Surgery recovery whilst having a physical job

[Foxgloves88]

Hi all,

I was after some advice regarding surgery recovery. Obviously we all recover differently from surgery, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice who has a physical job. I'm a gardener and I work on an estate, so I do have a HR department etc. just a lot of the advice says you can go back to work after 2 weeks, I'm just a bit worried as most peoples experiences I read are working from home, which I definitely can't do! Is there anyone out there who has a more physical job or if you are a gardener able to share their experience?

Thanks so much in advance xx

[Brambledoggy]

Morning. I used to work on a large country Estate as a very busy PA. Most important not to rush back to work. Your body needs time to heal and even though you might feel like you’re alright to return, trust your instincts and make sure you’re ready. Being a gardener is really hard physically (I used to have a huge garden with six giant flower borders, 4 lawns on different levels with about 100 steps!) and found it really tough when I had endo flares. A proper gardening job is like an 8 hour long yoga session. My vast garden proved too much to deal with for me alone and I eventually moved. Your HR department will surely understand. Your body needs to heal on the inside as well as the outside, so maybe don’t put a timescale on it or comparisons with others and don’t put any pressure on yourself to return before you’re ready. You will know when the time is right.

[Pacotj]

I am a healthcare worker with a physical job and took 4 weeks off, but still felt I went back too early and struggled for the first month I’d say of being back. Think it’s entirely down to the individual but listen to your body! I started gardening (ironically) maybe a month after my surgery to start building my strength up and was able to do light jobs such as weeding and planting bulbs etc and was able to build up to heavier jobs the following month x

[KittyTherapy]

Hi, I work in a rehabilitation role in a hospital. Would say its still less physically demanding than gardening and for me I needed 6 weeks off then came back on phased return (gradually increasing my hrs and workload). Like you've said everybody is different so you may need less or more time than this. Please only return when you feel ready, wouldn't risk injuring yourself and slowing down the healing process by rushing back x

[Whoosh451]

Hi, I work in a workshop using tools, guillotines and handling heavy sheets of materials. I went back after 10 days but just did light work, no heavy lifting or using the tools that need core strength. Was able to work normallly after about three weeks, my colleagues helped me out until then. Hope you have a smooth recovery!

[Foxgloves88]

Hi all, thanks so much for your advice and kind words. I think I need to just listen to my body then, and speak to my employer about having light duties for possibly a month after I return. Thank you, it's been tricky navigating anyway but a physical job just throws another spanner in! Thanks for sharing your experiences and I hope you feel better after your ops xx

[Gemsstones]

mine isn’t a physical job but even so I was initially signed off for 4 weeks post surgery as I’d had quite a lot of abdominal surgery done once they saw what was going on and they did say I could go to my GP after that if I needed more. I’d read a lot about 2 weeks as well but my experience was the health professionals don’t stick rigidly to that if something different is needed.

[thebird1]

Hi, I'm a therapist and do a moderate amount of manual handling. I had two weeks off after laparoscopy. As a gardner I'm assuming your role is constantly physically demanding. Could you do lighter work for the third and fourth week? I would speak to the surgeon prior to surgery and ask them. I would also ask for a referral to Occupational Health as companies often use an external provider. They can advice the employer on reasonable adjustments/ phased return given job role. Some HR departments are really good mind. Wishing you a speedy recovery x

[Foxgloves88]

Thank you that's a good idea about asking occupational health before. Thanks all for such good advice xx