RePost--> Scared to tell my boss

My day is coming ( Dec. 17th) and I haven't told my boss yet. I don't want my work to know I'm having WLS. I dont want to tell them anything until I get final medical clearance which is Dec 3rd.I want to take off the whole 4 weeks. What can I tell them I need the time off for?

If you do not feel comfortable telling your boss that you are having WLS, why not tell him you are having abdominal surgery (which is true), and when/if they ask for details, tell them you'd rather not discuss the details.  You don't have to tell your boss, you only have to tell the HR folks who are handling any STD/FMLA, and they are regulated by HIPPA to not tell anyone (including your boss) what your medical diagnosis is, only if and how it affects your work--if they do, they can loose their jobs.

Fact: You don't have to tell anyone, etc etc (see post above)

Opinion: They are going to know. You can tell them now or let them gossip about it when you come back.

I didn't tell anyone until I hit 275 (100 loss) because it was becoming obvious. I also work at home alone though. From what I've seen, most folks that work at an office, they "know" one way or the other.

I told my boss/co-workers I was having surgery to fix some lingering health problems and left it at that. To explain the weight loss I am saying that my improved health after surgery made me want to improve my health in other ways.

Being in HR, I can tell you that the posts above are correct, you do not "tell" HR about your surgery, but it is on the paperwork you have to fill out for a leave of absence. They cannot share that info.

Take the 4 weeks, but know that some people will notice the change when you come back smaller. Explain you had to eat cleanly before surgery, so you kept it up.

However, there may come a point later, as you continue to lose, that because the WLS was such a good decision, you may want to talk about it. Some of my decision to not share it was cause of perceptions of WLS as "the easy way", or "cheating" or the "unhealthy" way to lose weight. People do not know much about WLS unless they are considering it, so there are some negative (of course wrongly) connotations. You are not alone wanting not to share your private business with others! In the end, it's not about what they think, it's about you and your journey.

I did not want work to know why either. I told them I was having abdominal surgery.  They asked if I would tell them what I was having done and I told them I preferred not to, it was personal.  I did not have to tell HR either; my doctor completed the leave of absence form and kept it general.

As for the weight loss, I told them I was on a strict diet (starting with my pre-op liquids).  I figure, if they want to speculate and talk behind my back, let them.  This was a very personal decision for me and did not want any negative comments, feedback or feel like everything I ate was being scrutinized.

I did tell them as soon as I had my surgery date as I wanted to give them as much noticed to shift my workload as possible.

Good luck!

Gallbladder surgery. I have a bad gallbladder (No stones, it just won't contract like it is supposed to) and I can't eat certain things... so I have started prior to surgery eating post-op friendly foods and that had helped my gallbladder too... but I told everyone that I had my GB removed. If they ask anymore, I simply say that since I was following this diet, my health and weigh improved I decided to stay the path and voila...

There are family members that still don't know because they can be more cruel than most people. Gallbladder surgery works for me... plus it can be performed in the same manner as VSG so if they ask about scarring... you are covered should you want to show anyone.

Danielle

Hernia repair is also plausible.  Many of us have that fixed at the same time as the VSG.  Personally, I did not tell work due to discrimination issues that are prevalent there.  The downside of this is that they assume that the weight loss is a result of cancer.  A bit of it is from that, but most all of it is a result of wls.  Others are right in that people will talk.  I think they will talk either way though myself.  My husband went on a diet when I had surgery and he lost over 90 pounds without surgery- and it came off at a faster rate then what I experienced.  Hence, it is entirely possible to lose at a rate that nonsurgical patients lose at.  Check my ticker- I did not have any one month that was crazy high, except perhaps month 1.  But if people know you were in for surgery it will make sense to most of them that you may have lost weight as a result of that. 

Remember, this is about you and not about them.  Do what is best for you.