Hey everyone,

I am scheduled to have Lap Band on September the 20th in Memphis. Can anyone tell me how much time I am going to need off from school? I am in Nursing school (finished in December, yay!) and cannot return until I no longer have lifting restrictions. Does any think that will be more than two weeks? Oh and the reason I am not waiting till after I graduate is because my Endocrinologist says it would be too dangerous (health wise) for me to wait that long.

Sarah

Sarah, you will be surprised how fast you recover. I would say you probably will be dying to get back to school within a week. My recovery and back to work was under a week. You will be a little sore but hopefully nothing more than that. Some people take flights home, etc. without any problems. I'm sure sitting in class would be fairly easy.

Most people seem to be back to work in a week. BUT...there is usually still a 5 to 6 week restriction on lifting anything over 10 pounds. So you really need to talk to your surgeon about that. I couldn't even hold my grandkids for 6 weeks.

You didn't say your age, but if you are young, I would guess that you could return in a week. I am not young :faint: and although I returned to work in a week, it would have been better for me to have waited two.

Talk to your doc about lifting restrictions. He is the one that should be answering that question.

Yep, I agree...talk with your surgeon about weight restrictions. My surgeon said a week then I was free to go about my normal routine. As far as going back to work/school...I could've gone back after about 4 days but luckily I had surgery over my vacation so I had a full week and didn't have any problems.

I was off work for 2 weeks. I work in Retail on marble floors so I thought I would need that much time. To be honest, I wish I would have taken another week. If you're on your feet at school, don't rush back unless you must. I went back to work 2 weeks ago and still get pretty tired in the afternoon. Congratulations on your band!

I'm a sec in a hospital-4-12 hour shifts but I'm up and down alot with alot of walking. I took 3 weeks and was in alot of discomfort from the up and down. I should have come back maybe 8 hours that 1st week back and it would have been better for me.

That is such a hard question to answer. Recovery time really depends on the individual person. I thought I would be doing great in a couple of days, but was absolutely miserable for a week and it took another two weeks before I really began feeling normal again. What is most important here is how quickly you bounce back and what your surgeon recommends. Have you discussed this with him/her and explained what the school requires of you and when he thinks you will be able to safely meet those requirements following surgery? I think that is what you really need to.

My company allows 4 weeks with pay.. so I took it all! I am glad I did cuz I was absolutely fine and on regular foods when I returned to work. I was in serious discomfort for about a week.. and then after that, felt like a pulled muscle.. then I actually pulled a muscle during week 3 so I am glad I had another week to recover from that!

DonnaMarie :Banane27: