Short Recovery Time?

I'm having a TVH. When I asked my doctor about recovery and when I will be able to return to work he told me I'll be in the hospital 2 days and I could go back to work in 10 days. He says because I don't drive to work and I have a desk job I should heal rather quickly. I questioned him again and he said recovery is faster than in our mothers day. I have told my boss I will be out at least 3 weeks. Am I over cautious or is my doctor over optomistic?
- imthere
PS Thanks for all of the advise you have given me in a few short days!

Your doctor is realistic and you are overly cautious! I could easily be back to work right now. Now don't take this wrong -- but for most of us -- this is the only break we'll ever get from the daily rat race. So we might be a wee bit inclined to take advantage of it. But that's our little secret!

My opinion based soley on my personal experience is that I was happy to take the entire six weeks off that was sanctioned by my doctor and approved by my employers. My understanding is that complete internal healing can take up to a year. So the absence of visible healing and the return of vitality aren't necessarily the whole story. I had TAH/BSO. At 12 weeks I'm still working a 4-day week, 8+ hours a day, with a long round-trip commute. I still get tired and usually take a nap on my days off. That said, I have had a very easy recovery with no complications and I feel better than I have in many years!!

Don't be reluctant or ashamed to take the time you need to heal properly. You'll know when you're ready and when you've done enough... or too much!

Best Wishes!!

Hey Ladora ~ you mentioned a long round-trip commute. My round trip is about 2.5 hours. You may have heard from other posts that I got laid off the week before my surgery. I do have other options at the same place but I am tired of the long :steer: commute. I've also wondered how it affects the body post-op. How is it going for you?

I think you could go back to a desk job at 10 days with a TVH. The TAH is another story and probably a month or more is reasonable.
The BIG thing my dr. told me was the lifting restrictions must be adhered to implicitly!! He said overdoing lifting/stretching/pulling will most likely cause damage in the first couple months if not longer.

Hi Gordonk--

To put my working/commuting/hyst recovery into context, here's the story:

I'm 53.
Working at the same job for 23 years.
Commuting one-hour each way for 14 years. (Long story!!)
My job is mostly mentally challenging, not physically tough.

At the end of the 8+ hour workday I'm tired enough some days that I want to "rest up" before getting in the car to drive home. The commute adds an hour to both ends of the "workday." Usually leave home 9-9:30 am return home 8-8:30 pm. As soon as I get home I do some form of exercise before settling down for the night. Pre-op, I felt the exercise gave me more energy and kept the menopausal symptoms down a little. Post-op, I'm feeling the same benefits. But there's no question in my mind that all that driving is very tiring. That's one reason I'm using vacation days to delay the resumption of the 5-day work schedule through the end of this month. And I'm making plans to relocate closer to work in the near future. If I had a real choice right now... I WOULD NOT commute like this!!

Good Luck!!

I had a TVH with additional repairs. I work from home at my computer. I started working the next week, only part time. I would work a couple of hours and take a rest and then work a couple more hours. I would have gone bonkers if I couldn't work and I'd be on the computer anyhow. By the second week I was up to about 5 hours a day and by week 4 I was putting in a full day. My dr was fine with it and it worked for me.

10 days and back to work? I think that's optimistic. One of my employees had a TVH last year and I insisted that she stay home for 6 weeks. After 4 weeks, she did come in a couple of hours a day, but went home when she was tired.

Take the 3 weeks -- then see how you feel. After my last surgery, my doctor said, "You know when you're ready to go back. You don't need me to tell you." And you know -- he was right.

I had LSH and I was told that I would be able to get back to "normal" routines the second week. I knew by the end of week one that I would take week two off. Then week three and then week four. I felt much better each week, but my job requires me to be in and out of my car a lot.

Today was my first full day back at it (I was four weeks post-op yesterday). I did well, but I can tell you that I am tired. My boss is funny.....I see him once a month and we talk on the phone about once a week. Anyway, he is sick with the flu today, but I needed his assistance with an account. So I called him. He was more concerned with how I was doing that how he was feeling. LOL!

He told me that I had to promise to call him tomorrow morning to let him know how I feel and that I may not feel like working on Wednesday. Pretty cool. I am very fortunate to work for the GM that I do. He's a gem....even if he is younger than me...the brat! LOL!

I went back at 2 1/2 weeks against the sisters' advice and I would recommend that you take as long as you can simply because you need it for mental rest. Also I was easily fatigued and had to rest as soon as I came in the door.