Hi. I live in Fort Worth - a newbie on here too and just got my band May 10th.. I started this process last September to get approved by Cigna, but once I completed all thier requirements, it only took 3 days for approval. I dont know who your Dr. is, but I am a patient of Dr. David Kim and his team was very helpful in getting me approved.
As far as how long to be off work.. I think everyone is different.. I work from home, but it really wasnt util this Monday that I felt good enough to sit in front of my computer all day.. I get tired easily, but I am making myself get up and walk about every 30 minutes.. my incision is sore where the port is.. but its getting better every day.. so I figure I wont be back to normal until next week.. It kinda surprised me how long I would be "down".. could have something to do with me living a pretty stagnate life prior to the surgery though..
Im looking forward to having more energy to play tennis again..
Good Luck.. so far this has been worth the trouble!!