So I know this will probably vary person to person and has been discussed before butttttt..... I had my consult with my surgeon who said i may need two weeks off from work. I have a desk job and dont have to lift anything.. I was hoping for more likely a week off total kind of thing b/c its super hard for me to take off from work just because i work in such a small business. as it is a wekk will be hard enough to ask for. What is everyone else's experience with returning to work who has a desk job> After a week did you have a lot of pain or just mostly tired really easily and what about driving if you're able to come off pain meds by a week?

Edited August 16, 20187 yr by sleevegirl88

I took a full two weeks off and I wish I could have taken more time. Five weeks out and I am laying down as we speak on my break (I work from home-desk job). The exhaustion is he biggest thing for me.

4 minutes ago, Letsgetgoing2018 said:

I took a full two weeks off and I wish I could have taken more time. Five weeks out and I am laying down as we speak on my break (I work from home-desk job). The exhaustion is he biggest thing for me.

Hows the pain been that far out?

Just now, sleevegirl88 said:

Hows the pain been that far out?

The pain is ok. I was on just Tylenol a couple Days home. As I’m healing I get twinges of pain in my incision sites. You may be just fine with one week off.

4 minutes ago, Letsgetgoing2018 said:

The pain is ok. I was on just Tylenol a couple Days home. As I’m healing I get twinges of pain in my incision sites. You may be just fine with one week off.

Thanks!

I am taking 4 weeks - surgery coming up on 8/22.

I was no where near ready to go to work after one week. I wasn't in pain at all, but was really weak and found that I really need to focus on getting the protein/liquids down. I understand you not wanting to take the time off but it may be a good idea to plan to have it off , and go back if you don't need the extra week. Your health is #1.

I took 2 weeks but was cleared after 10 days only took pain meds for the first 4 days

10 days is the minimum to be cleared for driving

according to my Drs

43 minutes ago, Malcy said:

I was no where near ready to go to work after one week. I wasn't in pain at all, but was really weak and found that I really need to focus on getting the protein/liquids down. I understand you not wanting to take the time off but it may be a good idea to plan to have it off , and go back if you don't need the extra week. Your health is #1.

Very true! I just hate missing work, makes me feel guilty kind of thing...shouldn't...but i worry about stuff getting done on time if im out...(hence lazy coworker) ...thansk for the input im going to talk to my boss and say hey can i take 2 weeks and come back early if i feel better

1 hour ago, Vizslamom said:

I am taking 4 weeks - surgery coming up on 8/22.

Im looking at mine being in October sometime around the 9th i think

I was off for 4 weeks, and really needed 3 of them. I was very glad to be able to be off that long.

This is really variable.

I work from home and technically took no time off. My job isn't physically harder than surfing the internet. I could drive as long as I wasn't on pain meds. Pain was minimal. I was tired, but not debilitatingly so. I started work travel on day 15 post op. I have traveled nearly every week since.

Jobs are different too. I would have done myself a disservice by taking time off. The work would have piled up, and gotten more urgent and complicated if I had just let it sit for weeks. It would have created crisis's that would be harder to resolve later, than just dealing with it at the time. So by working at 75% for the first week or two was a whole lot easier overall than dealing with huge issues my absence caused when I would have returned.

42 minutes ago, sillykitty said:

This is really variable.

I work from home and technically took no time off. My job isn't physically harder than surfing the internet. I could drive as long as I wasn't on pain meds. Pain was minimal. I was tired, but not debilitatingly so. I started work travel on day 15 post op. I have traveled nearly every week since.

Jobs are different too. I would have done myself a disservice by taking time off. The work would have piled up, and gotten more urgent and complicated if I had just let it sit for weeks. It would have created crisis's that would be harder to resolve later, than just dealing with it at the time. So by working at 75% for the first week or two was a whole lot easier overall than dealing with huge issues my absence caused when I would have returned.

That's kind of how i was feeling. Luckily my job is about the same and we don't get a ton of customers everyday. with my surgery not being on the 1st or last week of the month it should be fairly light. and even when customers come in i don't have to get up from my desk. I can also always move to one of the back desks and deal with stuff there so someone else can deal with the majority and i just pick up of the overflow. (worst case scenario) however i'm afraid of the pile of work i will come back to BY leaving b/c the little everyday stuff adds up quick vs being there and dealing with it then and taking the 5 minuets to do it. (sorry for rambling lol)

Ok so I also work a desk job, I had surgery on a Weds but only had enough time off for the remainder of the week planned to go back on Monday the following week. Now this is not to say this will be your experience, but I felt great after surgery didn't need pain meds and was back at work Thursday afternoon (literally 24 hours after my surgery). Please understand I am not suggesting you plan for that, but do realize that everyone will heal and feel differently you just need to listen to your doctor first and your body after that. I hope it works out well for you.

I needed like a week and a day.

1 hour ago, Robert W said:

Ok so I also work a desk job, I had surgery on a Weds but only had enough time off for the remainder of the week planned to go back on Monday the following week. Now this is not to say this will be your experience, but I felt great after surgery didn't need pain meds and was back at work Thursday afternoon (literally 24 hours after my surgery). Please understand I am not suggesting you plan for that, but do realize that everyone will heal and feel differently you just need to listen to your doctor first and your body after that. I hope it works out well for you.

Thank you! I hope I have the same experience you do, would be great! Im glad yours went well! It gives me hope and encouragement