Long Work Days?

[Steph0625 50]

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to work 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week so soon after surgery?

Here's a little background for y'all.

I'm currently a little over 2 weeks post-op and still on my soft food diet. The timing for my surgery was bad all around because I just graduated college this past May and was waiting until after my surgery to start an internship. Due to issues with the doctor's office not actually submitting the case to my insurance, my expected date kept getting pushed back. I'm lucky the person planning to hire me was able to work with me.

I'm now scheduled to start working on August 10th at a job that is physically demanding, which means I would be on my feet a lot working in the Texas heat.

I just wanted to know if anyone has experience working a physically demanding job after surgery, and how you handled getting enough Water and food throughout the day. I explained some of this to my employer, and she said Snacks and water breaks would be fine. I'm worried about keeping my energy levels up at only a month and a half after surgery.

Any advice is appreciated even if you haven't been in the same situation. The internship is supposed to last for 3 months. On the bright side, I shouldn't need to go to the gym!

[Psychsnob 27]

I was working 12-14 hour days before my surgery at one of my jobs. I did not feel up to it after surgery, even though I went back to my other 8hr job that was alllllll sitting. I've been struggling with the Protein Shakes (I could only drink 1/2 per day instead of the the required 3), and I've noticed a slight decline in my mental acuity (I feel a little fuzzy and slower) due to the poor nutrition, so I haven't gone back to the one job yet. (I screw up, someone could die.)

[Steph0625 50]

@@Psychsnob

How soon after your surgery were you back at work?

[Psychsnob 27]

I took off one week. Surgery was Monday and I went to work the next Tuesday. I would have gone back on Monday, but I didn't have any appointments scheduled so I didn't have to go in.

[no onions 258]

I am almost 4 weeks out. I do not believe I could do what you described at this point. I certainly cannot do any heavy lifting. In fact, bending slightly in certain directions makes me sore (and apprehensive about tearing something). I would suggest running it by your Dr.

[Kindle 8,667]

I went back to an active, physical job 7 days postop. I work 10 hour days. On my feet all day, lifting, bending, squatting, kneeling. I was on liquids for 18 days postop, then pureed then soft foods until 6 weeks postop. I also don't take a lunch break, so I just made sure I had plenty of Protein smoothies, string cheese, Quest bars, Greek yogurt, etc. to snack on in between appointments. Adding fruit to my Protein smoothies helped with my energy level. I was definitely wiped when I'd get home, but had no problems working my regular shifts.

I did have a 20 pound lifting restriction for 3 weeks that I had to work around, but then was back to lifting the normal 40-60 pounds. In fact, my work partner had a hysterectomy a month after my VSG and she had an 8 pound lifting restriction so I was pulling double duty for all the heavy physical stuff starting 4 weeks postop. And besides work, I was able to feed and care for 4 dogs, 3 cats and 2 horses without any help.

[Steph0625 50]

Thanks @@no onions and @@Kindle! It looks like I'll have to make sure to have plenty of snack foods on hand. My doctor said I'm on a lifting restriction for 3 weeks (which is almost up) so I plan on getting to the gym for the next 3 weeks to work on my strength and to test how I feel. Hopefully I won't have any problems when I start lifting weight again. I already know that being on my feet that long is going to be a problem for the first week, but that would have happened before the surgery too. I'll just have to work through it.

[jadama22 110]

Wow going back to work after just one week - honestly I tip my hat off - I do admire your strength - I took 3 weeks off from work and I still can get all my Protein down and I'm in the puréed stage. Lucky for me I have a desk job with a 35 hour work week. I'm still dealing with nausea and weakness. I may have to go back my first week part-time but i could never imagine standing in the heat all for most of the day.

Be careful and Good luck