How long were you off work?

[Bandedbut 25]

How much time did you take off of work? I can work remote, and have a desk job with flexibility in hours. Wondering how soon everyone felt mentally and physically ready to go back? (Yes, I'm sure this will vary widely depending on age, complications, etc, just looking for a benchmark)

[omrhsn 623]

I was away for almost three weeks after my MGB. The doctor allowed me to fly back to Malaysia (from Egypt) after 10 days then I had to quarantine for a week at home. My surgery was done the old fashion (I had a big vertical incision which took longer to heal) and I had to change the dressing everyday and take some shots also. Desk job as well. I returned to work when I entered the semi-solid food stage which was just nice. I set a reminder on my phone to take a walk every now and then which helped a lot. Good luck

[BriarRose 432]

I was given 6 weeks off, and I took every moment of it. I worked in social welfare, getting in and out of the car, driving distances, and going in and out of people's homes. Also, I worked with young children and had to be able to carry 40 pounds. I was in my mid 50's at the time, and it did not make sense to return to work until I was certain I could do all of the mentioned. If I had a desk job or could have worked from home, I would have taken less time.

[Jeanniebug 473]

I had RnY gastric bypass. I took 3 weeks off. However, I wish I could have taken more time off. I'm one of the rare patients that had a prolonged period of pain, afterward. The pain wasn't horrible - liquid Tylenol took care of it - but it did make it quite uncomfortable for me to sit upright for long periods of time.

[Hannah L. 19]

I only took 2 weeks off.

Sent from my SM-G781U using BariatricPal mobile app

[catwoman7 11,220]

I took three weeks off, but could have gone back after two. I felt fine at that point, just tired in the afternoons.

[vsg2410 41]

I took two weeks off after my sleeve. I will say I was much more tired than anticipated. I actually played in a tennis tournament before returning to work because I had signed up for it months prior (and I was cleared for activity). That definitely pushed me over the edge a bit as I was still struggling with hydration and obviously sweating all day didn’t help. But I was ready week three to go to work. Like you said it varies for everyone. The anesthesia hit me hard and I was nauseous and exhausted for days after, some people feel ready to go to work the next day. I applied for short term disability before going out of work for the surgery, if you haven’t looked into that with your employer I’d start there.

[lorlybeth84 35]

I had my sleeve on a Tuesday and returned to work on the following Monday, so 6 days off total. I have a desk job and it wasn't too bad, it was actually kind of nice to get my mind off the surgery because the first few weeks are kind of a mental struggle getting used to not being able to eat.

[smc124 118]

I work 60- 80% remotely. I took off a week initially but added two additional days and was back to work 9 days after surgery. I worked from home the rest of that second and the full third weeks. I often felt tired in the afternoon and planned naps to help with my productivity.

[Merida 25]

I took 2 weeks off after VSG. I have a somewhat physical job (OT) but it was the perfect amount of time. I had crazy energy come back after a week and a half

[StephV23 1]

I'm a Set Dresser in the film industry and my entire job is lifting heavy furniture and stuff like that so my doctor recommended I stay out for a month. But I do feel like going back. Luckily, with my job, the beginning of the year is when everything really slows down so I haven't had to turn down any work.

[pintsizedmallrat 473]

I have a mostly-remote desk job but I have to report in person once a week to a location 3 hours away that I have to drive to; I was entirely off for one week but worked entirely from home the second week because I still wasn't up to the drive.

[LavenderHaze 3]

I only took off two days. One for the surgery and the day after when I was released from the hospital. I luckily felt fine after surgery. In fact, I was answering emails from my hospital bed lol.

I work from home, and really just have to turn on the computer, so there was no need to take any more time than that.

[qtdoll 535]

2 weeks. I dealt with mostly muscle pain from where they pulled out the stomach that lingered. The gas, incision pain etc was non existent almost instantly