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Pressure To Return To Work



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My work situation is giving me major anxiety. I know I will need a few weeks to recover. My plan is to use my last week of vacation time, plus one or two weeks on short term disability to keep some cash coming in. My job is physical in the sense that I am on my feet hustling on hot pavement outside from 6:30-4:30 each day. No breaks except for 30 min at 1pm. On a good day I am physically destroyed and mentally shattered. Am I crazy for doing this? How long before you went back to work? Anyone else out there with a non-desk job with advice??

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I have a job where I'm on my feet hustling for 8 hours a day, but I'm indoors. Like you, I get a 30 minute lunch break. I have taken 4 weeks off and will be returning to work in 2 days. I can tell you there is no way I would have been able to return to work sooner. Due to the calorie deficit, I had very little energy and would not have lasted an 8 hour shift on my feet. I've had to take a 2-3 hour nap most days since my surgery. Your shifts are 2 hours longer than mine, and you're outdoors in the heat. I would think you'd need a minimum of 4 weeks off, if not more.

Edited by CLN.BK

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Dehydration will be a big issue for you. Can you do half days or something?

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I'm a manufacturing supervisor.

I work 13+ hour shifts.

Typical day involves a great deal of walking as my department covers an area that's a few football fields in size.

I also had an umbilical hernia repaired at the time of my sleeve surgery. This was why I took 3 weeks off.

My first three days back on the job were only 8 hour days.....after that it has been full tilt boogie ever since.

Had I only had the sleeve done.....a week would have been all I'd have needed.

Going back to work was actually easier than my last days that I was there pre-op as my other body pains were reduced. It is a pleasant byproduct of losing weight. It's far easier now at ~11 months.

People make mountain out of a mole hill when they theorize ahead of time at how weak and feeble they think they will be.

Yes....we are eating at a very low calorie level. My finding with this is that if I cut out the carbs and stayed in ketosis....I'd not have problems. My body had....and still has.....enough fat stored that needs to be used as fuel. Flipping that switch and burning that fat gives me plenty energy when combined with quality Protein intake.

The only real complication I encountered was when my blood pressure went way low at 3 weeks post-op. Turns out that I was over medicating as I was still taking the normal doses of blood pressure meds yet I was down 55 lbs from pre-op and 20+ pounds post up at 3 weeks. Easily corrected by smaller dose. Now corrected by zero meds.

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    • Aunty Mamo

      Iʻm roughly 6 weeks post-op this morning and have begun to feel like a normal human, with a normal human body again. I started introducing solid foods and pill forms of medications/supplements a couple of weeks ago and it's really amazing to eat meals with my family again, despite the fact that my portions are so much smaller than theirs. 
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.
      Surgery was in August of 2023. A bill shows up for over $7,000 in January. WTF? I asks myself. I know that I jumped through all of the insurance hoops and verified this and triple checked that, as did the surgeon's office. All was set, and I paid all of the known costs before surgery.
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Still purging all of the larger clothing. This morning, a shirt that I ADORED wearing ended up on top. Hard to let it go, but it was also hard to let go of those habits that also no longer serve my highest good. Onward and upward!
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