Hello friends, I'm still pre op until sept 18 my big day ! My question is my dr said 4 weeks off to recover I'm not sure that's going to be enough time . I work on a highway crew, alot of manual physical labor involved with my job . Lifting shoveling and so on ! Is four weeks enough time to heal properly ? Anybody else have a physical demanding job ? There is no light duty work at my place of employment ..

4 weeks is not going to be enough time with a physically demanding job. I went back after 4 weeks and my job is not that demanding & I had a hard time. I'm 7 weeks out and doing fine now. My doctor wouldn't let me lift any thing for 6 weeks.

Thanks for the reply , that's what I'm thinking also 4 weeks isint long enough !

I was worried at first that 4 weeks was not going to be long enough, but after the first week I was feeling normal and good. I was ready to go back to work. I did enjoy the month I got to spend with my daughter.

Best of luck!

For u I would definitely say 6 weeks, so u don't strain or pull anything.

Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

My surgeon said 6-8 weeks for most folks is the best for healing. I know desk job folks (like me) feel pretty good at 3 weeks but, for me I ended up with an incision infection then an infection in my bowel due to the antibiotics for the first infection. UNREAL! Took me 6.5 weeks to get back to work and I can tell you my first week back was rough. Not pain wise but, trying to get all the liquid and Protein in and I was light headed sometimes.

I'm far from a wuss! Can take a lot of pain but, my surgery kicked my butt with the infection issues.

Hey Big Lou, congrats on your upcoming surgery! I would say that you will need 6 weeks. I am 25 days post-op and still get tired very easily. Doing yard work the other day, it felt like I couldn't catch my breath. My job is on the low to medium end of the physical scale (Maint Mech with the USPS) and I needed all 4 weeks. I'm scheduled to return to work on 9/6. Good Luck!

Thanks for the replys ,I'm going to ask my doc to reconsider time off ! I surely don't want to screw any thing up !!

Make sure to stress the stenuous work and lifting etc you'll have to do. If you have short term disability it will kick in for you. I had to use it. All my surgeon had to do was complete her side of the paperwork bascially indicating a date to go back to work and her signature.

Thanks I do have short term disability at work ..