Length of Leave from Work

[kenkahle]

I am 52 years old and had my aortic valve replaced and a coronary bipass performed on Oct 11, 2013 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. My surgeon signed off on a 6 week leave from work (short term disability) which began on the date of the surgery. So the 6 weeks included 5 days in the hospital.

Not being in any hurry to return to the grind at work I am curious what others have received for time off from work for their valve replacement surgeries.

Thanks, Ken:smile2:

 

[clay_from_nj]

Six weeks total here (though I really could have gone back to work earlier). All paid sick and vacation time, as I had saved it up in anticipation of the surgery.

 

[Guyswell]

I have a desk job and returned to work as soon as I was cleared to drive (6 weeks). Based on the way I felt, I could have returned after 5 weeks.

 

[knotguilty]

I had 12 weeks. I could have went back in 4 weeks. BUT, I am glad I used the time in rehab to build confidence and take the time to slowly get myself back to normal. (I didn't mind the time off from work!) I do remember doing a brake job on my sons car around 5 weeks after surgery. The surgery is not something to take lightly, take the time to heal. You'll be glad you did.

 

[ski girl]

I was back part-time two weeks post-op and full-time three weeks. But I have a desk job and a boss who was very understanding if I needed a little nap!

For me, sitting around at home for six weeks would have been far worse than going back to work as I would have felt like a sick person; being back at work was part of the emotional healing process for me. Also I had easy access to public transport and didn't have to drive to work.

 

[Guyswell]

knotguilty,

Your post made me laugh. I changed the oil in my car 5 weeks after surgery and pretended I wasn't pushing hard on the handle of the floor jack.

 

[Debbrn]

I took the full 12 weeks. I was a pediatric orthopedic and rehab nurse at the time so lifting was part of the job. Since I had lifting restrictions for 12 weeks I did not feel that it was fair for my co workers to have to compensate for me. I had plenty of time off built up so I took all 12 weeks. My cardiologist originally looked at me funny when i told her that I wanted to take a full 12 weeks off. But after I explained to her she did not argue with me.

Debbie

 

[epstns]

Ken,

I think you see the pattern here - it depends a lot on what sort of job you do and whether you have other reasons to want to extend your medical leave or not. I'm another who, in spite of some nasty complications, was back to work by 6 weeks. I actually was working part-time from home at about 4 weeks, then at 6 weeks (when I was able to drive) went to the office part time, and was back to full-time by 8 weeks. My job is in senior management, at a desk, so the physical demands were not an issue.

The other part of the decision was that mentally I was ready to go back to work. I didn't want to spend any more time sitting around at home - I was bored. I had the energy to deal with desk work, but not enough energy or physical flexibility to do major hobbies.

 

[MarkU]

I went back to the office four weeks after my surgery. I did half days for the first two weeks back. A month after returning my company unexpectedly went out of business, so I got some unexpected additional time off. Actually, I deliberately waited a couple of months before scheduling any job interviews, just so I wouldn't appear to be too sickly to any prospective employers. Ended up being off for about six months before going back to work full-time.

Mark

 

[big_L]

My surgeon at Rochester wrote me a 6 week release also. While my job can be fairly sedentary, it is unpredictable and I may be on my feet a lot. I wasn't happy with the 6 weeks and Mayo wouldn't do anything. (They can be like an assembly line - which can be good at times, not so at others). I had my local GP extend the release 3 more weeks for a total of 9. The last few weeks really helped.

 

[epstns]

big_L -- 9 weeks? I think I would have gone even crazier!

Truthfully, we are all very different. For me, once I started to feel well enough to be out and about and driving, the sooner I could get back to my usual life patterns, the sooner I began to feel even better. For me, staying at home meant that I was still "sick" and needed more attention and time. I just didn't feel that I needed it, so I gently slid back into my "regular" life activities as soon as I could.

 

[T in YVR]

My doctor filled out my form and requested 12 weeks - he said "you really want to make sure you are right and that you have sufficient time to heal"...you never know (in advance) how surgery and recovery are going to go. My insurer has approved 8 weeks for now. They will follow up with me to see how its going and whether I need more time or not (at which time medical evidence may be needed to justify it). I am 5 weeks post op - we'll see how it goes over the next 3 weeks...

And you know, I am glad I have been given 12 weeks. Although I have very good energy, am walking alot etc., I have had more back, shoulder and neck pain than the doctors think is normal. Sleeping is still really rough. I am pretty out of alignment. I'm in physio and massage therapy. I would not want to drive in traffic for 1 hour each way to my office - and it hurts to turn my neck to shoulder-check when changing lanes etc (tried driving yesterday for the first time at 5 weeks post op).

I echo that point that everyone is different. I would also suggest that you should get whatever you can in terms of time off and then go back to work early if you have a smooth surgery and feel really good. I just prefer to not get into a situation where I go back too soon and I'm not fully healed or more problems develop. Then things can get messy. I also have 3 months of short term disability with 100% pay, so I'm not forced back due to monetary reasons.

 

[epstns]

T in YVR - I sure hope your neck pain goes away. Mine didn't. I'm still dealing with neck and back pain (and maybe some new arthritis) 2 1/2 years later. I've also been in some physical therapy for the neck and back pain, and they have taught me some stretches that seem to help.

 

[T in YVR]

Steve - My physio seems to help, as does the stretching...I'm hoping that with some really frequent treatments and extensive stretching over the next few weeks that it settles down. I think part of the problem can be that after surgery the natural tendency can be a posture of head tilted forward, shoulders rolled in and arms closer to your chest because its uncomfortable (at least it was for me) to have my shoulders back and arms out to my side much. It felt like it was pulling on the scar area.
Tony

 

[bithead3]

My cardiologist put down 6 months initially. I am coming up on the 12 week mark. My salary is paid by insurance so while I am not in a hurry to go back, I am still anxious to get back to work. Anyone know how long it could be? I've had some complications (pericarditis) and was initially in the hospital 10 days post surgery (aortic graft, David reimplantation).

Thanks, CJ

 

[catwoman]

I was on STD about 2-3 weeks pre-op and went back about 6-7 weeks post-op at 20 hours a week. After 4 weeks of working half-days, I was back full-time.
My valve was so shot pre-op that I took longer to recover than some people. I would like to have had 9 weeks off, with another 4 at half-time.
FWIS: It's the family doctor, cardio or surgeon who does the paperwork for your medical leave. And trust me, those insurance companies that pay the short-term disability claims scrutinize every claim for time off. I went through that for my valve job in 2003 and again this summer when I had an emergency appendectomy and within a week later had a 6X2X2" hematoma in the left rectus sheath muscle (probably from vigorous vomiting caused by Augmentin). You have to stay on top of the STD caseworkers; don't let them intimidate you!