No Date: How long will I be out of the classroom?

I am 51 years old and have adenomyosis. I was first diagnosed about 20 years ago. At the time, my doctor suspected polyps, so I had a D&C and biopsy, etc. But adenomyosis is what it turned out to be. I took oral birth control and a few years later stopped and became pregnant with my son (who is now 17). My pregnancy seemed to put the adenomyosis into remission, although my gyno at the time (who had been practicing for 35 years), said that it would most likely return and I would eventually need a hysterectomy.

I am having all sorts of symptoms -- frequent urination, bloating, cramps, and very heavy bleeding. My ferritin levels are still low, despite nearly a year on therapeutic iron and my doctor just doubled my dosage. I get tired.

An ultrasound has shown that my adenomyosis is back full force, and my doctor is recommending a hysterectomy.

I'm not as scared about the potential surgery as I am of the recovery. I'm a single mom and will be in my third year of teaching next year. I really love my job. However, there isn't a good economic climate at my school for me to be gone. We've lost staff to cutbacks and are doubling up on duties. Next year I'll be teaching some AP science classes that no one else in my school will be able to teach and good subs for classes this specific are very hard to come by.

If I schedule my surgery for the beginning of Christmas break, which is about three weeks long, will I be able to return to work after the break?

My job involves no heavy lifting, and although I rarely sit at work, I can arrange to sit much more than I do. I work about a mile from my home. I work with teenagers, so I don't bend over a lot or sit in tiny chairs, pick things up off the floor, etc.

I am reasonably physically fit, non-smoker, etc.

Does anyone have any thoughts about this? Any teachers who have had surgery?

I am a teacher, but my LSH surgery isn't until 6/27. My doctor, upon hearing my profession, told me that I would need 3-4 weeks off of work to properly heal. He wasn't worried about the lifting, he was more worried about the time that I spend on my feet. I teach kindergarten, so I rarely sit.
Because of his recommendation, I was able to wait until summer.
Best of luck to you with your upcoming surgery.

I too am a teacher. (4th) However, I was able to wait till summer. Because of the scheduling of the hospital I am not able to have the surgery till July 16th. That will put me missing the full inservice week before the kids come. (which who am I kidding...I really dont care! LOL) My first official day back will be the day the kids go back. That will be after 5 weeks. (TAH)
Even at 5 weeks I worry about the fact that I never sit down. I think I will be just fine...but I think I will tire easily. My doc thinks I will be ok to go back at the 5 week mark.
I fear you may not be giving yourself enough time going back that soon.

I am a teacher. I had my LAVH on June 6. I have enough sick time banked to take the remainder of the school year off. My doctor said to plan on at least 6 weeks for recovery, so I should be fully recovered by mid-August, when I have to go back and set up my classroom for the new year.

I'm a teacher, too (middle school english) . I had LAVH on April 4th.....took 4 weeks off and did fine. For the first two weeks I laid in my recliner and watched TV and read..... and my healing went wonderful! .....take care of yourself in the beginning....that is so important. 3 weeks at Christmas might be pushing to get back to work...maybe you could arrange to be gone a few days before break so you have a little more time. Good Luck!

I am also a teacher (5th grade) and I had a TAH ten days ago. I did it in summertime so I could heal. This has been more painful than I thought, and I am in good health. I think you will be really tired, especially since you're a single mom. Make sure you get some help. I think three weeks is pushing it. No way would I be ready to go back to work in 11days. If you have to do it during Christmas break maybe you could take another week off. I took the last 6 days of the school year off. Each day gets easier in my healing. Good luck with your decision.

I'm a teacher too and my doctor said 3 weeks was fine, but now that I've just had a DVH 11 days ago I think yeah right. I am glad I waited until summer. I have 3 children under 6 and my husband works from 10-9, so I've been with them solo for the last week.

The first week I didn't do anything except get up to go to the bathroom and that allowed me to heal quite a bit. I wasn't in a lot of pain, but I was super tired and needed the pain meds. I've been up moving around since last Wednesday and while I can function, I move slow and tire out very quickly. My brain is also a bit off as I feel like a space cadet half the time.

I would try to take a week before the break and/or a week after. Then you could possibly schedule finals early and they can review both weeks without causing too much disruption to the class schedule.

I also had my hysterectomy because of adenomyosis and I feel so much better already. My regular cramps were worse than my after surgery pain after the first few days.

GL

I am (was) a preschool teacher. I had surgery Jan 7, expecting to take 2-4 weeks off. It did not work out that way. After 8 weeks, I had to resign. And I am again recovering from surgery last week. Every body is different but most women are not ready to go back after only 3 weeks. The biggest issue is being on your feet a lot, long days with no rest. With preschool, I also had to be able to sit on the floor, sing and dance and that was too painful. I would recommend taking at least another week off. Keep in mind that pushing it too early can lead to complications like internal bleeding and adhesions. Check out the post op check points they have here to get an idea of what recover looks like.
Lots of luck!

I teach middle school and was able to schedule my surgery for the first day of our two week spring break. I had a TAH and took the full 8 weeks to recover completely. I had a great recovery and probably could have been back in after 6 weeks.

Any chance you can plan to return for half days? My district doesn't allow that, but it would have been a great way to return to the classroom.

My biggest concern in returning was that I didn't want to be bumped into by students in the halls. After a few days, my worries were gone.