Post-Op Bandsters - When did or are you going back to work?

[Liftingchic 0]

I am having surgery This friday and am Taking 10 days off.. I work in a hospital and am on my feet alot, I am sure i could go back before that but we have the staff and i have tons of vacation time so i am going to take it easy.

I am not one for sitting around, Plus I will be going back after 2 days of Mushies so I think i will be ready to go back.. Sitting around the house will make me think of all the food i am missing heheh

[Daisy411 0]

I was banded last wednesday and weent back to work yesterday. I also have a desk job. I feel great! Take as much time as you need. Just remember to patient your body needs time to heal.

[Taylorx2 0]

I had my surgery on 3/12. I was planning to go back to work tomorrow 3/17, but have changed my mind and decided to take the remainder of the week off to recover. I thought the additional days will allow me to be ready to return to the stresses of the job, without worrying about any discomfort.

[sandi_022 6]

Hey there! I just had my surgery last Monday.....3/8/10 and I felt fine the next day, but it was the next few that I felt like crap... it was more like I was VERY tired, and slept a lot. I'm 8 days post op, and just hanging out i feel fine but if i go to the store, and have to carry out groceries or carry something up the stairs I get kinda light headed, and feel exhausted. so I'd take at least a week off if I were you :scared2:

[nurselroy 0]

I'm a nurse and work two part-time jobs (one as a supervisor and one in ICU). I'm taking two weeks off from the ICU job and one week off from the supervisor job since that one is not very physical. I hope I feel well pretty soon because I'm making a to-do list of stuff to do around the house during my week off. I've never took a week off to stay at home before-only to go away on vacation somewhere.

[bella71 0]

I had originally planned to go back to work after 1 week, but I took a second week off. My abdomen was just too painful and swollen to put on suit pants or a skirt (I am an attorney). The port area was very tender, and the waistband on my clothes is right where the incision was! I was in too much pain to tie my own shoes for the first week. But perhaps that was just me. I see that most people were able to bounce back much faster.

Anyhow, I wouldn't change a moment of it. I am very happy with my LAP-BAND®. It is the healthiest thing I have done for myself in a very long time.:scared2:

[ladytru84 23]

went back after 10 days including weekends

[chrisdirects 0]

I may not be the best example...I had my band put in 2/26, and I won't be returning to the office until the first full week in April. Fortunately, my job can be done entirely from home. I started charging billable hours, on a very part time basis, the Wednesday after my surgery. Now, I'm pretty much putting in 8-9 hour days. Here and there, I have a day when I run out of steam...but that's mostly because I'm in the midst of having my medications reduced, and I'm trying to get used to the new dosages.

Because I have such a long commute to the office (2+ hours each way), I wanted to be sure I was fully healed before I started that again. Actually, I'm beginning to wonder if I couldn't arrange to work at home permanently...now, wouldn't THAT be a sweet ending!

All my best,

Christine

[babsy 0]

I was banded on the Thursday, with a hiatus hernia repair as well, and returned to work 11 days later on the Monday. My surgeon recommends at least a week, but my job is not sedentary. I'm a nurse, supervising students. I don't have to physically care for patients, but I am on my feet for 8hrs, 5 days a week.

I coped well, and have had no problems. If I had gone any earlier, I would have struggled. Before that, even half an hour at the shops made me feel woozy, so I made sure I did as little as possible leading up to going back to work. Luckily I have a stay at home husband, who took care of all chores etc., especially after I went back to work.

We're all different, and I think taking more time off will always be better than less if you can afford it (I couldn't, had signed a contract).

[wantstosucceed 0]

I know this might be a goofy question but I'm trying to plan my time off. My surgery is scheduled for the 22nd, which is a Monday. I had planned to take the 22nd and 23rd off (obviously) but make an attempt to come into the office on the third day. Am I nuts? LOL! I have a feeling I'll be working from home, but I wanted to see what everyone else did. I've heard stories from 2 days off to full weeks. I'd like to hear it from real bandsters. I'm trying to figure out what to expect.

As a side note, I have a desk job, so it's not that intense. And I tend to heal fairly quickly after surgery. When I had both of my children, I was up within 20 minutes and out of the hospital in 24 hours. I couldn't stand to just sit around.

So, what did you do? (Or are going to do?)

Ginger,

I just had my surgery on March 18th. It went very well, and I was released from the hospital the same day, after being told most patients including myself would have to spend the night in the hospital.

I myself am taking two weeks off from my job. I don't believe that I would of went back to work 2 days after my surgery. For one, my surgeon puts the "On-Q" on us, and you have to keep it on for 3 days. That said though, on the 3rd day when my boyfriend pulled it out for me, I have been pretty much pain free, and able to do most things that I did before, except lifting. I also had a hernia which I didn't know about, so I'm to take it easy for awhile, and I intend on doing so.

Everyone is different in how they heal, etc., however, this is a big change in everyone's life, so if you have the time, I would certainly take it. Like you, when you had children, I was out of bed within 20 min. of having them. I did the same thing as soon as I was out of recovery and into my own room, I just couldn't lay in that bed any longer. In the room next to me, another lady had the same surgery done by a different surgeon, and by listening to her, she was in terrible pain, from all the gas. I myself didn't have the gas pains after surgery, which, I'm thankful, people say they can be very painful. The nurse even warned me that the gas pains can creep up into your shoulders and such and be extremely painful. But, that said, they say the more your up and walking, the better your chances are of not having any gas pains.

So, I would just really play it by ear and see how you feel, your body will let you know what your capable of, and it will tell you what your not.

Good luck to you on your surgery, keep us posted on how you make out!

Best wishes,

Tina