Hey All,

I had my surgery on August 10th. Our first workday is tomorrow. I am wondering if I should try to make it for at least some of the workdays - specifically the meetings (almost no physical activity, plenty of time to drink). I hate missing these days but don't want to push myself.

Any thoughts or advice about this?

Thanks!

Almost done with my pre-service week and it has kicked my butt. First day i did not drink enough and felt terrible. The second day i drank and could not eat, felt terrible. Cant seem to get the right amount of fluid and food. I get home and and exhausted. I have woken up nausous each morning, a problem i have not had until i went back to work. I hope it gets better.

I am also a teacher and was sleeved on Tuesday of this week. I too went back and forth about when to return. We are supposed to start Monday, but I ultimately decided not to return until after Labor Day giving myself a full two weeks. As of right now I am glad I did because I have been so sick. Even if I feel half better by Monday there is no way I could go to work. I have heard people take anywhere from 3 days to 2 months. It all depends I guess. Good luck.

I was sleeved June 30th and I'm retuning on the 8th. I'm 50 lbs lighter and wondering if anyone will notice.

Finished my first week back with students. I was tired everyday on Thursday was back to school night and Friday of football game Saturday I took a nap for 3 hours

I banded Aug 4 and went back two weeks later for workdays. I had set my classroom up ahead of time because I knew I wouldn't be able to lift and move furniture. I was fine during the meetings but tired quickly. When the kids came back the next week I was fine, just went to bed a lot earlier than usual!

College teacher here. Exactly 1 week after surgery, I taught 4 hours of classes, 2 hours of meeting with students, and had to walk across our very large campus 5 times (we are also a nature preserve). It was brutal. It was painful, and I was exhausted. I couldn't have done it if I was a K-12 teacher because the next day I was off, and I was shot. The next time I taught the exhaustion lessened and pain had increased (my fault, left my keys across campus and fast walked first thing in the morning). Still the exhaustion lessened enough that I found myself getting lost in teaching, and loving it like normal. But again, day after, shot. I had planned to take it easy, but once I got in front of classes, I was as animated as usual. I couldn't seem to help it. It probably would have been better to plan more group work for those early days. I normally work my off days as a marriage and family therapist, and I'm taking 3 weeks off that. I overdid it, and paid the price in misery, but I did not do any damage. Who knows, the extra exercise might even be speeding things up. I was sleeved 13 days ago. My 3rd day back is tomorrow, and I'm feeling much better, so I expect it will be easier. People who aren't teachers just don't get how hard it is to leave your classes for any length of time, and how cognizant we are of what the students will miss. For me though, I just couldn't see myself waiting another 5 months for break to do the surgery.

Ladies! You are all much stronger than me! Maybe an age difference?? I took 6 weeks in February and March. I wouldn't have dreamed of going back after 2 weeks. I was barely consuming anything, and was so very tired! I honestly wouldn't know how I would have felt at the beginning of the year. I am sure you will do just fine. Know your limitations!

Headed back tomorrow two weeks after surgery. I have been so tired just from mommy/wifey duties the past two weeks (and my boys have been really helping me out) that I am very nervous. Might be in bed very early tomorrow night.

I am pre-surgery band-to-sleeve, possibly getting it done a month from now. I don't want to wait until Thanksgiving...but should I?

I had my surgery on Thursday morning and even though it was tough, I came back to work on Tuesday. The first few days I moved a little slower than I usually do in the classroom, but I really didn't want to miss more than 2 days of school! Also, I didn't want my coworkers getting suspicious. I think that you can pretty much return to work a few days after surgery if you're determined to make it work!

I couldn't have returned that soon. I returned in a week, and I had a tough time, but I would do the same again. I had a lot of pain the first week. I missed a week of the semester. I didn't want to wait either.

I am pre-surgery band-to-sleeve, possibly getting it done a month from now. I don't want to wait until Thanksgiving...but should I?

I honestly needed the full two weeks I took and my first week back was 3 1/2 days followed by a 4 day weekend so only looking at 3 days this week. I don't know if I could have gone back to a full week. I was exhausted by the end of the day and my back was on fire. If you can take off two weeks that would be my advice. I know it's tough, but remember you had a major surgery. I was lucky that I only had to take 1 week of days because I had mine done a week before school started. If you have the days leave great sub plans and see if you can arrange a sub that's dependable. If you go back be sure to stay hydrated. I missed a lot of my water one day and I was really sick that night. Sorry for the long response, but I just wanted to share what I could.

I had 2 full weeks at home before starting back to school. The first week of school was mostly meetings and I was still exhausted!

Hi fellow teachers! I don't have sleeve surgery scheduled yet, but am hoping to try and do it close to a school vacation week, with the intention of taking sick time if I need to. Two things: I am not yet tenured so I feel like taking the time off in advance isn't a wise decision and I should just call out. I just feel like until I have more time in this district, I'm always on the chopping block, and taking planned time off would be a black mark against me. Secondly, I'm not planning on telling anyone other than close family, and I wonder what people will say as they notice me starting to lose after possibly being out for a week.

Hi fellow teachers! I don't have sleeve surgery scheduled yet, but am hoping to try and do it close to a school vacation week, with the intention of taking sick time if I need to. Two things: I am not yet tenured so I feel like taking the time off in advance isn't a wise decision and I should just call out. I just feel like until I have more time in this district, I'm always on the chopping block, and taking planned time off would be a black mark against me. Secondly, I'm not planning on telling anyone other than close family, and I wonder what people will say as they notice me starting to lose after possibly being out for a week.

My advice would be to do planned time off. Just get a note from your doctor and speak with your principal. Extending a vacation with sick days is generally not a good idea unless it is for medical reasons. I think they are less likely to be upset if you are upfront and have a valid medical note. Otherwise they are going to assume you extended your vacation. People are going to notice the weight loss. Just say you are in a high protein low carb diet and using portion control. People are going to assume you had surgery anyway. I was upfront with people, but that's me. If your not comfortable letting people know let them talk and who cares.