Planning for time off work

[SeattleGirl72 3]

I am curious as to how much time you need to take off work after surgery. I have a desk job but I work about 10 hours a day and I need to be quite alert and able to think. If my energy level is low, effecting concentration, I won’t be able to do anything - so might as well plan for a longer leave. Would 3 weeks be enough time?

[WishMeSmaller 1,274]

I also work 10 hour days, mostly desk, very busy and stressful, with a need to think and make decisions quickly. I went back to work after two weeks, with no issues. One caveat...I was working from home for my first two weeks back, which was easier food-wise as I did not have to pack meals.

[loridee11 522]

Ditto high stress desk job. My doctor offered a month and I was able to take a medical leave, so I took the full month. I probably could have gone back at 2 weeks, but I was able to use the extra time to get my eating down and to do lots of walking - I couldn't go to far at once so instead I went a few times a day. If you can get the time, I would take it.

[mi75 1,235]

I was an office nurse at the time and took a GLORIOUS 6 weeks off. It was the best time off. It was also during our summer break so my entire family was home too and we had a great time off together. Lots of little day trips, driving trips, etc. My kids still talk about it many years later.

[Topaz_Black 45]

Like everyone else, I have a high stress desk job with long days, and lots of direct reports who supervise others. Not to mention constant meetings.

I’ve requested three weeks time off. During week two, I have a handful of meetings I’ve committed to (4-5), via Zoom, Teams, or WebEx, as my company has been remote since early/mid March.

My original plan was to only take two weeks, but this is a big transition, and I owe it to myself to take time to recover physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Wish I could have taken a full month, but due to ongoing projects, unfortunately that’s not an option.

[S@ssen@ch 745]

At the time of my surgery, I had a high-stress desk job where I easily worked 10 hours/day, more with my commute (which was 1-1.5 hours coming and going).

I had my surgery on a Tuesday and returned to work the following Monday. *That first week, I was able to work from home, so I did. BUT, I was fatigued and needed more frequent breaks than usual. One day, during that first week, I stepped away from my desk for a lunch break and sat down on my couch. I woke up 1.5 hours later!

The following week (would have been week 2), I returned to the office. I can't say that I was terribly fatigued by then and had no trouble concentrating to perform my job. However, for several weeks, I'd sort of "crash." My husband and I had a running joke of it because as soon as I'd sit in my chair on Thursday evening, I'd fall asleep.

My advice: take as much time as you feel you need. You WILL have fatigue. You WILL need frequent breaks even if it's only to go to the bathroom. I was pressured into returning after 1 week. I was the manager and they depended on me. Besides, I had a healthy fear that my department would fall to ruin without my influence.

[BigSue 1,392]

I have a high-stress desk job where I work 10-hour days. My surgeon recommended taking at least two weeks off,, but I went back after one (11 days, to be precise; I had surgery on a Thursday and took that weekend off, plus the next full week, and then went back the Monday after that). I had a follow-up visit with my surgeon six days after surgery, and he cleared me to return to work. I am working from home most days, but I was in the office my first day back.

I felt well enough to go back to work a week earlier, but I wouldn't recommend it because it's practically a full-time job just to track your fluids and Protein at first. I felt great the day I went back, and by then, I was able to drink more fluids and didn't need to track by the hour, so I just sipped Water at my desk all day and had a Protein Shake for lunch.

I will say that I was not as productive as usual the first couple of weeks back just because I was a bit preoccupied with thinking about the surgery, getting protein and fluids, what to tell people if they noticed I wasn't eating any solid food or that I've lost weight (nobody has noticed either so far), etc. But I'm guessing that no matter how much time I had taken off, I still would have been distracted the first couple of weeks back.

[sdjohnson7 79]

My surgeon suggested 6 weeks, I had my surgery on 2/27/2020 ...,then Covid hit and I have been working from home ever since ( I work in a school).