Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum and hoping to be banded at the end of April (when insurance kicks in). I just had a couple of questions about sick leave that I was hoping others might be able to help with.

First, did you take sick leave or annual leave? I wasn't sure which was more appropriate. I thought maybe I could take some time as sick leave and some time as annual leave maybe?

Also, how long did you take off from work? I hear most people are fine after a week but my concern is that my job involves a lot of eating with clients and travel and I am scared something will get stuck or I won't even be able to eat solid foods. So I was thinking of taking 3 weeks off to get myself used to the band. What do others think about this, too long or not long enough?

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it! I am sure I will have lots more questions, but i'll try not to be too annoying!

I'm being banded on the 4th of Feb, so I have taken from the 2nd of Feb off (I have to travel to get to where my op is being done) and going back on the 16th - so it'll be a week and a half after the op. I had my gall bladder out laproscopically a couple of years ago and I was ready to go back to work within 6 days of the op.

I took some as sick leave and some as annual, but only because I didn't have enough sick leave to cover it. My boss said I could go into negative sick leave if I wanted, but I didn't really want to do that.

Just take it as sick leave - its an operation for medical reasons, after all. Its not like your getting a nose job or something. Just tell them you are having an operation, but you don't have to tell them what for. Or you could just say you are having your gall bladder out. Unfortunately I couldn't use that excuse :confused: . I just didn't tell them what it was for, and they didn't ask.

Hope that helps in some way!

I took 9 days of sick leave (one day was a Holiday) - I was going to be off 6 days, but ended up being off ten as I was too sore to even think of sitting upright in a chair at my desk all day.

Great question, my boss wants to know how much time is needed. I have 146 hours of sick time allowed, but think I'll need 4-5 days. Is that about right?

Surgery on Feb 6th

Approximately a week is about right. Even though physically I was not in pain, about the 3rd day afterwards and until the 6th or 7th day, I was very easily tired, dizzy and weak. Remember, after the surgery, you are on a severaly restricted liquid/mushy diet and it's a drastic change from your normal diet. Your body needs time to recover from the anesthesia and the drastic change in diet. 10 days is probably optimum.

Thanks so much for your responses, I really appreciate your help. I think i'll definitely take a week of sick leave and then also a couple of weeks of personal leave to get used to the new way of eating. I just can't imagine sitting down for lunch with a client and getting something stuck or having to ask for a blended meal!!! :cool:

I also have to get my wisdom teeth out and I was half considering getting them taken out the week after my band, not sure if that is too crazy or if it is even allowed! I figure I may as well get it all taken care of while I am taking the time off work... :regular_smile: