Question about after . . .

I can't ask in Post Op because I don't have a surgery date yet. It'll surely be within a month I think.

I have a TAH with verticle incision in my near future. I work from home and I work long hours by choice. I only need to be able to use a laptop, a phone and think clearly. I even have one of those rolling tilting bed laptop tables. I hope I hope I hope . . . that I will be sharp enough and not too tired to work half days asap.
I have no children or responsibilities other than my job. My husband is off for the summer (teacher) so he'll be bringing me stuff and helping me.
I feel so optimistic. What do you think? If I work in the bed mostly reclined can I do it?

beware the brain fog, LOL!!

seriously, you'll really only be able to answer this for yourself once you are post-op. willpower and determination can take you so far, but each person's recovery journey is unique. consider your pain threshhold -- will pain or pain meds be clouding your thoughts those first couple weeks? how about stamina -- this is something i read ladies wish they had more of the first 1-3 weeks. all things considered, i think there is just a little more to it than having a comfy way to prop-up in bed with your laptop. it will certainly be manageable at some point, but those first three weeks are impossible to gauge ahead of time, when it comes to pain, energy, and the ability to rest and focus.

personally, i was not up to doing much of anything for at least 7 days...i barely even read or watched movies, mostly just rested and spent time gently moving around to get my bowels working again. after that, i began to feel more comfortable and interested in "engaging" in a wider variety of activities. you know yourself best -- you may indeed find the peace/quiet of recovery to be just what you need to work your best from home...best to you as you recover, and don't be afraid to simply focus on your wellbeing for a few weeks, even if you have to take a little downtime from your home-office.


here's hoping you have a smooth recovery!

wapspotapprider made very good points. It's probably impossible to tell beforehand how you will feel post surgery, and if you are on medications that cloud your thought processes.

I am in a very similar situation. I work at home on a computer. My doctor was informed of this and he didn't have a problem with me resuming work activities as tolerated. I didn't take any narcotic pain relief (ibuprophen was adequate) and within a few days I was back online for short times just surfing. I gave myself a week to recuperate and told my clients that I would be on abbreviated hours the following week. It didn't take more than a few days to work up to 3-4 hours a day, but my workload is spread throughout the day and I don't work those 4 hours all in one stretch; usually an hour or so at a time with several breaks in between.

I work from home in a situation like you described and I can sort of do it, but not well. I'm exhausted and in pain ALL the TIME. I don't type without making errors. If I were smart. I would have said 1 week with no work.

Amy

I think that you should discuss it with your dr and follow his/her advice. You should also listen to your own body; if it hurts ease up. Don't over do too soon and risk setbacks or complications.
I agree that the pain meds might make it difficult to think clearly. I had no concentration at all for awhile after my surgery ;friend;

I would definitely take one week off from any work duties before returning to 'laptop on the couch' work! I ony took prescription pain meds through day 3 and then just advil/tylenol for another 10 days or so. I did have a hard time sitting upright and remained slouched on the couch to rest my stomach. I put the laptop on a pillow on my stomach and just played around. Sometimes I got too tired to do that and needed a rest. I agree with the other posters that the brain fog is worse than I thought. I just couldn't concentrate much or make intelligent work-related comments. I was glad I took several weeks off from work. However, you could work from home a few hours a day but I would err on the side of caution and be really conservative with estimating how much you'll be able to get accomplished. It's hard to reduce your workload because you don't feel well enough. It's much better to do more than the two hours you allotted and get another hour in unexpectedly.

Being in bed is good. Trying to think clearly while on pain meds may be another matter . The fog starts to lift after about 2 weeks.