time off work

how much time does a person need off work with the vsg?

The time off needed really depends on you. How fast you heal, if you had complications..all that fun stuff.

I have no comorbidities, and was a 40 BMI..BUT I was in the hospital from Monday to Friday and was on my ARSE for weeks! I am not a wimp, in fact I am a home birthing hippie! I had a bleed and lost quite a bit of blood, needed a transfusion and a second surgery too. I would STILL do it all over again!!! I am a stay at home momma, and with a toddler who was not yet 2 when I had my surgery it was rough. I couldn't pick her up to change her diaper or put her in her high chair. We just modified our day to day stuff and it went ok. After a month I was raring to go!

Some people come home in 2 days( i hate you, lol) and go back to work( light duty) in 1-2weeks post op.  if you have a desk job, I would think you could go back quite soon, but you WILL be dragging your butt around for a few weeks.  It's all worth it though!

Great info, thanks K-nut.  I am saddened that you had complications but gladdened that you have remained positive and with no regrets.  I have an office job (alot of butt-sitting) but I also have 1200 hrs of sick time (never sick from work - I work in a hospital and you pretty well have to be dead before they think your "really" sick- lol!  I think I would just see about getting about 4 weeks off, to be safe.  We live pretty far from the city so I am wondering how long I should plan to be in Wpg...... listen to me - my consultation just went in yesterday and I am already talking like I'm in - lol.  I should be a candidate (BMI of 43, love exercising with only mild hypertension) but we will have to see how long the wait is.

I think I will start a thread about how long some of the "out-of-towners"  were there for.

thanks again,

NGD

I'm an out of towner. Dr. V told me when he found out I was planning on returning home, 1 1/2 hrs from Wpg that I should have been told that I was expected to remain in Wpg one week post op. Julie didn't tell me that, so I came home 2 days after surgery. He wasn't to happy, but said OK, and gave me some additional info in case of emergency. So plan to stay in the city for 1 week post op. Unless your told by them otherwise. I'm sure things change all the time. ~Cheryl

The minimum hospital stay is two nights. You will also need to be in town at least a day prior to your surgery for your pre-op meeting at the hospital which takes a couple of hours. Once you get your date, please ask Julie to tell you when your hosptial pre-op will be. Sometimes they aren't great at giving out that information. If it wasn't for this forum, I wouldn't have know about the pre-op appointment & wouldn't have been able to book off work in time.

I took a full 4 weeks off, and wi**** could have been 5. I didn't have any surgical complications, but I did have severe post-surgical nausea. There is no way I could have gone to work like that. I am a wimp though (LOL) - many people went back after only a couple of weeks. Don't expect to be back on top of you game though for at least 6 weeks. It seems to take that long to start consuming enough calories to feel energetic again.

If you have any more questions, don't be shy.
Good luck!

Tanya