This was brought up in a 2015 forum....But I need an excuse. to tell my coworkers. If they found out I will loose my spot. I am a firefighter , so they will have no mercy.

Gallbladder

I told people i was doing a medically supervised weight loss program. Which is kind of true haha. I basically told them my actual diet but that it was a nutritionist and doctor supervised program, not a surgery. Works on all fronts so far.

Gallbladder removed and afterward you can’t tolerate a lot of the foods you used to (to cover up why your portions are so small or your food is so different)

Gall Bladder will work. I just had mine out on 5/9/19. I’m pre op and the incisions I have seen on some of the blogs look close to what I have.

Though if you go with gallbladder now you may need to make something else up in the entirely possible event you might need gallbladder surgery in the somewhat near future.

You can always vague it up and go with something like “surgery to address gastrointestinal issues”

Hernia repair.

Hernia repairs are common surgeries. And like someone else said, you might want to leave gallbladder open in case that one does become medically necessary.

I would go with gallbladder. Honestly though, it will be a challenge keeping this a secret being a firefighter. You guys eat all your meals together, so it will be obvious to everyone how little you are eating.

Hiatal hernia repair was my go-to choice excuse

#1-it's none of their business and you can be vague that you're having minor abdominal surgery.

#2-privacy laws are in place so that you don't HAVE to tell them what your personal medical condition is or what procedure you're having. So, again, you are not obligated to tell them anything aside from the fact that you are under medical treatment for a personal/private condition.

If you feel you must say something because that's the kind of culture/environment you work in (say, these guys are your "buddies" and you feel bad about being obtuse), I would recommend saying you're having hernia repair. Rationale: unless you've already had your gallbladder out, you wouldn't want your deception to become obvious if/when you have to have your gallbladder out "again".

Thanks for your responses. I may go with gallbladder. I am just worrying more about recovery time. An injured firefighter is like an injured quarterback. You sit the bench ... you loose your spot.

I only told a few coworkers that I was having a procedure and I really didn't want to discuss it. They're going to figure it out anyways once you start rapidly losing weight, people are smart.

I went with a Hiatus Hernia repair - even my parents don’t k ow any different!

13 hours ago, Michael S said:

This was brought up in a 2015 forum....But I need an excuse. to tell my coworkers. If they found out I will loose my spot. I am a firefighter , so they will have no mercy.

Hi, why would you lose your spot? Are you just starting? I know each jurisdiction is different, but a few years ago someone I know had surgery and he is a firefighter. He just let them know he needed medical leave and did not have to disclose what for - just provided general medical documentation afterwards from his doctor, and was placed on light duty for a couple of weeks after returning to work.

On 6/11/2019 at 8:45 AM, Michael S said:

Thanks for your responses. I may go with gallbladder. I am just worrying more about recovery time. An injured firefighter is like an injured quarterback. You sit the bench ... you loose your spot.

Thank you for starting this convo again! I've been trying to find an excuse too. Im also worried about the recovery time. I was thinking of saying gallbladder but someone told me recovery time for that is only a couple days. I want to take a week or two off for this just to make sure Im ok. I don't know what kind of surgery has a week recovery time.