After sleeve surgery how much time do I need off from work?

[Wanda247 908]

Hello everyone, I’m new to the site but have been reading a lot of great posts, tips, situations and so forth. I thank you all. I am still pre-op, I have my last nutrition appointment on July 12th and then my file will be submitted to insurance for approval (my insurance required 4 nutrition visits) I am having the sleeve done. I know that everyone tolerates and heals differently but I was just curious as to how long people were out of work after having surgery to recover? I do not have a lot of sick and vacation time saved up, I wanted to take 4 weeks but not sure if that will be possible, it will take me a while to accrue that much time...any suggestions would be great, I am mentally and physically ready for the procedure and do not want to put it off longer than I have to.

[Meggs11 32]

I have a desk job with a desk that can change from sitting to standing and I returned to full days at 7 days post op and was just fine. I am 15 days post op now and feel amazing!

[Matt Z 4,139]

50 minutes ago, wanda247 said:

Hello everyone, I’m new to the site but have been reading a lot of great posts, tips, situations and so forth. I thank you all. I am still pre-op, I have my last nutrition appointment on July 12th and then my file will be submitted to insurance for approval (my insurance required 4 nutrition visits) I am having the sleeve done. I know that everyone tolerates and heals differently but I was just curious as to how long people were out of work after having surgery to recover? I do not have a lot of sick and vacation time saved up, I wanted to take 4 weeks but not sure if that will be possible, it will take me a while to accrue that much time...any suggestions would be great, I am mentally and physically ready for the procedure and do not want to put it off longer than I have to.

I personally took 2 full months for my band back in 2011 and again for my bypass in March. Different jobs each time. I took the time because sure you might be healed up enough by 4 weeks to be ok, but I wanted to give myself the extra time to get used to the new routine. I didn't want to be at work and have food cause some issues that would be embarrassing to have happen while at work. I'm glad I took the time. It gave me more time to focus on me, my health and my recovery. As well as allowing me time to figure out the food situation and start getting the proper levels of exercise I need. It takes 2+ weeks to form a habit... so once I was cleared to lift things over 20 lbs (which happened at the 6 week mark) I started hitting the gym. Been going daily since.

Do what you need to, but talk to your surgical team about how long they typically request sleeve patients say out of work and your specific situation.

[YeahOkay31 651]

I work a pretty cushy desk job and I took 11 days (including the weekends so all and all just 7 sick days). I was perfectly fine. Good luck.

[Wanda247 908]

Thanks guys 😊

[TxAlpha06 114]

I took a week.....and I have a highly active job....but I did relax/sit the first day or two when I thought I was getting tired.....

[sillykitty 10,708]

I work from home, and I technically took no time off from work. My work is no more physically taxing than surfing the internet, so it didn't make sense for me to take time off work.

If I had to go into an office, I would have needed no more than a couple of days once I was out of the hospital. I was able to do laundry, Water plants, cook meals starting day 3 post op, so I would have been able to do a desk job.

[Wanda247 908]

Thanks everyone. That’s very positive and encouraging...I’m ready 🙂