Restriction time post recovery

[ElizabethO 4]

Hey y'all! My husband and I are having the surgery sometime this year in Mexico with Dr. A! I'm so excited and anxious. However we cannot decide on a time that works for us both. I want the surgery ASAP in April while I'm on spring break. (I'm a teacher) My husband is self employed and runs his own machine shop and farms part time. In April he worries it will be too busy of a time of year for him. He will be needing to put up a new fence to get his hay field ready and that usually is a busy time at the shop for him. He wants to wait until July. This upsets me to no end. I'm so ready to start this new journey and start living again! He can take the week off of surgery and can be restrictive with his heavy lifting for 3 weeks or so but my question is for people who have fairly physical jobs, how long before you were back to work and felt comfortable completing your normal task without fear of hurting yourself?

[Josey Quinn 187]

If it's financially feasible, you might consider doing it at separate times. That way, each of you can take the time to heal in the way that makes most sense for you and your different jobs.

[LadyK44 263]

My husband and I are both sleeved. We had our procedures around 6 weeks apart. His job is more physical than mind and he took off 2 weeks. We are both happy with our sleeved lives. Good luck to the both of you.

Edited January 1, 2016 by LadyK44

[ElizabethO 4]

Thank you for your replies. We'd really like to have it together at the same time for travel purposes and support. I'm just really trying to talk him into being able to be "light duty" for 2-3 weeks if needed. But I don't want him to hurt himself either.

[Bufflehead 6,358]

I think it's possible that you would both be able to go back to work according to your plan, but I think your plan is pretty ambitious. If you go forward with it, I would say have a back-up plan for what you are going to do if it doesn't work out the way you envision. I was not ready to go back to work for two weeks, and I have a desk job. I was just too tired. And I had what most people would consider an easy recovery: no complications, able to get all my fluids and Protein in from day one, up and walking 2 hours after surgery. It isn't so much the fear of hurting yourself after surgery as it is just not having the strength or energy to get through a day doing the sorts of things you describe. It might also be hard to keep sipping liquids throughout the day while working on things like putting a fence up and getting fields ready for planting. It might even be hard for you to go back to work as a teacher with just a week off (I couldn't have -- but you are probably younger and perhaps starting at a lighter weight than I did). I am not meaning to discourage you, I just do want you to think of back-up plans for what happens if you and/or your husband end up needing more than a week off and/or a couple of weeks of light duty.

[liannatx 897]

My teacher friend and her husband had it done on the same day, and felt it worked out perfectly for them. They also went to Mexico and said it was convenient for them to do it one trip. They were able to be on the liquids at the same time, and were on the same food progression together. She said it was great that they were able to fix things they could both have... not have to watch the other eating a 'regular' meal.

There is no way to predict how one will recover after this. I am a teacher also, and I went back to work after 7 days. I do believe there are lift/weight restriction for several weeks, so I am not sure how long your husband would need to take light duties in his work. Again, some of it will also depend on how fast he bounces back.