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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To go away for a few days to recover while off sick from work

37 replies

Shinyshoes123 · 23/07/2017 13:05

I'm due to have quite a big surgery on my abdomen in a little over a week.
I'm booked off work for the whole of august to recover .
I'll go stir crazy indoors for 4 weeks
AIBU to want to go away for a few days , get some sun on my face and relax somewhere that's not confined to my four walls ?

OP posts:

StealthPolarBear · 23/07/2017 13:05

Yanbu

StealthPolarBear · 23/07/2017 13:06

Best wishes for the surgery x

Floralnomad · 23/07/2017 13:06

Perfectly reasonable .

Notknownatthisaddress · 23/07/2017 13:07

YANBU!

But if it is actual SICK time, (and not just holiday leave,) don't take pics and put them on facebook, instagram, twitter etc.

It will NOT go down well at work.

Get well soon.

Hulababy · 23/07/2017 13:08

I did when I was off work for 7 weeks after pneumonia. The GP recommended it for a few days as part of my recuperation

Hulababy · 23/07/2017 13:09

Oh and my employers (school) and colleagues were more than fine with it. I did mention it to them and they whole heartedly agreed it would be a good thing.

Alicia555 · 23/07/2017 13:11

Notknownatthisaddress is right don't tell work your intention unless you intend to take the time as holiday leave. As sad as it sounds I've had a colleague of mine dismissed for doing the same.

daisychain01 · 23/07/2017 13:12

Absolutely fine, why should you lie in a dark room for 4 weeks watching the clock tick until you can go back to work.

Sorry to state the obvious but if I were you, don't post lots of photos on social media of you on the beach. Even if you have high security settings somehow someone will find out.

Just go off somewhere nice, enjoy the holiday and get well, but avert snidely comments that people at work could make who've never had abdominal surgery.

Get well soon x

daisychain01 · 23/07/2017 13:14

Sorry notknown xposted with you, it is worth saying

happypoobum · 23/07/2017 13:15

You won't be signed off sick, you will be signed off as unfit for work.

The only caution I would have is that you need to be sure there is no risk of infection if you are going abroad.

BritInUS1 · 23/07/2017 13:15

Check your travel insurance will cover you. Will you be ok to travel? X

Ishoos · 23/07/2017 13:23

As long as your doctor and travel insurance are ok, then I don't see the problem, agree with above that you are signed off as unfit to work. I would encourage people I manage to do whatever they need to aid recovery. Personally I wouldn't want to be somewhere hot where I couldn't go in pool due to risk of infection.

wellhonestly · 23/07/2017 13:25

YANBU - but:-

Don't underestimate the possible strains of a trip on your post-surgery abdomen - especially if you're going abroad to get some sun. Heaving luggage around might not be good for you if you've just had abdominal surgery. And if there are complications, or even anything worrying you, getting back would be a pain. If you have travel insurance it may not be valid without declaring the surgery. So do take some specific advice from your medical team (and from the insurance co if you have one).

Personally I wouldn't keep it from work but I would get cast-iron advice beforehand from the medical team, preferably in writing. Because bear in mind, even if you don't post it on social media, you may bump into other people on holiday who you know, and who are known to your workmates, it doesn't take much for these things to get out and then it just looks a whole lot worse.

Charley50 · 23/07/2017 13:34

All being well with abdominal surgery, you are supposed to be gently up and about as quickly as possible as it helps recovery, so I say go for it!
I agree with others though; don't tell work in case they use it against you and be careful not to lift heavy items. Also yes sepsis can be a risk, or other complications, so maybe wait until the last week when stitches should be more or less healed.

Itsnotwhatitseems · 23/07/2017 13:36

surely if you work in a school, then there is no work in August anyway

Surfingwhippet · 23/07/2017 13:40

She doesn't say she works in a school

FrancisCrawford · 23/07/2017 13:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Trills · 23/07/2017 13:43

Go and take the sea air, if you feel up to it.

I wouldn't book anything until you know how you feel, though.

TheDevilMadeMeDoIt · 23/07/2017 13:46

Technically, as you're signed off as unfit to work (not as sick) you can do anything that will help your recovery during that time. I was signed off a couple of months ago and my work positively encouraged me to take a holiday while I was off.

Two things to consider though. One is that nothing you do on the holiday should make your condition worse and mean that you're off work longer than you would otherwise have been. So as PPs have said, make sure you're not carrying anything heavy or doing anything strenuous.

The second point is more to do with perception. If someone is off with a mental illness, there is as we know a lot of misunderstanding around it, and anyone who is unfit to work due to eg depression, then is pictured on a night out, gets a lot of stick. Your's is physical, so you're less likely to get the same, but you still might.

If I were you I'd tell work, just so that I could enjoy the holiday with a clear conscience and not feel that I had to skulk around wondering what people might think.

Ceto · 23/07/2017 13:46

Of course not. The extra Vitamin D from the sun will help you heal, so long as you're not planning something involving lots of stressful travel.

user1498911589 · 23/07/2017 13:48

go for it, just make sure that you have somebody to drive you there and back and fetch and carry your luggage.

LoniceraJaponica · 23/07/2017 13:50

YANBU to want to recuperate somewhere nice, BUT, as others have already pointed out, don't underestimate how much major abdominal surgery will take out of you. Usually post op appointments are about 6 weeks after the op, and I wouldn't recomemnd booking anywhere until you have seen your consultant/surgeon.

Also, you may not be covered by travel insurance. I had to make some inquiries about our travel insurance on Friday, and one of the questions they asked was whether any of us had been admitted to hospital in the last year. If your answer is the last few weeks I doubt very much that you will be covered.

LoniceraJaponica · 23/07/2017 13:50

Plus, you are at a higher risk of a DVT so soon after surgery.

Tw1nsetAndPearls · 23/07/2017 13:52

I recently had abdominal surgery to remove a tumour - it was only keyhole. We went away for the weekend just over two weeks after surgery. I posted pictures on FB and my colleagues knew. I was walking around within days of surgery but I did get very tired very quickly. Within a week I was back to doing 10,000 steps every other day. I think going away and doing a lot of walking ( 15-25000 steps a day) did set my back in my recovery. It is worth considering that you may not be up to much physically. If the holiday is lots of relaxation and lounging around I would go.

simon50 · 23/07/2017 13:52

Go for it, if your up to it.
Suggest you have the first week or so at home to recuperate a bit first, have you thought about being able to climb stairs etc ? Only ask as an X had a tummy tuck and had a lot of pain using stairs.
Will you need to have stitches out sometime during this period ?
Also run it by your travel insurance Co, just in case you have a problem while you are out of the country, as if your not covered it will bankrupt you !
Enjoy, I'm laid up after a knee op last week, so good luck with your op.

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