stormy Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 My husband and I are going to do this together. But he is concerned. He is an electrician and he says his job is demanding. He will not be able to take time off from work, exempt for the weekend we are there to get the surgery. Can you tell me, if he goes back to work on Monday, after having surgery on Friday, will he be able to do anything? I dont want him to get in any trouble for missing work. If he watches what he does and tries not to lift more than the 15 pounds, would he be ok. How much time off would he really need? This is a new job for him and I dont want him to lose it. This is for his health maybe they would understand, I dont know but I really need to know what we are looking at. right now he is 5'8 280 pounds and misrible. He can't even put on his own socks right. He is very stubborn he will go to work even if he is in pain. For the guys on here, what was the recovery like and did you go back to work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittycat Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Hi Stormy, have him talk to the surgeon. It took me a full week to recover and my surgeon did not recommend any lifting over 20 lbs for 6 weeks. Men tend to recover more quickly, but I would check with the surgeon just incase, he does need take some time off or lighten his work load. Good luck you guys, I am so happy you're doing this for yourselves!!! Take care, Cathy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiamondJim Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Iwas banded June 16 and had no problems, whatsoever. I was up walking 30 minutes after surgery and felt fine. The next morning when I was released, My wife took me to every store on Revolution blvd. I was one of the lucky ones, as I had very little to no gas problems or pains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormy Posted July 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Iwas banded June 16 and had no problems, whatsoever. I was up walking 30 minutes after surgery and felt fine. The next morning when I was released, My wife took me to every store on Revolution blvd. I was one of the lucky ones, as I had very little to no gas problems or pains. I just worry about him going back to work. When I asked him what he was going to tell his company, he said " I'm fat so I am going to mexico to get the lap band" It was the way he said it, it cracked me up. I know he is serious but he was so blunt. I hope they will be gentle with him going back to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will T Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 I was banded on a Tuesday, and at work the following Monday. The only problems I encountered were food related, meaning no more snacks at the usual time, I carried a gatorade-type drink around with me, made bathroom trips frequently (I was saturating myself) and things like that. I listened to my body: if something caused a little grief, I was slow and careful, otherwise, normal routine. Like Jim, I didn't have a lot of pain, other than at the port where it was placed close to the skin. That subsided after a month or so. A person with a back or shoulder injury would have more difficulties returning to work than he will have in normal circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincyBanded Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Well I'm two weeks into my surgery now. I was up and walking the day of my surgery. My main problem was I had some serious gas pain from them expanding your skin during surgery. It was all in my chest. It subsided after 3 or so days but I still get it here and there right under my left rib. Now my worst pain is the port site. Every once in a while it feels like it's stretching. That hurts pretty bad so he may have issues with climbing up and down ladders or reaching up real high for a while. And certain ways you twist your body aggravates your port site and that hurts too. Once you aggravate it, it seems to hurt for quite some time through the day. If he has an extremely high tolerance of pain he should be able to handle it. But it hits so sudden that you don't expect it and it hurts pretty bad sometimes. So you'll have to baby it for a while before it'll go away. So he may have to take some time off work if he can't handle that pain. I know this sounds like bad news but I wasn't told of this on-going pain at the port site before surgery and now I have it and realize that it's fairly common with lap band surgery recipients. I wish I would have known ahead of time. But if he can handle that pain then more power to him. I wouldn't be able to do it and I have a pretty high tolerance to pain. I have multiple tattoos and I was able to do those w/o issue. lol So I guess that gives you and idea of how bad it can hurt. Luckily I work in an office so I'm ok for the most part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaK2231 Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 I had my surgey on Fri and was back to work on tues. I am a hairstylist and on my feet all day and work 10 to 12 hour days. The first week was tough I had alot of shoulder gas pain, but I made it thru. It took me a few weeks to feel back to normal. Everyone is different, Best of luck!! Donna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolittle Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 My husband and I are going to do this together. But he is concerned. He is an electrician and he says his job is demanding. He will not be able to take time off from work, exempt for the weekend we are there to get the surgery. Can you tell me, if he goes back to work on Monday, after having surgery on Friday, will he be able to do anything? I dont want him to get in any trouble for missing work. If he watches what he does and tries not to lift more than the 15 pounds, would he be ok. How much time off would he really need? This is a new job for him and I dont want him to lose it. This is for his health maybe they would understand, I dont know but I really need to know what we are looking at. right now he is 5'8 280 pounds and misrible. He can't even put on his own socks right. He is very stubborn he will go to work even if he is in pain. For the guys on here, what was the recovery like and did you go back to work? Hi Stormy, I had my surgery in March or 2007. The next day we walked all over Revolution Ave and back to the Lucerna. I felt so good I wondered if they even put a band inside of me. LOL. He'll be fine,, He'll just have to watch the lifting when he gets back to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momonamission Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 I think it really depends on the job he does. Alot of people have sit down jobs or jobs that are not so demanding. Your husbands job would require alot of bending and stooping. I too am a hairstylist. I worked thru the pain but had a hard time with some aspects of the job. I am selfemployed so I had no worry of anyone firing me. I booked my schedule light because I knew I would work slower and I did. It took a 3 weeks to feel normal but each day inbetween I felt closer and closer. Only the first week was the worst. I would call and ask the docs. They can help you better than all of our second guessing. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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