Hi, I am a teacher and ideally I want to get surgery a week before our april vacation and then I will have almost 2 weeks to recover before going back to work. I want it so bad I just cant wait but at the same time am a nervous wreck especially if I am getting the bypass. I could also wait until the summer when I am out of school but I really dont want to wait that long. Advice? Ideas?

Hi! I’m 2 1/2 weeks post op sleeve
I took 3 weeks off and this is my second week and I could have gone back to work this week I felt a lot stronger as soon as I started purée stage. Good luck!!

I think having 2 weeks off work would be ideal. I able to drive on day 5 but there's no way I would have had the energy to stand up and teach all day plus it took that fist 2 weeks to figure out when to eat and drink etc. If you keep the April date then you would be fully physically recovered for summer which would be perfect since the first 6-8 weeks you healing and probably just walking for exercise etc. and eating the same foods repetitively. During the summer (so at the 3-6 months post op) is when you will feel like being more active, starting new habits, and trying new foods to figuring what works for you regarding meals and how your body handles eating "normal" foods. Then when you go back to school in August you would have a good handle on things.

Thanks so much for your thoughtful responses! I love this forum. Im just wondering if the bypass takes longer to heal. My husband got the sleeve and after 2 weeks he was def ready but I am nervous if I get the bypass what if I am not ready. at the same time I want to give myself a head start before summer!

IMHO hands down, wait.

You will need to focus really hard on yourself for a bit during recovery and teaching does not usually lend itself to selfcare. Also you will not know what your energy level will be or bathroom & eating habits will be like until after surgery. It will be a learning curve.

I know its hard to be patient, but you really might want to think about it a lot more in terms of what your job will demand of you during your recovery period (test prep, testings, evaluation, conferences, etc...) And of you can handle it.

Good Luck ?

I’m a teacher, had the bypass! Please wait until the summer, I know it’s hard but there’s no way I could have returned to teaching 2-3 weeks afterward. Feel free to message me if you have questions

I was an academic librarian and my supervisor asked me to wait until the school year was over *just in case*. So...I did. I took three weeks off but could have gone back after two. So you may be fine unless there are issues, which there usually aren't (I had the bypass).

Edited to add that it doesn't seem to take any longer for the bypass to heal than it does the sleeve. The above posters are right, though, in it may take awhile to figure out the whole food thing - what your stomach will tolerate, what it won't. It definitely would be easier to do this if you wait until summer and have a couple of months to figure everything out.

Edited November 19, 20196 yr by catwoman7

I didn't have the GB, i had the sleeve with Hiatal hernia repair..... That was a Wednesday and i felt like i could go back on that Friday.... I went back that Monday. Probably the easiest SX i ever had. I had zero pain, i was up walking with in hours of the sx.

The key is to move and not just sit around.

At my pre-op class yesterday, we were told that unless you have a physical job requiring lifting or pulling over 10 lbs that you would be fine in 2 weeks for work. They said it sometimes depends on your previous experience and that if you’ve never had surgery or a broken bone etc., you may have more difficulty than someone who has. Good luck!

It’s wasn’t the pain for me, I actually had very little pain/complications. It was just the fatigue that followed. It took me a good 4-6 weeks to get my energy back. Maybe it was just me though ??‍♀️

I had gastric bypass and took 4 weeks off from work. Like others have said, I was very tired. I would definitely wait until summer and not rush it. Good luck!!