How often should I expect to be tired after surgery? What about returning to work? How long should I give myself?

I'm one week post op yesterday and still very tired. I feel great but the exhaustion takes me by surprise. I'll get a little burst of energy and then have to lay down. I hear this lasts a while - give yourself plenty of time. It doesn't "feel" like a big surgery but it really is.

I agree totally with smryan. I'm 11 days post op. If I absolutely had to, I could work and probably could have at one week. That said, I'm still exhausted. I can do about an hour or two of stuff and then I need a nap. I took 2 weeks off work, which will end up being 17 calendar days and I think I'll be more than ready to go back next Monday. Good luck!

As with many things everyone is different in this aspect. That being said it took me about 2 weeks to get to the point that I could function for a while day without feeling totally exhausted. And probably about 2 to 3 months till I got back to my old level of energy. Of course now at 9 months I have more energy then I have since I was a teenager. It is very important to get your water and protein as soon as possible so you can heal quickly and get back to normal. Good luck.

It took me a few weeks to get back some strengh. Honestly about two months to be full strength. Please be patient with your body it's been through a lot. Best Wishes Tina

In my opinion, depending on what you do, and what you are calling tired will help determine when you return to work. I define tired and fatique a bit differently (webster what-ever-smether)...I guess I think of tired as OK. Like "I am tired but no problem, another load of laundry, another flight of stairs", fatigue is what I think of when I worry about truly running out of steam. Falling asleep on the way home, or so tired I lift something wrong and hurt myself, etc. If you are just tired, returning to work should not be an issue, if you are fatigued still, before you even step back into your work setting, might be a sign you should wait.