Melzy

Hi, all! I'm new to bariatric pal and my consult is August 2. I will be setting a tentative surgery date along with scheduling tests my doctor requires. I've been educating myself on bariatric surgery and gathering information for a few months now. I'm still deciding between the gastric sleeve procedure or gastric bypass. I'm a patient care technician and I started my job back in April. I don't plan on having my surgery earlier than December, but I'm worried that requesting time off for an "elective" surgery would make me look like a bad employee. I also will only have 6 PTO (I work 9 days in a two week period) days saved by then and I'm sure I'll need at least 2 weeks off. My benefits are through this employer, so I want to stay in good standing and honestly? I really love my job. I believe the most time off I will need is 3 weeks. I hope to go back in 2 weeks and light duty for 1 week. Do you guys think my employer will have an issue with requesting time off for an elective surgery? Could I lose my benefits if I'm missing those three PTO days? How do I go about this process? I just don't even know where to start.

Sounds like you have a great set up there! Congrats on your surgery!!! I looked more into policies for taking time off. I can apply for short term disability as long as my doctor is supportive of that decision. It has to be deemed "medically necessary" though. Which, if insurance and my surgeon both approve this surgery, shouldn't really be an issue... I'm hoping. It looks like a lot of people fill out their forms and put abdominal surgery. I work for a big hospital, so I was thinking I could just be direct with HR about my surgery, but less direct with my manager. My plan is to take it during my school winter break, which is unfortunately during the holidays. I hate doing that because I know that's when everyone else also wants to go on vacation too, but I might not have a choice... Another option might be during Thanksgiving break from school, which is my holiday off, but it might be too short notice. Thanks so much for your help!