Recovery time

[shabby]

hi folks,

I'm taking an informal poll. how long after surgery before you felt 'back to normal' energy wise?

I own two businesses and it looks like I'll be having surgery at the end of September. this is the beginning of the holiday sales season and the mainstay of my businesses. I'm a bit fearful that I won't be able to work at my full potential for an extended period and don't know if that's a reasonable assumption or not.

what say you, experienced ones?

[mellowjoy]

I took 2.5 weeks off. I was tired but not unable to work tired. I would get up early because the fatigue in the mornings seems to be the worst. I needed time to rest after getting ready for work. However, once I got to work I was able to put in a full day. My job consisted of sitting all day but I still had to be responsive and tuned in to what was happening.

One thing I did prior to surgery was make sure my house was spotless. I didn't want any unnecessary housework using my energy up.

Food wise, you're so limited on what you can have, liquids, pureeds foods there is no reason to food prep. I did frozen and canned foods druring those stages. It took maybe 5 minutes to blend what I was going to have for diner. Whatever I had for diner I made a double portion and packed up a meal for lunch the next day. I ate a few spoonfuls of yogurt for breakfast so no meal prep was reqired. Not knowing what I could tolerate I didn't see any reason to buy fresh ony to throw out if I couldn't eat it.

[Christie13]

I have a desk job and went back to work exactly 1 week later. I was tired at night. I would go to bed a bit earlier but no real issues. I also ensured I took my vitamins, stayed hydrated, and did my best to get my protein in. I did not have many real issues with energy. I mean, I was more tired than usual but most overall fine. The worst for me was the first week. It steadily got better after that.

[Stacey03]

I was exhausted for 6 weeks but I might be just a bit of a wuss. Everyone is different but I felt I really needed that 6 weeks off. In saying that I did go back to Uni for 2 days a week from week 3, but I was super tired. Get a cleaner, you won't need to do much food prep, and try to get enough sleep at night. Some folks are just back at it and don't have any issues so it's difficult to say for sure I guess. But good luck! And when you have recovered, keep the cleaner!!!! ;-)

[elllie]

I think it depends on the individual. Luckily I work from home and so did not have to go anywhere. I took a while to feel 'normal' again. I would walk everyday but needed to sleep during the day for more than 2 weeks. However my problem with getting back to normal stems from me not recovering well from anaesthetics. Good luck with your journey.

[Shannon'sVSG]

If I remember correctly, I felt exhausted for roughly three weeks after having surgery. I did a lot of napping as I found I just couldn't muster up the energy to do much more than a short distance walk or two each day. But as you can see by the postings here, it can fluctuate from person to person, so each individual experience is much different than the last. But don't allow the information to sway your decision to have VSG surgery. If this is something you really want, you will find a way to make it all work out - and it will work itself out.

[sraebaer]

I took 2 weeks off work and felt pretty much "back to normal" by then. I'm a teacher.

The first week I basically slept, and when I was awake I sipped my protein shakes and walked a little. By the second week I was feeling better and relaxed before going back to work.

[Ann2]

"Full energy"?

Hmm ... I'll be conservative here and say that I was back to "full energy" about 3 months post-op. For me, that meant business travel, standing and teaching all day in front of some very demanding adult students, and working 60-70 hour weeks.

Was it hard? Yes.

But it was also hard struggling to work at "full energy" when I was 50 pounds heavier (which is about how much weight I'd lost by 3 months post-op, including my pre-op diets).

Good luck to you.

[The North Sleeve]

I took 2 weeks off of work and never had any loss of energy or periods of being tired. I am 6 weeks post-op right now and I still don't have any loss of energy. I felt fine right after surgery which I was amazed at. I didn't need pain meds at all.

I am a true believer that if you follow your medical teams advice you will do well in your surgery process. I have read some horrible stories what some people have gone through and thank goodness I breezed through my surgery. Don't get yourself all worked up about what you can or cannot do, just make sure you take care of yourself and don't push any limits. You need to take care of yourself and heal properly, your business will always be there, you might not if you try and rush things. You will know how your body reacts within hours of the surgery. Best of luck to you!!