Hello,

I am flying to San Diego on April 10 to have the sleeve surgery in Tijuana, Mexico with Dr. Garcia (my insurance excludes WLS). I have booked my airfare and now need to notify my boss. I'm taking a week off but I'm not sure what to tell him as the reason for requesting the time off. I don't want my boss or co-workers to know I'm traveling to have weight loss surgery.

My boss is pretty laid back so I know it won't be a big issue but I'm not sure what to tell him. I'm thinking I will just say I need the time to take care of some business at home (ie. home repairs). Any suggestions/advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

I think it all depends on your relationship with your boss. I have two bosses. One I'm really comfortable with and told him the truth. The other one thinks that I'm just taking some sick time due to a "medical reason that I have to take care of" and I left it at that. However, I did find that when I told my co-workers many of them thought that the surgery is a great idea and are sending their prayers my way. It's all up to you.

The above posters are right. HIPAA laws protect you from having to reveal what type of surgeries you are having so that may just solve your problem right there.

Congrats & good luck! I'd been planning to tell my co-workers I was having my hernia repaired, which for me will be the truth (just not all of it). I'm curious, what happens after when we're losing all the weight and people begin to ask? Do people open up and share that they had wls at that point?

Hello,

I am flying to San Diego on April 10 to have the sleeve surgery in Tijuana, Mexico with Dr. Garcia (my insurance excludes WLS). I have booked my airfare and now need to notify my boss. I'm taking a week off but I'm not sure what to tell him as the reason for requesting the time off. I don't want my boss or co-workers to know I'm traveling to have weight loss surgery.

My boss is pretty laid back so I know it won't be a big issue but I'm not sure what to tell him. I'm thinking I will just say I need the time to take care of some business at home (ie. home repairs). Any suggestions/advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

Was a week off enough time for you to recover

I would not tell your boss that you are at home taking care of business. I would tell him that a friend/relative (out of state) is having surgery and you need to help with their recovery. What ever reason you give about the time off, I would not include being at home (same location).

My workplace requires medical certification for FMLA leaves, my surgeon just sent a statement on letterhead that I was having abdominal surgery, I didn't even ask him to be discreet since I had already confided in my boss and my subordinate who would need to cover for me while I was out, but I did really appreciate that they kept it vague so that at some future point no one could look in my HR files and then blab to others about what I had done. For anyone who directly asked about my leave, I just said I had some personal things to get taken care of.

My workplace requires medical certification for FMLA leaves, my surgeon just sent a statement on letterhead that I was having abdominal surgery, I didn't even ask him to be discreet since I had already confided in my boss and my subordinate who would need to cover for me while I was out, but I did really appreciate that they kept it vague so that at some future point no one could look in my HR files and then blab to others about what I had done. For anyone who directly asked about my leave, I just said I had some personal things to get taken care of.

My company has us submit the medical forms to a third party company (Metlife) who certifies the short term disability and eligibility for FMLA. It keeps it confidential that way.

I just told my boss and coworkers I'm having surgery on my stomach to improve my digestive issues. Which is the truth...and the weight loss in the long run will confirm the success of the surgery.