Hi Eileen:
Call me naive, but I had surgery on 5/17 and scheduled four days off. However, on 5/21, when I went for my first follow-up appointment, the physician stated I could not go back to work for two weeks. I am a nurse in a psych hospital, so although the work is not that physical, it does have the potential to be hostile.
I am grateful for the time off. The first couple of days were rough. I experienced bouts of nausea that sometimes continue even as of today (5/26). The pain in the left shoulder was excruciating. My physician had to call in both liquid Lortab and Phenegran suppositories.
Today is better, but I am glad that I am still at home. The most difficult thing about the surgery has been adding Protein to Soups. Everytime I do this, it "clabbers" and has to be thrown out. As you can only have 1/4 cup of Soup BID, it is a big loss and waste (in my opinion). However, I am committed to being successful...so I will persevere.
Wishing you success......maybe you might want to consider putting off the surgery until you are more settled in your job. That is a lot of stress at one time...new job, new surgery, new way of life.
Jean
