I just received my surgery date of May 21st! I requested a week off from work and my supervisor said no, it was a bad time and I needed to change the date. He said if I had complications it could run into other's vacation time. I had confided in him earlier in the year about my surgery decision so he's aware of what's involved. My insurance does not cover so I'm self-pay. He must think of this surgery as "elective". Anyone else have trouble taking off work? :scared2:

I can't help you much but...sounds like he's being an @$$! I didn't tell my boss, just told her my mom was coming into town and I was taking a couple of days off - she already had ENORMOUS preconceived ideas about WLS - I tested the waters last summer to see what her opinion was and I got an ear full!

Good luck! Don't let this get you frustrated, it will be the best thing you could do for yourself! :-)

Do you have a wk of vacation afforded to you? If you do - your entitled to take that whether your having lapband surgery or toasting your buns on a beach. If you have vacation hours built in - take them, Mgmt cant' take those away from you. If it's a problem w/other staff and overlapping Vacation schedules - address the possibility of "Others" changing their time off - Not just you.

Since you discussed your Lapband surgery with Him - and your Self Pay, let him know this Time off at your Expense if very important to you & would Love his support. Try the nice route first - then get fiesty if you get push back:)

Good Luck - Hope you have a successful surgery:)

I only told my supervisor because he's married to a woman "of size" and thought he would be understanding. Guess not.

I didn't tell anyone about my surgery except my mom and I am self-pay as well. I asked my doctor about FMLA (family medical leave act) and he filled out the papers for me to turn into my company. The papers simply stated that I was having surgery (no specific type) and would need to be off from work for 2 weeks and upon returning could not lift anything over 5lbs for 4 weeks.

If you have FMLA and your company employs 50 employees or more then legally they can't deny you time off from work regardless of whom is on vacation. It is the law. Even if it is elective, the surgery is to improve your overall health which is why I was able to get FMLA. I was given 2 weeks off from work. Please speak with your doctor about it and I'm sure he or she will fill out the necessary papers for you to have the required time off from work. I hope this helps and good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MaLiyah is right, you're allowed so many hours a year with fmla...it's quite a bit...i used short term disability...had to use 5 days of pto and then the short term disability kicked in...i took off almost 3 weeks. i don't know how big of a company you work for but if it's a bigger co many you can call HR and tell them you need the time off for surgery and i'm sure your doctor wouldn't have any problem filling at the papers and then they can't deny you.

I don't see why anybody would need to take off more than 5 days for this surgery. I was able to walk on a treadmill, go to the movies, roughplay with a dog and more on day 5 and I'm a wimp. Two weeks seems like a long time off, unless you work for like UPS or have some other physical job, then I could understand taking off that long.

I got lucky, since my work covered the surgery, I just got to take sick time off and didn't have to cut into vacation time. I think its BS that your boss is treating you this way, what is this 1890???

Your boss can not tell you what you can or can't do on your vacation. However, most companies do require supervisors to approve vacation time and if he doesn't want to I'm not sure if you can do anything about it but I would check with HR. I think if you tell HR you are having surgery they will help you and you do not have to tell anyone including HR what kind of surgery you are having. If it were me I would tell my boss that I need that week off and leave it at that. Tell him you will be back the following Monday. If you some reason you can't go back on Monday he can't fire you if you have a note from your doc.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

I am a manager at my job , and all you have to do is tell them your having surgery, and want to take a week of medical leave. and if they still wont let you have the time off, ask for FMLA. It's true it is the law and they really can't say No. You are giving them enough notice that there is No reason to deny it..... If there is still a problem, Call your HR Dept, or the next level manger and talk to them......

I know at my work we have to put in our vacation time like 6 months in advance because only a certain percent of people can be out at one time, that is for vacation not a scheduled surgery though. This surgery is covered under FMLA regardless if insurance covers it or not and it is the LAW that they can't deny you or punish you for FMLA covered sick leave. I went through this with my Tummy Tuck. My boss was like NO WAY! SO I took the professional approach. Got my Dr. to write a small statement like Mrs. So and So is undergoing surgery on such and such date, she will be required to be on complete bed rest for at least 2 weeks. The actual day of surgery I will complete her FMLA paperwork. Short and sweet! Attached the FMLA guide lines and rules and that was all that was said about that.

