Deciding when to return to work

Those of you with sick time or disability are lucky.

I am a commission only wine rep. If I take time off, I am not paid. No matter what. No sick time.

I am not complaining, as I make a a VERY good living. BUT, I also do not have the "luxury" of being "sick". I thought that I would be out for one week. I had my daughter covering my route that week. Well, turns out that I took 5 weeks off. Thank goodness my accounts love me, they all allowed me to call in each week for their orders. Whew!

Trust me, if you have sick time, that allows you to take the entire 6 weeks off DO IT!

By the way, I am also single, sole support.

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Originally Posted by Lysippe I'm not sure how to make this decision. Any ideas? I guess I'm feeling guilty since the pain is not bad (I just take Ibuprofen now) and my job is basically sitting at a desk typing and talking on the phone. If I absolutely had to go back tomorrow, I could. $$$ is not an issue since I have disability insurance. It will be 4 weeks on Tuesday, 11/27. The doctor pretty much left it up to me. If I want to return before the 6 weeks are up, I just need to call the doctor's office and they will deal with the release for the disability insurance people. I'd welcome suggestions on how to decide...

I was reading a post just a few moments ago about a lady who went back to work at 31/2 weeks and really was in a lot of pain and she too had a desk job. I feel pretty good now at 5 weeks, but I can tell you sitting (at the computer or sewing) really hurts after awhile. Give yourself the full 6 weeks, you body will thank-you.


Barri

I work at home full-time, sitting at a desk 8 hours per day. I thought I could start back to work at week 4 and 2 days, four hours per day. The first day I worked (Wednesday) was murder! I could hardly sit for very long, and kept wishing it was over. By Friday it was a little better. Each day that week I was so uncomfortable the rest of the day after working the half days and had to take more ibuprofen than I had been taking. I thought in week 5 I was going to go to 6 hours per day - HA! I stayed at 4 hours per day all this week and by yesterday and today it was much more tolerable. I learned how much I appreciate working at home!!! I will probably try 6 hours next week, although my boss says I can still do 4 hours per day if I need to. I miss out on bonus money when I'm not working a full day, but at the same time, I've learned I need the time to heal. Granted, I had extensive rectal repairs which is taking a long time to heal, however, the pain was not only in my bum, but quite a bit of pain/aching in my abdomen/pelvic area just from sitting in the "working at my desk" position.

My two cents for you would be if the $$ is not an issue - TAKE THE WHOLE 6 WEEKS!! You need it, and even though in your mind you are feeling pretty good, I have noticed that when I leave the house is when everything feels overwhelming and I start to wonder why I left the house in the first place! It's good to get out - but in baby steps.

When you decide to try work - I think part time is the best way to go - I had visions of being back to full-time by this next week, and I'm not going to be, and I'm okay with that now - money or no money - because I want to feel good and do it right, and I found out it was much more difficult to "sit at my desk" even for four hours, and ended up doing 4 hours a whole week longer than I anticipated. Thankfully, my boss is all for not rushing back!

You wouldn't think that sitting at a computer all day is a big deal!

Good luck with your decision -

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Originally Posted by ComfortableLady I am thinking that once I return to work DH is going to think everything is back to normal and he will not be helping as much. I am seeing little things already. So we will have to have a discussion.

Yes, you will need to have a talk... if anything, you may need MORE help after you return to work, because that may likely take all the energy you have! My first two weeks were straight to work, straight to bed, straight to work, straight to bed.... And the weekends were crash until back to work.... And those were 1/2 days at a desk job.

Don't forget to factor in your preparation time for going to work, commute time to and from in whatever mode of travel - these will also take their toll.

Get what help you can, get what rest you can, and go slow...

So many great comments. I understand them all. Yes, we feel like a super woman and then zing! We just need to rest. This is super hard because we all must be hard workers, at work and at home.

I think we are fooled by desk jobs. It might be just the feeling of being overwhelmed by getting out, no matter what type of job.

I don't like to stay in any one position for too long. I can't sit, stand, walk, etc without change for very long. Going back to work is scary.

Wine rep hmmmm - sounds like an interesting job. I might be chicken to be on commission only sales work. I've been thinking for a while that I might like to do something different,but I just don't know what. I think I'm stuck for a while for insurance reasons.

Today, my feelings of, " I feel like I've been riding a bike." are back. I felt it before I got up. This is not a major, take a pain pill pain, but it's annoying. I wonder if something is wrong. My DH said that it's my body healing. Who knows? I wonder if it's from not moving enough. I've been walking lots.

In just the last couple of days, I feel among the normal. Ya'll have reminded me, thanks, that I still need to take it easy. It's amazing that a relatively short surgery can really get us down for recovery.

