I am close to my surgery which will happen on my days off from work.

however I travel a lot and we are a small company - I am not comfortable to be honest about my surgery

did any other women go through similar?

any advice?

Thank you!

Has anyone asked about it? No one asked about mine, so I didn't have to make anything up. However, I have heard of others saying they had a hernia repair, gallbladder surgery, or an ulcer removed.

Well my boss is visiting UAE and we are supposed to fly on a business trip together after his holiday

in just feeling I need a reason to why I can’t fly

they will notice and ask questions as it’s an intense sales role, I’m online working 18 hrs a day

"I have a medical condition and my doctor has advised me not to fly". The exact nature of your condition is no one's business.

I told my line manager (who has never met me - I work from home when I'm not on the road which was every week pre-covid) and she said, oh, I'm thinking about doing that! I also told one of the project managers and she asked me how much I weighed LOL! I will have to take a month off from traveling so I felt like I had to tell people something, and I'm an open book.

If you don't want to be so direct, try saying you have to have abdominal surgery and it will require you not to lift anything for one month?

When I took time off from work for my surgery, I used vacation days rather than sick leave and just said I was taking some time off to work on some things around the house.

Do you know for sure you will be asked to travel before your doctor would clear you for traveling? If so, could you just tell them you had a medical procedure done, and are not cleared for travel yet, and provide a note from your doctor? Sometimes I don't like providing medical notes because even that can provide more information than I care to share...sometimes the letterhead tells what type of practice it is (dentist, optometrist, surgeon, family medicine, psych, gyno, etc.) and at the very least, it will have a doctor's name and someone who was really nosey could do a web search and find out those details. I could understand not wanting to share a doctor's note. What are the covid rates like where you are? Could you report that due to those you don't feel safe to travel?

I hope you find a solution that you are comfortable with.

Tell them that you are having a hernia repair surgery coming up to correct an issue that has worsened recently, and you may not be cleared to travel in the timeframe. That way there is an excuse for why you didn't include them earlier so they could figure out the personnel issue for the trip. Good luck!

Well my boss is visiting UAE and we are supposed to fly on a business trip together after his holiday

in just feeling I need a reason to why I can’t fly

they will notice and ask questions as it’s an intense sales role, I’m online working 18 hrs a day

You can fly. People fly out to Mexico to get the surgery. So you should be clear to fly after 4 or 5 days. [emoji3590]

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I know I can fly

but I can’t go to countries where I need to take them for drinks and dinner and entertain them when I’m on a liquid diet

it’s really hard to explain our set it I just be vague we are all friends and it would be strange to be evasive

On 4/13/2021 at 8:31 AM, Suzi_the_Q said:

Tell them that you are having a hernia repair surgery coming up to correct an issue that has worsened recently, and you may not be cleared to travel in the timeframe. That way there is an excuse for why you didn't include them earlier so they could figure out the personnel issue for the trip. Good luck!

This is a good one - I’ll investigate it a bit more

thank you

I've only told family and some close friends. No one at works knows. When I requested time off, I explained I was having surgery and provided a note from my surgeon (which did not provide specifics; only that I was having a procedure done and that I needed 2 weeks off). It's really none of anyone's business ... not even your employer.

I said “I’m taking this time off for surgery. As of now, I plan on being back on this date. If I need more recovery time, I’ll let you know.” My boss seemed taken aback and probably curious but did not ask what kind of surgery. She just said “I hope everything’s ok!” It took me awhile to realize I don’t owe people an explanation, even though I’m generally very open about my life.

I believe it was hiatal hernia that would explain the diet post op if people also see you eat.

2 hours ago, WanderingHeart said:

I said “I’m taking this time off for surgery. As of now, I plan on being back on this date. If I need more recovery time, I’ll let you know.” My boss seemed taken aback and probably curious but did not ask what kind of surgery. She just said “I hope everything’s ok!” It took me awhile to realize I don’t owe people an explanation, even though I’m generally very open about my life.

This... especially your last sentence. I have to remember that even though I'm excited and proud of myself for taking these positive steps, not everyone understands what it's like to be obese for decades and to gain and lose hundreds of pounds, and I've had really weird comments and questions when I'm as open about preparing for WSL as I am about all the other weird things I've done in my life.