The main thing to remember is that you are going under and it is no different then if someone had to have their appendix out or something. I bet if he needed a surgery he wouldn't think twice about getting it done and as far as telling you to reschedule...... I DON"T THINK SO! Stand firm and don't let him bully you! :cursing:

I don't see why anybody would need to take off more than 5 days for this surgery. I was able to walk on a treadmill, go to the movies, roughplay with a dog and more on day 5 and I'm a wimp.

Wow..... you are Superwoman. At day 5 I wasn't even able to walk more then 10 minutes at a time. And the movies...no way...The last thing I felt like doing was wearing real clothes and looking desent enough to go in public. As far as rough house with dog.......... nope..... even my little shih tzu was sad she couldn't jump on me.

I took off 3 whole weeks and am SOOOO glad I did. I work for USPS and when you come back to work they don't care what you went through or what you can and can't physically do. If you are there then you better be able to do 100%. A woman who had surgery the same day I did thought she could go back at day 7 since she had a desk job and the insicion where her port is opened up a little and she got an infection. YIKES! Everyone is different.

I took a week off. Had surgery on Monday, and was back the work the following Monday. I worked shorter days, 10-4 for the week, but was back to regular hours the second week after surgery.

I agree with everyone else, if your company employs more than 50 its FMLA. If not, I would approach someone in HR.

I agree with what some of the others have stated. An employer cannot deny you time off if it's medically necessary and they have to give you the days off as indicated by the doctor. I would contact your doctor's office ASAP and speak with them. Your doctor will most likely write you a note and back you up 100%.

Wow..... you are Superwoman. At day 5 I wasn't even able to walk more then 10 minutes at a time. And the movies...no way...The last thing I felt like doing was wearing real clothes and looking desent enough to go in public. As far as rough house with dog.......... nope..... even my little shih tzu was sad she couldn't jump on me.

I took off 3 whole weeks and am SOOOO glad I did. I work for USPS and when you come back to work they don't care what you went through or what you can and can't physically do. If you are there then you better be able to do 100%. A woman who had surgery the same day I did thought she could go back at day 7 since she had a desk job and the insicion where her port is opened up a little and she got an infection. YIKES! Everyone is different.

Nah, I'm definitely no superwoman.. My doctor just told me to work out a lot before my surgery because I would heal faster.. so even the day before surgery I was doing crunches and treadmill. I think that's what helped me to recover more. Also, my surgeon did really well with my stitches and incisions. Those suckers never hurt me. I did have the distended bloated belly from the gas, but walking A LOT helped that. The day of surgery I was outside walking around. I might have pushed it a little too hard, but hearing that you could have blood clots and die was enough to scare me. LOL.

I know all about USPS (or UPS). My husband worked there three years ago and you're right, they could care less about their employees and what they've been through. Its such a physical job and dangerous. One time he was loading a truck and the truck pulled off and he fell backwards and busted up some ribs. They didn't give a crap about him. He finally quit that job. So, I can totally understand why you'd take off that time. I have a desk job and so I just sit my butt down at work.

Oh, and that dog didn't jump on my belly.. LOL. We just played tug-of-war and catch and I pinned him down. LOL. It took me about 2 weeks before I'd even let my cat lay on my belly.

well i say take as much time as you can get/afford...i was tender but not very sore but got very very tired every afternoon...i too walked and tried to stay active to fight off blood clots...i could have gone back to work sooner, however i would have been asleep 1/2 way throught the day. it's better to be safe than sorry.

My brother tried to take off to have this surgery and his boss told him that he would have to fire him if he took off because he hadn't been there for a year yet. Does FMLA address time on the job?

He's a truck driver and a month or so later a pallet fell on his leg and tore ligaments in his knee. He's having surgery for that tomorrow and is on Workman's Comp. Funny thing is, if he had the WLS, he probably wouldn't have been there that day and could have avoided the accident. Now he's still off work, but no band. They even cancelled his health insurance while on workman's comp.

He and I both believe there is major prejudice agains WLS and he has fallen victim to it.