Hi all :)

I’m new here! I just underwent gastric sleeve surgery exactly a week ago today! While still in quite a bit of pain, I will be returning to work next week. I sit in an office practically all day, and was wondering if any of you may have sought out accommodations with your place of employment, and what those accommodations may have been? More so, I’m curious about more physical accommodations you may have sought out as I have some fear around comfortability in an office setting in this condition. Thanks so much!!

You will see a drastic improvement in a week from how you feel right now. I don't think you really will need any accommodations. If anything, you will need to be able to get up and walk around atleast once an hour to keep things moving and aid in healing. I seriously doubt after 2 weeks you will have much pain or weakness.

I asked for more frequent trips to the bathroom. I didn’t always need it, but it helped a lot.

Wow...what kind of place do you work at that you have to request bathroom trips? I cannot see me working at such a place.

Thank you both so much, I appreciate it! Your reassurance is helpful as I find myself feeling “stuck” in this miserable cycle of pain and inability of seeing myself getting over this experience. I’m excited for the future though ☺️

I think it depends on your work environment and the requirements of your position.

If your office or work environment is strict about when you can eat or drink, that would be something to consider. For me, I have to eat 3 meals plus 2-3 snacks to get all my calories in (I'm 6 months out) and I need to drink throughout the day. This wouldn't be an issue at my office, but for some people it could be a problem.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have affected anything.

You're not likely to need any special accommodations. You'll recover so much more by next week.

I had my sleeve on November 9th and was back full time at the office on 22nd November, I had the option to work from home but after all of the isolating I'd done for surgery I was craving the hustle and bustle of the office. There was nothing I needed to change to be back in and everyone was supportive of my diet and eating schedules. Hope you are doing well!

I stayed at home for three weeks but could have gone back to work after two. I felt fine and wouldn't have needed any accommodations.

I took off two weeks but honestly I could have been back after a week-
Other than gas pain I had a relatively easy recovery. Hope for you that you do as well!!

Thank you all so much, I appreciate you!

Better to have a chat with your supervisors (they don’t have to know the details of your surgery) that you may need some accommodation than not. We all heal & recover differently. Some people are fine after a week. Me, I was weak & could be doughy in the head 4 weeks later (my BP was very low).

I undertook a new contract, fortunately with people I worked with before, & they were very accommodating. They allowed me to adjust my working hours & were ok if I had to leave a little earlier. I could eat/drink at my desk so that was never an issue & nor were bathroom breaks.

Maybe ask if you could start back with reduced hours or a reduced working week to begin if you discover you need it. Also ensure they know you can’t lift anything heavy for a couple of weeks either & bending & reaching may be difficult for a little while. Again all this depends on how you recover.

All the best.

On 02/07/2022 at 11:36, Tony B - NJ said:

Wow...what kind of place do you work at that you have to request bathroom trips? I cannot see me working at such a place.

I’m a teacher and if I do need to “go” there needs to be a live person responsible for the classroom at all times. I’m remembering the surprise liquid #2 that happened in the early weeks before ground meat.

Thank you sooo much—this has been super helpful!

I work in an office and the only accommodation I sought was that I could wear yoga pants at my desk. The dress pants felt constricting around my waist, causing me pain/discomfort. I would wear the dress pants to work, close the door to my office, put on the yoga pants while I worked. Only annoying part was having to change in/out of the dress pants to leave my office.

Again, as others have said, you will feel much better in two weeks after surgery than you do now.

Also, as others have said, the accommodations you may need are specific to your work tasks and how strict your environment is.

I worked from home for the first month then started traveling for work again. Your main limitations will be on what you can eat and because it can be hard to drink much at once right after surgery, so if you can eat, drink, and go to the bathroom any time you want, you should be okay, unless you are really tired or foggy.