Recovery Time - Back to Work
I have lurked here for months. I have been reading all the postings
with great interest.
My (hopefully lap) RNY is 1/12/04. I have heard contradictory things
from many different people about the recovery time. I realize everyone
is different. But, with the number of these surgeries being done, there
has to be a “typical”, again assumping lap approach.
Some people say, “Back to work in 15 days!”.
Others say, “No, you better take off a month!”.
I have a professional practice and need to estimate when I will be back
in the office.
What should I plan?
-jay
October 26th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
Hi Jay,
I had my lap RNY 12/3/03 and was back to work in one week. However, I am not
typical because I work out of my home. Today I am two weeks out. I could go
to work in an office.. if I had to. I’ve heard many people say they had no
pain with their lap RNY. I had severe pain in my right side for the first
week and continue to have pain in that side if I move the wrong way or have
to bend over to pick up something. I do get better each day. If you work in
an office that requires little physical strain, you could probably go back
in two weeks. One thing to consider, my surgeon told me not to lift anything
over 10 pounds for 6 weeks. Good Luck! Sherry
October 27th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
with great interest. My (hopefully lap) RNY is 1/12/04. I have heard
contradictory things from many different people about the recovery
time. I realize everyone is different. But, with the number of these
surgeries being done, there has to be a “typical”, again assumping lap
approach. Some people say, “Back to work in 15 days!”. Others
say, “No, you better take off a month!”. I have a professional
practice and need to estimate when I will be back in the office. What
should I plan?<<
By the time I had my open RNY, I had accumulated hundreds and hundreds
of hours of unused sick leave from my professional practice. So I
cleared my patient load, and told the office to plan on my being away
6-8 weeks.
As things worked out, I took seven weeks. By then my conscience just
wouldn’t allow me to stay away any longer. If I had to, I could have
gone back on a part-time basis after only two weeks or so. It wasn’t
*pain* that would have kept me from full-time work (although I was
still a bit uncomfortable), but fatigue. My energy was just sapped by
the surgery, and I napped on and off during the day. Still, I was able
to work out pretty vigorously at the gym by six weeks (although I
avoided putting much stress on the abdomen).
I have a desk job, so I think it would have been different if my work
was more physical. And I had an open procedure rather than the lap, so
your recovery will likely be less. But I’d guess that a month is a
pretty safe estimate, and 15 days could well be possible. Good luck!
Steve
RNY 8/31/98
Dr Reinhold (Hospital of St Raphael, New Haven, CT)
Avoiding the fate of Eglon, King of Moab (Judges 3:12-25)