I read a lot on here that when people go back to work about 2-4 weeks after surgery they suffer from being tired. Is it a foggy can't concentrate tired? Physically tired? That 2:00 in the afternoon feeling tired? Or fighting to keep my eyes open tired?

I went to work 3 weeks post op and it wasn't terrible. I work 12 hour night shifts and managed fine (as a nurse in critical care.) Make sure you are taking your vitamins and getting your fluids in.. (not to mention enough rest). Jenn

I'm a music teacher/conductor. I went back the week after surgery but only because I could teach without conducting--mostly from a seated position. Frankly, I wasn't so much sleepy as just physically tired--seems like it took a while to feel energetic. I did begin to feel better once I started with soft foods, so it may just be that I wasn't getting enough calories in.

I was physically tired, not sleepy tired, going back to work 3 weeks out. Within a week I was better.

I'm two weeks out and still find myself falling asleep around 1:00 in the afternoon. I'm on all liquids, though, and it's worse if I slack on drinking protein or water. Then I'm really tired!

Yes, I was just physically drained. I felt exhausted by the end of the day and would look forward to bedtime only to realize it was only six at night!

How quickly it fades for you depends on how easily you can get in your Protein shakes/liquids and how comfortable you are for sleeping. I had a few rough nights in my bed before realizing that I could get almost a full night of sleep in the recliner instead. Once I was sleeping at night and getting more protein in I felt better but in the beginning you are dealing with discomfort from surgery and a seriously decreased caloric intake which makes it hard to adjust.

~Cheri

I went through two kinds of tired. The first was the feeling of being physically exhausted. While I wasn't nodding off at work, whenever I got the opportunity to sleep I did. I know for the first month it was very difficult to get through an entire work day on the teeny amount of strength that I had. Even though I'm six weeks out and doing everything I'm supposed to (Water, Protein, vitamins), I'm still feeling this way. This one has my surgeon a bit baffled as he's never had a patient go through this for so long. My NUT even has me eating upwards of 100g of carbs a day to help but that's not working.

The second was that foggy feeling. I described it more as feeling disconnected or even stoned. It was very difficult to concentrate and I had some memory issues. Not a good thing for a college professor! This eventually went away, about three weeks after the surgery. I was taking all of my Vitamins, fluids, Proteins, etc. The surgeon and NUT told me that it is one of the side effects of ketosis for some people. This made it very difficult to work and my poor husband was forced to drive me the hour to work every day.