need your advice

ihvbzs · February 27, 2004

Hi, I went to our support meeting last night. It meets once a month and I will be banded by the next time we meet. I see my surgeon on Wed. for my pre-op visit and my date is the following Monday.....can't believe it is less than 2 weeks away !! Well this is my question........I am 51 and a hair dresser, 3 yrs ago i had my appendix out by lap and was ridimg my bike in the smokey mts 10 days later so I thought that this would be a similar recovery.........I was planing on working the end of the surgery week since surgery is on Monday, starting on Thursday then Friday and Sat. I was going to do minimal work and stand a max of 4-5 hrs and only work 3 days that week..........do you think that is impossible or really a bad idea or even dangerous ?? Last night at the meeting everyone said that it is too soon. I have to start rearranging my app. book if I have to take off. I really don't plan to tell anyone so I will have to lie about a misterious test or ailment and I am SO BAD at it !! What do you all think ?? THANKS !! karen

donali · February 27, 2004

No one can say for sure how you will feel. Some people bounce back like nothing happened, some feel like they've been hit by a truck for a couple of weeks.

I had my gallbladder out in 1992 by lap - it was a piece of cake. I walked the mall 2 days later, and sang a wedding 4 days later, and took my PADI certdive just a week after surgery.

Taking that into account, I assumed the lapband would be the same. Well, I was 11 years older, but about the same weight. I did go back to my desk job 4th day after surgery and missed no work, but it wasn't lots of fun, and I couldn't have stood for hours each day.

You may have no probs, but then again... If you can't "play it by ear", you may want to be on the safe side and take no standing appointments that first week.

But again, there are no guarantees, one way or another...

Good luck!

Alexandra · February 27, 2004

Hi Karen,

Everyone heals differently, but I know for sure I wouldn't have been able to stand up for 3-5 hours three days after surgery! Of course, I'm not a hairdresser and standing that long even now would probably kill me.

I think you might want to arrange to take the whole week off, unless it might be possible for you to work sitting down or take lots of breaks. I went back to work 5 days later and it was OK, but I have a desk job.

Good luck!!

Vera · February 27, 2004

Hi Karen

I flew to Mexico on a wednesday, surgery on thursday, flew back home on saturday and was back to work the following monday. Those first few days back at work were not busy. I can remember standing up and having discomfort.

I don't think standing for long periods of time for a least a week post surgery is a good idea. Maybe a tall rolling chair would help. It's a time for healing.

Congratulations

sassaay · February 27, 2004

Hi Karen,

I would agree with Donali and Alexandra... everyone is different. I am pretty hardy stock and thought I would be one of those that bounced back quickly... but I was shocked at how much pain I had and how much I couldn't even think I wanted to rest so badly. I had surgery on Tuesday and left the hospital Wednesday and went back to work Thursday... but I work from home, so I stayed in bed with a laptop most of the day and napped when I could.

I would suggest that if you can set some time aside if you need it, then you won't feel like you have to go back if you don't bounce back as quickly. I still feel like I need a nap every other day or so and it has been 3 weeks for me.

Take Care and good luck!

gabby · February 28, 2004

Hi Karen, I agree with the other posts as well, but, take into consideration the shoulder pain you may experience as a result of the air used during surgery. I am 49 and was banded 1-13-04, I went back to work 2 weeks later, and really wished I had stayed out a few more days. I have a job that pretty much I can sit when I want and is not hard physically. Best of luck and welcome to future bandland..................Gabby

DeniseG · February 29, 2004

I had my surgery on Thursday and went back to work on Tuesday. I had wished I had taken a couple more days off. I was really tired. Working kept my mind off the soreness, but, in my job I had to sit all day and it was really hard to do that. I felt like I needed to move around. I am sure your clients would understand if you took more time off, or at least had less clients in a day with huge spaces between them for rest

GeezerSue · February 29, 2004

First, get a good lie ready, just in case, and stick to it! "Gall bladder surgery" seems to be well accepted. So does "hernia repair." I'd go with the hernia story, because you can do that more than once and even if you've already had gall bladder surgery. And it's very believable, as the obese have a higher incidence of hernias. (Just read up on them first.)

Then, be prepared to be flexible. Some people (ask Jimmy C.) have VERY sensitive stomachs for a couple of weeks post-op, and end up in the hospital and even on an IV while the stomach heals. Other people (mostly mid-banders, I think) have lunch the day of surgery. But, if you have a problem swallowing your own saliva, you are going to be spending a lot of time spitting. (If/when this happens, it just means that your brain thinks the band is blockage and it's sending gallons of slimy saliva down to clear the blockage.) But spitting looks pretty gross. And it could goop up the foils in a weave, ya know.

If you REALLY don't want people to be suspicious, be prepared to be able to hide while your body gets used to the band.

Sue

*who was out shopping a couple of days post c-section; needed several-hour-long-naps every day for a year post-hysterectomy, just two years later; and was having root canal less than two days post-band, twenty-seven years later*