How long was it before you went back to work after your first laparoscopy ?

[katielou45]

Hi all, hope your doing well, I'm new here and have a question.

I'm having my first laparoscopy finally on the 17th Jan to find out if I have endometriosis and if I do my surgeon is going to remove as much as possible of it. I'm 17 and doing an apprenticeship and they are wanting to know an estimated date when I will be returning back to work, as this is my first time I'm struggling to give them a rough guess as to when I will be back.

How long was it before you returned back to work after a laparoscopy?

[luthien]

It depends on how much is actually done, how invasive the surgery is, your fitness level and how you cope recovery wise sticking to your daily sleep / wake routine.

I was about 3 weeks for my first excision lap (removal of endo from bladder and uterus, and unsticking bladder, uterus and bowel) and 5 weeks for my second (removal of endo from right round the back of bowel - more invasive due to position).

The doctors can only sign you off for two weeks first unless they know for sure you'll take longer. It's a case of listen to your body, even if you feel recovered at say two weeks you may feel just completely wiped out, where everything feels so exhausting, so an extra week may be needed.

I naively said two weeks to work for my first lap, and work was annoyed I needed an extra week. So I learned to be realistic, which is what I did the next time I said about four to six weeks off, that way if you're back in early because you feel better and you finished your sick note period that's good.

Just remember whatever you do to make sure you have an appointment booked with your GP or specialist the day before your sick note expires to "extend" it, otherwise if you say go back into work and only manage two days HR can't class it as post op recovery but if you're off continuously they can and you won't need to self certify / call in each day.

In addition to the above - because I've researched sooo much: if you start back before your sick note finishes you can't be signed off again for the same reason if you're ill while your sick note was still active, so you'll just self certify and only have 5 days therefore it's best to just take your time recovering and relax

xx

[katielou45 in reply to luthien]

Thank you so much you've helped me so much and have put me in the right direction xx

[Marisa97]

Hey Katie. Sorry that you have to experience this. I had my laparoscopy 3 weeks ago today and I am going back to work on the 16th. So i’ll have a month off all together. My wounds are basically already healed and I feel fine, just my belly button feels weird when I tense. However, my Dr has said to do reduced hours and no heavy lifting for a few weeks when I go back. I don’t think she was particularly happy with me going back to work only 4 weeks post op because I have a physical job. I’d say 6weeks to be on the safe side? Everyones needs are different you may feel good enough to go back at 4 weeks or 8 weeks? Depends how you feel. Hope this helps x

[katielou45 in reply to Marisa97]

Thank you x

[Laura_T]

First 2 laps I was back after 2 weeks. 3rd lap I was off 5 weeks as I had more removed and had some complications. My job is physical and still struggled after 5 weeks. Some people are great after it and others need longer. Aim for 2 weeks and if no better take longer off x

[katielou45 in reply to Laura_T]

Thank you, I have told them 2 weeks and I will keep them in the loop in case I end up needing more time off x

[Christin_a]

Hello

it'll depend on what happens and what your job is. I had minor endo removed and have a desk job so I went back 2 weeks later. My work asked for an estimate I said 2 weeks and I'd know more the first week after the surgery to know if I likely needed more time off etc. As I'd know how much was done and how I was getting on recovery wise, so could give them a better estimate then.

[katielou45 in reply to Christin_a]

Thank you I'm doing an electrical engineer apprenticeship so its quite physical, I have told them 2 weeks and I will keep them updated as to when I will be back.

[Yotom]

I had my laparoscopy on 19 December and go back to work this Monday (so 3 weeks and 1 day). I got my sick note extended by a week because walking independently for more than about ten min was still hard and it would’ve been impossible to commute but feel like a completely different woman than I did a week ago now! 2 weeks tends to be the average - my manager took that when she had her surgery. Btw it might be worth having a GP appt scheduled for the two week mark after your surgery as my hospital insisted they don’t provide a sick note and to see my GP about it after two weeks. Saves you having to join the morning rush of same day appointments...

[Sophiii]

I was about 3 weeks hun

[EndoZee]

2 weeks and about 8 weeks to heal in total - no lifting heavy stuff, climbing on things, etc.

[Littlepeax]

I took a week off work xxx