Working after Surgery....

[ranchersdaughter]

How many post sleevers have active jobs?

I'm an Orbital Welder for Base Build at Intel, and there is lots of ladder climbing, scrunched up in tiny spaces, crawling under subfloors and other such activities. My PCP says I'm lucky that I'm such an active person or my obesity would probably be 10 times worse, thanks to the destructive effects that Norplant (17 years ago!) has had on my body.

My surgery is April 11, and I'll be returning to work on the 25th of April.

I have a high pain tolerance and I'm concerned that I won't be in enough pain post surgery to be extra careful and may overdo it just because I "feel" like I'm fine. I know I will be on light duty at work for at least 6 weeks, I'm just worried about not being careful enough.

Just curious to know if anyone else has an active job and how long it took before you were back to full production?

Thanks for listening and hopefully responding!
Christal

[kitsonk]

Well, I don't have an active job, but my particular opinion is that the biggest risk is a leak, which usually will manifest itself in the first couple of weeks. Even with a high pain tolerance, you will still feel different and "uncomfortable" in certain situations. So if you take the time to listen to your body. After the first couple of weeks, as long as your wounds have healed, there is little "damage" you can do. You are morel likely to do damage on the inside by forcing yourself to eat too much more then physical exercise.

Even with an active life, you will likely feel totally exhausted, especially if your body is used to burning a lot of calories every day, you physically won't be able to eat what you used to by a significant margin, which will sap your energy, on top of your body pouring a lot of energy into healing itself. I think you will be surprised at how self-regulating your body will be and force you into a gradual return to your full self.

[jenssensmom]

I run a police academy, but I am no longer active and am basically a desk administrator/director. I do my surgery with Dr. Almanza on the 16th and am going back to work on the 25th. I was told that as long as I had no complications, since I do a desk job, going back after a week won't be that big of a deal.

However, my uncle had his sleeve done nearly three weeks ago, works in the oilfield, and is already back at work. I have heard that if you are already fairly active, that you respond better to activity after the surgery. I don't know how true that is, but it has definitely been the case for my uncle.

Please post once you are able since we have the same doctor. I would like to know how you are doing and how your experience has been with him!
Good Luck!!

[Johnny]

I may not be as active as you but I was walking around the neighborhood at day 2, easily climbing stairs and driving day three and back to work day 5. I think you'll know what you can do before you return to work and you'll know quickly if you're over doing it. If you feel tired or are stressing your body, listen and slow down.

Good luck!

[MissDeidre]

My job is fairly sedentary but I was back to work 3 days post-op. I was up and moving around without any issues the day after my surgery ...

I think if you listen to your body, you should be just fine. Best of luck!