Will a Week Off be Enough for a HR desk Job

[Lindsey Skinner Abbott 97]

I finally got my date! May 24th will be the day! I work in HR and do mainly desk work. Will a week off be enough or should I take two weeks?

[Christinamo7 4,042]

my doctor authorized 4 weeks, and I took out FMLA to protect my job - just in case -

but I had no complications and I went back after a week, however since my job does not respect healthy boundaries I had the doctor limit me to 6 hour days for the remainder of the first month.

in my opinion you will probably be fine, but it is better to plan for the worst and hope for the best so you don't get caught short.

and congrats on getting your date!

[JamieLogical 8,710]

Some people are fine to return in one week. Some people aren't. It's difficult to predict. Usually surgeons recommend 2-4 weeks off. I went back at 15 days post-op and I made it, but I was EXHAUSTED. The fatigue was my main issue at that point. The pain didn't last more than the first week, but the fatigue was brutal. If your desk job requires a lot of mental effort, focus, and concentration, I wouldn't recommend trying to go back at one week.

[Miss Mac 6,262]

I was already retired when I had my surgery, but I would not have felt like going back to any job at one week. Keep in mind that surgery brutalizes a major organ and you just plain need time to snap back.

At one week you may be on full liquids and still maybe a week away from purees. I started soft foods at 2 1/2 weeks, and progressed to regular cooked foods as tolerated at one month.

At one week you can expected to be exhausted at the slightest effort. If you do return to work, don't plan on doing anything when you get back home. You will probably just want to go straight to bed.

Take two weeks - more if you can get it.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

I finally got my date! May 24th will be the day! I work in HR and do mainly desk work. Will a week off be enough or should I take two weeks?

I was fortunate that I wasn't working so didn't have to worry about rushing back to work.

I had a great recovery, no complications, and no real issues, but I would suggest you take at least 2 weeks.

The first couple of weeks getting in all of the Protein and fluids can be a full time job.

The only real issue that I had was a bit of mental fogginess that lasted for a good while (probably due to the low carbs).

I don't see any upside to rushing back to work if you have the option to take some time.

[Lindsey Skinner Abbott 97]

Thank you! I asked for two weeks but would like to go back after one. I work in HR so I really don't want to apply for FMLA and I have enough leave. I just don't want everyone knowing my business and working in HR everyone will know!

[JamieLogical 8,710]

At one week you can expected to be exhausted at the slightest effort. If you do return to work, don't plan on doing anything when you get back home. You will probably just want to go straight to bed.

That is the truth. Even going back to work at 15 days post-op, this is exactly what I did. Went straight to bed as soon as I got home from work for the first few days.

[WorkinOnMe 596]

I had scheduled 2 weeks off from teaching but by the end of week 1 I was fine and could have gone back to work. Due to the prearranged time off they didn't allow me to change my time and I ended out the whole two weeks.

As the others said, everyone is different. If you can schedule more time with the option of changing it as needed, I would do that just to be on the safe side.

Best of luck!

[JamieLogical 8,710]

I think a lot of it has to do with your post-op food stages as well. If you get advanced to more solid foods more quickly and can get in more calories, you may not be as tired. When I went back at 15 days, I was still only on full liquids. I wasn't advanced to purees until day 17.

[Samara1974 116]

I went back to work after one week and I have a desk job. I did ok but I was not 100% mentally there, a couple weeks after that I found a few errors I had made and had to correct. I found out that I do a lot of twisting at my job (to reach my printer & supplies) all and all I was ok.

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

I work from home. When I got home from the hospital I went to my desk and started responding to emails. I worked basically every day after surgery, but I work from home. When I got tired I took a nap.

If I worked in a typical office, just walking from the parking lot of my desk would have worn me out. If you don't have complications and you feel well, you will have energy, but you will get tired really fast without a lot of warning.

If you can go back to work and work 1/2 days, I would say go for it. It is just really hard to predict pre-surgery how you are going to feel.

[Christinamo7 4,042]

Thank you! I asked for two weeks but would like to go back after one. I work in HR so I really don't want to apply for FMLA and I have enough leave. I just don't want everyone knowing my business and working in HR everyone will know!

if you have any complications you will need FMLA. I strongly recommend that you take it - even if the ones who know will have NO business talking about it unless you welcome them to do so.

on another local group a lady has just lost her job because she had issues post surgery and had not taken out FMLA. mine covers me for a full year.

[Lindsey Skinner Abbott 97]

Thank you! I asked for two weeks but would like to go back after one. I work in HR so I really don't want to apply for FMLA and I have enough leave. I just don't want everyone knowing my business and working in HR everyone will know!

if you have any complications you will need FMLA. I strongly recommend that you take it - even if the ones who know will have NO business talking about it unless you welcome them to do so.

on another local group a lady has just lost her job because she had issues post surgery and had not taken out FMLA. mine covers me for a full year.

[Lindsey Skinner Abbott 97]

I work for the government in the removal side of of HR. Trust me it takes a lot more than a week of surgery and complications to be removed from government service. Plus as a government employee I have appeal right if I am removed. Yes, we have actually brought people back to work after they were removed and they appealed the decision and are back at work. My boss knows what is going on and I can always envoke FMLA after surgery if needed. We can even take up to 200 hours of advanced sick leave if we need to. I don't feel threatened with being removed since my boss is very supportive of my surgery.

[Lindsey Skinner Abbott 97]

Shame on her employer for not allowing her to envoke FMLA after surgery. That is terrible. I wonder if there is a way for her to appeal that? I hope she at least received unemployment benefits.