!

I did my Lap band just a couple days ago.....14 to be exact. I was back to work half days, 3 days a week 1 week post-op. I did opt to take Hybrid courses instead so I'm not in school all the time and can see lecture from the comfort of my own sofa. Since I didn't have RNY, I dont know how much this helps you!

I also had lap RNY and had my surgery on 4/25, just about 3 weeks before finals! I was feeling good the next week and was able to go to my classes. I wore my binder that I came home from the hospital with and I only stayed for about an hour of a 2.5 hour class for my Tuesday class and my Thursday classes I couldn't go to my first class, but was able to go to my 2nd class & stayed the whole time. I took my liquids w/ me ( I was on full liquids from 4/25-5/16) and everything was fine.  I made sure my professors were all aware of what was going on and they all understood. I did get a few questions as to why I didn't wait until after finals were over, but honestly w/ all the waiting I did  (I also had to complete 6 months of mandatory diet class, and then had about 3 additional months of waiting due to my PCP's office & issues there) I didn't want to wait anymore. I had originally planned to have surgery the week before spring break, but that wasn't conducive w/ my surgeon's schedule. Now remember everyone is different, but as far as my recovery is concerned, I felt kinda like I had been punched in the stomach (left side, where the cameras go) really hard a few times, and I felt like that for about a week following surgery. After that, as long as I get my protein in, I feel fine. I did take all 6 weeks off recommended by my surgeon's office. Part of that was to make sure I was doing my program the way I was supposed to, and part of it was to give myself a mental break from my job! I hope I helped & best of luck to you.

I had Lap RNY on April 30th and my finals were the following week (crazy I know). I went in to finals and it took everything I had to walk around campus and take my finals. Not until recently did I feel like myself and I still have issues with fatigue. If you have the opportunity I would discuss the situation with your professors the first day of class. I let all of mine know that I may be having major surgery at some point in the semester and that we were just waiting for insurance approval. If they asked what the surgery was for I simply said that the matter was very personal and that I would rather not say. My professors were very understanding and one even let me put off the final a few days and take it in the testing center. I hope this helps, Good Luck!!! Morgan

I think summertime is probably the best time to do it(if you're a student and have the time off) I was done with college May 7th, my surgery was May 14th. I had the entire summer to recoop and feel better. By the middle of June, i was back to normal and then spent the next two months finding out what routine worked for me. Good luck!