OK - even with all of the recovery and resting and letting others take care of me, I am so extremely grateful for many things. Grateful for those who helped me so much, my hystersisters, my doc, my early cancer diagnosis and the Lord.

So, it's OK that my house is not decorated for Christmas. we will get to it, eventually. I do want to get my tree up and buy some poinsettias and get out the manger scene. The snow village may not make it, of course, it doesn't make it every year, anyway.

Here's to healing!!

I am a good 3 weeks post, and I am a nurse, and going back to working in a high paced post recovery area scares me when I think about it. I try to be as positive as I can be as I heal for I know without a doubt this helps my recovery. I guess its harder when i cannot actually "see" the healing. Oh I have a 3 hole scars, but nothing compared to the abd. scar my fellow hys sisters have had to endure. Even as a nurse...you just put that part of you aside and wonder why things feel like they do, will this feeling go away? for example for the first 2 weeks, urinating was uncomfortable..a pressure pain...from others I knew this was going to go away...and slowly it is...now I am not worried, but have an area on the side of my hip that is numb...weird huh! as a nurse I know it must be due to a nerve..not worried, i read on this post some info that it happens and it will eventually come back. So...I am grateful for this post for that...I just found it the other day and wish so much I had found it pre surgery, it would have helped me prepare a bit more.
I guess i think I have to get back to work...like the place will not run without me...I guess I feel a bit guilty sometimes because I know we are short...but then I snap out of it and say, this is my body and i have to take care of it and recovery is just is important as the actual surgery. I just want to make sure I don't go back too soon...I am fortunate to have time with pay for all this..so that is not the issue, its when to say..I will be back a certain date that freaks me out...cause right now I would say no way...but in another week I may say I am good to go...but then alot of you say take more time....so I get a bit confused. I guess I will have to decide after my 4th week, and really listen to my body. I know I am not dealing with an abdominal incision like so many of you...and I am thinking this is where the extra 2 weeks is really needed. But then I had such severe endometriosis and multiple entangled fibroids...the surgery was so much longer and I lost alot of blood which I think put me back from the start..I had figured it would be a simple thing and it turned out to be alot more than the doctor expected....so this makes me think I should take some more time off for healing purposes...what do ya think?
I know i am rambling now..I will close, any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks for listening.
AG

Well, AG, you are the nurse. ha ha Actually, this is major surgery and healing is important, based on my readings. You are so right to listen to your body, whatever it is saying. Numbness ... I figure some of mine will stay forever. I have some feeling of numbness in my left thigh. Go figure ... it might have been there before surgery.

My ab incision is really the least of my healing. It was a visual factor for a while and my doc even gave me a mirror to look at when I went in for a one week check. My stitches were internal. It seems like the incision was just the start. My doc said that I had 2 internal incisions, above and below, the external one of almost the same size.

I was thinking just yesterday that I would like to view my insides to see the healing, but not really. Even my doc won't be able to see my insides, but I sort of dread her "check" next week.

Some women return to work real early, but I"m taking the full 6 weeks. It seems that those that return too soon really feel it, all over.

It seems odd to get up and feel ready to go, but boom, to need rest in a few hours.

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Originally Posted by lovetowalk Wine rep hmmmm - sounds like an interesting job. I might be chicken to be on commission only sales work. I've been thinking for a while that I might like to do something different,but I just don't know what. I think I'm stuck for a while for insurance reasons.

LOL! Well, I would have been afraid of commission only income too...but wine is my hobby, so it is my passion. Makes it a lot easier. I make a very good living...very good. However, this life is not for the majority. Most people need the security of a regular paycheck. LOL!

The beauty with what I do is that I give myself my own raises....the more I produce, the more I make. My first year, on this side of the wine biz, I gave myself a $15k raise. Not bad.

My company does provide insurance coverage...reeally good coverage at only $55 a month to me......we also have a 401k with matching funds. So, it's good.

angieann1,

The numbing is probably due to a nerve. I had some pain a few months post-op. Turned out to the the nerve re-connecting. My Dr. gave me a shot for that, it didn't really help. A few months later, it was back to normal.

Well today it is 4 weeks since my TAH/BSO and gallbladder removal. I am attempting to return to work half days this week. I do have a desk job but there is alot of stress that goes with it. So we will see. My dr said to try it and if I cant do it he will call my boss and un-release me.

My boss has not been supportive and has started dropping suttle hints regarding my job, pay increase and bonus. So I have to try. She has either called or emailed me everyday since the surgery (a visit at the hospital too) to insure that I was not "faking" it.

So we will see how today goes. It might be wonderful to be back at work at resuming a normal life!