only allowed 12 wks for family medical leave

[youngmom]

Got the call, surgery is gonna be june 17 at Duke Hospital. Spoke with my supervisor and she was like, you are going to be out more than 6 weeks? I responded well its not maternity leave. Later she informed me because i hold a state job and we are funded by the federal government they could only hold my position for 12 weeks. So, thankful for my 12 years of service. Guess I must wise up and understand people really don't care.

 

[escargome]

Yup. for the most part, employers are looking at the bottom line. I work for a medical device manufacturer and at my 5 week of disability time, the short term disability person called to advise me that I was due back to work the next week. I told her, I had not been released to return to work yet. She stated they would need a doctor's note stating such or they could not guarantee my position. I said fax the request to my cardiologist. But get this, she said "why a cardiologist, if you just had a baby?" I then proceeded to infom the little job robot that I had my AV replaced and that no baby had been involved! I was out for 8 weeks before my doc. released me and surprise, my job was still there. Keep a close on on every bit of communication you get and if they have wrong info, call right away. God Bless You, and I shall keep you in my thoughts come the 17th.

 

[Bryan B]

youngmom,

The Family and Medical Leave act is a federal law that most employees in the USA are entitled to regardless of where they work. Here are the requirements to be eligible:

an employee must have been at the business at least 12 months, and worked at least 1,250 hours over the past 12 months, and work at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_and_Medical_Leave_Act_of_1993

Before 1993 they didn't have to hold your job at all. Barring major complications most if not all people are able to return to work within 12 weeks. I happened to be one that had complications with my sternum and was not cleared to go back to work for over 5 months due to lifting restrictions. My company wouldn't let me come back until all lifting restrictions were lifted, and when they were my job was not waiting for me.

BTW I had both of my surgeries at Duke and you couldn't be in better hands. Who is your surgeon if you don't mind me asking?

 

[bradvo]

Got the call, surgery is gonna be june 17 at Duke Hospital. Spoke with my supervisor and she was like, you are going to be out more than 6 weeks? I responded well its not maternity leave. Later she informed me because i hold a state job and we are funded by the federal government they could only hold my position for 12 weeks. So, thankful for my 12 years of service. Guess I must wise up and understand people really don't care.

Although it may not seem like nearly enough time you will be surprised at how well your doing by 12 weeks.
Please stay positive during this time, waiting can drive ya crazy but you will be fine.

 

[Jkm7]

You likely will be ready to return to work then. Most people who aren't doing a lot of heavy lifting are able to return to work in 8-12 weeks.
All best wishes. Hope everything goes smoothly.

 

[ski girl]

I returned to work three weeks after my first AVR - I have a desk job. After my 2nd I was in hospital for a month but I was still fine to go back to the work the day after I got out. So unless your job is physical, there's really no reason why you can't get back to work long before 12 weeks post-op.

The only issue may be getting to work as you can't drive for six weeks!

 

[epstns]

I, too, have a desk job. I also had several complications in my recovery. None were "major" but I was not even allowed to start cardiac rehab until 12 weeks post-op. In spite of the delay getting started in rehab, I was able to get back to work at my desk job at around 6 weeks. I was tired, and didn't work beyond my "standard" 8 hours (I usually do 10+ hour days, 5 days a week), but back to work I was. It actually felt good to get back to another facet of my regular life activities.

 

[marc_kowal]

You should be up and running by 12 weeks. I was written out for 3 months by my surgeon and I was doing part-time work at 2 1/2 months. I am very fortunate that I have a great boss. For the first two months of my disability, he made up the shortfall between what my normal salary was and what I was getting paid from disability.

Good luck on your upcoming surgery!

 

[Rachel]

Youngmom, like others have already said, unless you have complications - you should be ready to go back by 12 weeks.

I also understand about bad working environments though....when I went back to work my boss told me that because I had to have OHS that I had been a drag on the department!!!!

Things are all fine now that I'm back working full time, but it makes me wonder….when people stop thinking about other human beings as human beings that's when we've got trouble! I'm not sure how some people live with themselves!

Sorry to hear of your troubles, you'll be fine - try to stay as positive as possible!!!!

Rachel

 

[Guyswell]

A lot will depend on your overall health. By six weeks, I was bored and ready to go back to work. I probably could have gone back to my desk job after five weeks but I wasn't cleared to drive yet and didn't want my wife to have to drive me to and from work. Once I was cleared to drive (after six weeks), I was back at work and started riding my bike again in the evenings. I'm 50 years old and overweight but not obese. I've never smoked and don't have diabetes. My EF is 50% but I don't have CHF. Consider your specific health situation and figure that 12 weeks is more than enough time for most people.

 

[Debbrn]

After my surgery when I was 25 I went back as a nurse in 8 weeks. The doc was actually going to send me back after 6 weeks. After my next surgery when I was 44 I waited 12 weeks because of the lifting restrictions. I worked on a floor where we had to do a lot of lifting and turning patients. i did not think that it was fair to my co-workers if they had to do ALL of the lifting for me. The docs were actually surprised that I wanted all 12 weeks off. My boss was wonderful. Later that year my mother then my father got sick and died. I missed another 5 weeks of work.

Debbie