Should I tell my boss I am having WLS or just say I need medical leave?

[christo5 24]

I plan on taking no more than 2 weeks even though the doctor says I should be a go return after 1 week. Should I tell my boss or just let him know I am having a medical procedure and need to tame some. I just don't want my procedure to be the talk of the office.

[kelew39 64]

I've been wondering the same thing. I will be following this one.

[IcanMakeit 1,318]

You do not owe anyone information about your personal health.

I did not tell my boss what kind of surgery I was having. The upside of this is that my privacy was preserved and I don't have to deal with uninformed commentary. The downside is that people are speculating and making incorrect guesses as to what my surgery entailed. However no one has asked me for clarification, so I'm ok with letting them wonder.

I'm 5 weeks post-op and have not experienced a dramatic weight loss. This makes it less obvious to everyone. My co-workers all know that I've been dieting since the beginning of the year and I lost a significant amount of weight before the surgery.

[finallyfree101 39]

I struggled with this too. I decided to only tell them what I needed to and leave the rest. They have to respect your privacy however, if you need more time off you should read your company policy manual on FMLA. I'm hoping to get through this with no time off, lol we'll see how that works.

[MichelleInCA 22]

I agree, it's no one's business, and I sure didn't want that kind of scrutiny where people would be looking for weight loss or whatever. I told the boss and secretary I would be out on sick leave for a 'procedure', and that it was nothing serious, so they wouldn't worry. I told them 10 work days, but I felt well enough to go back after about 6. I just told them I was feeling up to working, and that was the end of it. I work in an environment where people know better than to ask, eg we have strong HR policies. If you work in a rumor mill, you might need to get more creative.

Only a couple of friends at work know about the surgery, and I'm happy about that so far. By the time they start noticing the weight loss, they'll have forgotten I was out for a week.

[lblondon 34]

I had a hiatus hernia repair at the same time as the surgery, so this is now what my operation was - handy as the reduced food intake at the beginning is very similar, along with increased smaller meals rather than 3 a day.

[eversum 12]

I told my supervisor , the only one I personally have to address but when the weight start coming off the rumors will start . I have given this a lot of thought and if someone asks I'm going to tell them. Why should I be ashamed, I tried diets and exercise but I am still (as my dr has written) morbidly obese. I'm doing this for my health not because I want to wear a bikini, would anyone look down on someone if they had their gall bladder or appendix taken out, or having chemo. I'm doing this to prolong my life. So the hell with anyone telling me I took the easy way out..sorry had to vent

[mi75 1,239]

I juggled this one for a long time too. i am a nurse so i do a lot of physical work and my doc is requiring me to take several weeks off because of what i do. in the beginning i didn't tell anyone because it was my journey and i didn't need criticism.

then i decided to tell my superiors because 1. i was going to have to plan for time off and they have to all arrange for coverage of my position, and 2. i was NOT ashamed of what i'm doing and although i didn't need to shout it from the rooftops, i was ok with starting to talk about it. i also told a couple very close colleagues and have been talking openly with them about it for several weeks now.

then i find out that somebody (i know WHO) told a bunch of people and I have to say, i am really saddened by that. i'm not embarrassed, just sad that I thought that this is MY journey to share....

If i had it to do again, i don't think i would have told all that I have. there are two or three very close colleagues that i would have told. that's it. and i would have just applied for FMLA for 'surgical procedure'.

[2Big2Skate 328]

I didn't tell coworkers but then again I don't sit with my immediate peers either. My time off was for a "procedure to help my back". And then when the weight started coming off I explained that I had been told to lose weight (to help the back) and started well before the surgery. And how I'm seeing a nutritionist etc. Everyone just wanted to talk about diet when they realized it was working, so that was easy and fun. I just told them what I'd learned in the process. It's all about the calories that get by the teeth!

i was also taking breaks to walk around the building and stuff, so people knew I was "doing stuff" to lose weight before they saw it happening.

Good luck!

[Crosby 303]

I think this is a very individual and situational issue. I have had jobs where I was close to my supervisors and coworkers and would have been very open. Then the opposite has been true in other cases. You have to find what works for you. There are pros and cons to each.

I currently am able to be home with the chickens and dogs...they already know.

I hate deception but like my privacy so I am currently torn relative to be open with family. There is no way it won't be public knowledge after I tell anyone. Frankly I am leaning for being open but I have six months to decide.

[LindafromFlorida 1,542]

My husband decided it was his business and he did not want me sharing. We were both sleeved. I read one post where the HR person told someone and it spread in an office. This is so WRONG but it happens. People love to talk about other people. Thank God I do not have to discuss my surgery thanks to my husband. The weight loss is slow and not dramatic so you tell the truth, you changed your eating habits. So much less stress to deal with.

[catfishhunta 5]

I think it depends on your boss. Mine was very understanding. I told him I had started the process before accepting the job. He even pointed me to a few people in the office who had the surgery already. They were all doing great and their work production and motivation was much higher than pre surgery. I was a poster child for recovery. I took off Friday for surgery and worked from home the 1st week then went back to the office the week after that. Most of my work is done on the computer and I can remote in from anywhere. Working from home distracted me from the minor pain and inconveniences of recovery. RNY 08/16/14

[Tammylb 174]

Yes it depends on your boss . I didn't tell my noisy gossip spreading boss ! He stays on Facebook and tells everyone what people post. I blocked him from mine . I chose to tell my immediate family and swore them to secrecy.

[HaddocksEyes 205]

I plan on taking no more than 2 weeks even though the doctor says I should be a go return after 1 week. Should I tell my boss or just let him know I am having a medical procedure and need to tame some. I just don't want my procedure to be the talk of the office.

Even though my boss is very sweet, I do not feel comfortable telling her why I will be out of work and I hinted to her that I want to keep my absence on the "downlow" as much as possible, which she understood. Eventually I will talk about it, but for now, this is how I would like to proceed.

BTW, as an aside, it is illegal in California for an employer to demand or even ask for a reason why the employee is out on leave for a medical issue.

Edited June 18, 2014 by HaddocksEyes

[Forsythia 882]

I told my immediate supervisor because we are cool, but told no one else in the office. I eventually told one other person right before I had it. but 99% of my coworkers have no idea. They just thought I took a week off on vacation.