How long off work is needed? Laparoscopy booked in

[Rosiehannah1]

hi there.

I am due to have my first laparoscopy on 20th September. I’m nervous about how long I will need off work and also loss of pay. Can someone enlighten me on how much time they needed and what sick pay is like? Thankyou!

[Saffie123]

It depends on how much you have done and how you yourself feel after. The surgeon/hospital usually give you a sick line for enough time for you to contact your gp should you need longer. You also need to factor in the nature of the work you do and whether you have the capacity to change hours (phased return/spread hours over week) and adjusted conditions. Main thing is take the time YOU need, not what the surgeon tells you (oddly often before they’ve operated!) Everyone recovers differently from the surgery and anaesthetic differently. I’d have an honest conversation with work and family and just keep people informed, that’s all you can do. Good luck with it! All the best

[Rosiehannah1 in reply to Saffie123]

Thankyou so much. So nervous for it! X

[Endowarrior1807]

Hi

My consultant told me she was unable to tell me how long I’d need off work until after the surgery is done

At my post op (which was week 7), she said I shouldn’t consider going back before 4 months.

I’m currently at 2 1/2 months and still very fatigued and weak but I also know some people who went back after 6 weeks.

I think just be open with work that recovery time isn’t really clear until after surgery.

For sick pay, companies have their own policies - they may pay you in full or may not, you’d have to check with them.

If the company won’t sick pay, check out statutory sick pay and see if you’re entitled

[Apricottree]

Hi, I needed 6 weeks and a phased return for stage 4 endo. Full time hours is very tiring and I'm now 3 months on. All the best with your op x

[Sunshine1310]

The hospital automatically gave me a line for 2 weeks. I went back to work after that x

[ccfd9]

It all depends on what is being done and who is doing it. We went on holiday two weeks after one laparoscopy to Switzerland. Started spotting a little blood so tested out their medical system. Saw the hotel’s doctor in the morning who had a scanner in his office. Said things looked fine but thought I should see a gynaecologist and arranged for a consultation at the hospital at 4pm that same day. That was nearly forty years ago some health service.

Another one I had with a top specialist (supposedly, luckily now deceased) who ruptured a blood vessel and had to put in a filture clip over my ovary caused so much pain as they twisted my pelvis which meant it was two weeks at friends as I could not stand the journey home, several months off work, in fact I took retirement do to ill health.

So basically anything can happen, it is an operation but depending on what happens it is more likely that a few weeks rather than months.

It depends on your firms policy for sickness, there are statutory conditions but they may do better, see your letter of contract.

Good luck

[AtomicHair]

Hi Rosiehannah1,As others say it really does depend. My first surgery was only for diagnosis, I had 2 weeks off after that. My 2nd was a much longer op that took 7hrs, so as you can imagine lots done there and I had 8 weeks off. But I was told in advance that it was going to be a very involved operation, and there was lots of planning and consultation leading up to that, so i was expecting a longer recovery.

Do you have any other appointments before your op so you could ask what they expect to do? You might be able to get some advice at your preop.

Good luck.

[Amyrebecca246]

I've had two cysts removed laproscopically and had 5/6 weeks off each time. As others have said it can vary depending on what is being done, what happens and how you recover. However it is also worth bearing in mind the type of job you do, how physical it is - I'm a nursery nurse and when I had my post surgery check ups the Drs/nurse practioner made sure I was signed off for a while as my job involves a lot of moving, bending, accidental knocks etc. I was also advised that I couldn't drive for around a month (until you could do an emergency stop without causing further damage) so that's worth having in mind when thinking about returning to work.