I have not looked at the details of what qualifies for sick leave for my company, but I also have 22 vacation days accrued... I would rather not use my vacation days because my job drives me nuts sometimes so it is nice to ha e the option to get away. I am hoping to only need a week off since I have a desk/traveling job. Do most people use sick leave for WLS?

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I recommend two weeks off, even if you do have a desk job. You will be very very fatigued, even if you aren't in pain anymore. I didn't go back to work until 15 days post-op and I still really struggled to stay mentally focused through the full work day and ended up going straight to bed after work the first few days I was back. Although, I will say it might depend somewhat on your post-op food plan. I was still on full liquids when I returned to work and I did notice a big improvement in my energy level once I was onto purees and soft foods. So if your plan calls for quicker movement between the food stages, you might not struggle as much.

As for vacation versus sick, I was able to take sick leave and since I didn't have enough sick leave accrued, I was able to draw from my work's "catastrophic leave bank". Not sure if something like that is an option for you, so you should probably talk to your HR department.

I have 44 sick days available so I will have to call HR and see what I need to do. They say it can be used "when an employee isn't feeling well from injury or illness"... Hopefully this is close enough? They just started covering WLS this year so I'd hope they'd allow it...

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Just looking at my calendar through December I really don't have 2-3 weeks to be gone unless I do the surgery the week before Christmas... Then I will have almost 2 weeks off for our winter break anyways.... If my Dr even does surgery around Christmas lol luckily since I have lost 40# they said I don't have to do pre-op liquids so I could at least enjoy thanksgiving lol

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We have short-term disability as part of our work benefits, so I am using that. (Before it kicks in, though, you have to use 5 leave days. I'm using sick days for those 5 days...)

I also used STD

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I'll be using my accrued sick time.

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Our STD doesn't kick in until the 31st day off. Kind of sucks.

Sick leave or vacation?

@@CVanPelt

i went back to "work" the day after surgery

i am a busy, active, pround grammy who is RETIRED

you won't see any grass growing under my feet!!

talk to HR to verify that you meet the qualifications to use your sick days

maybe you'll decide to split the difference between sick and vacation days

1/2 time off with sick days, remaining time from vacation

good luck with pending WLS

speedy recovery

kathy

@@CVanPelt Surgery should qualify for sick leave. I would wait until you have a better idea of a date and then speak to HR about taking medical leave. Most places will require you to discharge all time accrued (even vacation) if you are out longer than the amount of sick time you have. I don't think you'll need more than 22 days though. It's always a good idea to request medical leave to protect your job during your absence - even if you think you'll be out 1-2 weeks. If there were any complications - you'd be okay to take more time off based on your surgeon's instructions.