anyone returning to work as a waitress?

I am planning on going back to work on 11-9-10.
That would put me at day 48 out from surgery.
It's an 8 hour shift and is usually pretty busy.

I would like to hear from anyone doing 8 hour shifts on their
feet.

Thanks so much.

I'm not a waitress...actually, I don't work at all, but I do exercise extensively and will be at the 6 week mark this Friday...which is appx 45 days, so it would be comparable to what you're talking about.

I guess it depends on you- how are you doing thus far? Are you getting any physical activity thus far? It kind of depends on if you're "working up" to it- if you're doing stuff now and think you're going to be physically able at that point. If you're still having trouble right now and were planning on jumping back into it....that might be tough!

You know, when I came back to work, I spent my second & third weeks on my feet. It felt better than sitting at a chair. Not as hectic as being a waitress, but still a lot of standing & walking.

Since you have some time before work, start walking more at home & around the neighborhood to build your stamina. Get your legs back into the routine. I hope your job uses light weight plates. Those ceramic ones get heavy.

I'll be returning to work as a waitress. I'm looking at at going back around 4 1/2 weeks, the doc just asked that I try not to lift to many heavy trays one sided. Walking around for 7-8 hours isn't what I'm worried about, it definitely is about lifting trays and delivering the food. Hard work, for sure!

Good luck!

I'm a chef and had my surgery May 17, 2010. I was released by my surgeon after 6 weeks, but had the opportunity to take 7 (a vacation with my brother). I had recovered very well from the surgery-I was doing 3 mile walks within 3 weeks of my laproscopic surgery-I also had fibroids and some adeno was found in the pathology report. I'm 41 and active-a bike commuter in fact.

I was feeling fine and ready to return to work and I have to be honest, the first couple weeks back kicked my butt. I only managed 4-6 hour shifts on my feet (coupled with a 10 mile total bike commute). The first week, I would get home and collapse on the couch and stay there. My doc held me to a long lifting restriction (nothing over 20 pounds the first two MONTHS back at work so that was almost 4 months of nothing over 20 pounds! You know how hard it is to keep to that in the food industry). Everyone at work was so sweet and protective and wouldn't let me lift.

I'm not going to say that you can't manage it-we're all different-but if you try to back full time right off the bat don't be surprised if it's really hard at first. I scaled back my hours the first two-three weeks, was full time after that-but tired and a little sore. It took about four months after the surgery for me to feel 100%. Now, at 5 1/2 months I'm just so happy I did the surgery-I feel so much better than before.

Good luck-but take your time if you can the first month and let yourself get stronger-and don't feel bad if you have to just lay around when you get home-you need to.

i work as a domestic in a hospital, very physical and hard work and on my feet 8+ hours. I had 10 weeks off and have been back at work 5 weeks now at half time. (5 days a fortnight).
Im gunna say Im stuffed, Im tired and Im sore.
If you can take more time off, do it, I wish I could still have more time.

Dear creed001,

Thanks so much for replying.

Fortunately there is no tray service where I work!! Sounds like you work dinners. I work breakfast & lunch only. We close at 3:00.

It seems like you are returning to work rather early. My boss has told me not to come back to work unless I have a "released to work" form filled out by my doctor. I actually have to agree with the boss on that one.

I would love to know how your first days back went.
Good luck with your recovery.

cremebrulee,

Have you been doing exercise before your 6 week check up?
Have you been doing any abdominal exercises? cardio?
I would love to know your regime.

Before surgery, I worked out at the gym 3-4 days a week and did 50 minutes of heavy cardio, where I was just dripping with sweat. I can't wait to get back to the gym, but I think I'm probably going to be starting at square one. Oh well........at least I'm starting.

Thanks for your input!!

I do work dinner service, fortunately I work for family so I won't be 'allowed' to overdo it! It's still a 6-8 hour shift, but I think as long as I don't do a bunch of lifting I'll be o.k.

I definitely agree that you should give as much time as possible, if you can afford it and your work allows it. I unfortunately desperately need some Moula! So back to waitressing I go!

i work in a cafe where i waitress,supervise,barista etc...i went back to work at 5 weeks and it was not too bad....but my suggestion is to go easy for the first couple of weeks, if you can..my wonderful co workers helped by lifting anything heavy for me and making sure i did not over do it....take some breaks if you can and dont push yourself too hard...i hope your job is the kind of place that is understanding that you just had major surgery....:-)