Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

When to go to work after surgery

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • When to go to work after surgery

    If I go for surgery, my employer will only give me 3 months off. I am 24 years old, and otherwise in pretty good shape except for some occassional asthma. I will have only posterior surgery. My job is not physically demanding, although I spend a great amout of time on the computer, and in meetings. Is 3 months enough, if you were to make a serious effort at recovery? I know alot of people until age 20-21, can recover in 4-6 weeks, but what about a little older than that?
    The other question i had was, why must a rib hump removal be done from the from the front only? If the back ribs are being reduced, why cant the doctor go in through the posterior incision, and not have to deflate the lung.

  • #2
    Central...

    Thoracoplasties are often done from the posterior incision. Perhaps there's a specific reason why your surgeon feels that an anterior thoracoplasty is the way to go with you.

    Regards,
    Linda
    Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
    Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

    Comment


    • #3
      Central,

      As you know, I'm 30 yrs. old and just had my surgery on Feb. 1st. I had both anterior and posterior approaches and was back to work at week 10. Most likely would have been back sooner, but I had problems with my shoulder recovering from the thoracoplasty, requiring a lot of physical therapy and at week 8, had surgery on a small infection at the top of my back incision.

      Also, while in the hospital for my original surgery, I had fluid in my left lung and low blood oxygen levels which required a transfusion. Because of these two issues, I was in bed for the first 5 days and that slowed my recovery as well. Normally, I would have been out of bed the day following the surgery. My physical therapists said that for every day that you are in bed and not active, you need to spend at least 2 days building your muscles up again.

      I think that the 3 month window is definitely doable for you. I am back part-time now and hope to be back full-time in another 3 weeks. I'm feeling better with each week and am dealing with a bit of low back pain while at work, but they've been great about adjusting my workstation to fit my needs.

      Good luck!

      Comment


      • #4
        Linda

        Actually, my doctor said that I may not even need a thorocoplasty. He suggested doing the main surgery, and then seeing if there is a need for the thorocoplasty a few months after that. I sort of assumed that they are done only through the anterior approach, because that's what most sites defined thorocoplasy as - removel of rib from the front, deflation of lung, and then reducing rib prominence.
        Good to hear that it can be done in the same incision.

        Comment

        Working...
        X