Eye Operation (like laser) Can I get sick leave

[SayItWithWine]

I am going to have my lenses (in my eyes!)replaced for severe bad eyesight. They have to do each eye seperately a week apart. It will mean at least 2 weeks off work. It is classed as cosmetic as my vision is corrected now by glasses. Has anyone been in this situation, could you get time off sick? Dont know whether to just phone in sick after the first op and say eyes too bad to work at computer, or just come clean and accept if they refuse to pay. How will I pay my mortgage that month?

out of interest (cos I don't know the answer to your question) which type of lens are you having implanted?

I think you should take holiday.

Are you sure you need to be off work for a whole week?

I have had eye surgery and I was fine the next day (obviously protecting my eyes with shields and antibiotics), but I could drive.

Mmmmmmmmmmm. If you don't tell the truth and then get complications that require even longer off work, you then have to admit to having lied about the first period of time off work "sick" in order to get genuine sick leave off subsequently... Or lie an awful lot to your employer. Do you not have a very good relationship with your employer? And do you not have any holiday leave left? I certainly couldn't live with my conscience lying about it.

However you approach your employer, you don't have to set out to them in black and white that you believe the operation to be entirely cosmetic. After all, glasses can't correct your peripheral vision (besides the dreadful headaches one can get from having a weight on the end of one's nose and scratched, greasy glass to look through, plus the limitations it can put on your enjoyment of, eg, swimming, sports, walking in the rain, going into a warm shop on a cold day without steaming up...). They may be sympathetic (although I guess there's no guarantee the sympathy won't only stretch to giving you a period of unpaid leave, of course).

I had no queries from work with having sick leave for a procedure that would have been classed as cosmetic.

My boss said that it did not matter why I was having the procedure, just that I had a medical note from the doctor to say I needed x time off.

I am having implantable lenses (like cataract surgery) Re Zoom, I think to correct long and short sight. My eyes are crap. They do one eye, wait a week and do the other eye. Impossible to work I think with one corrected eye unless I take the lens out of the glasses so definitely 2 weeks. Was hoping they would do them together (1 week) then have a week off annual leave to recover fully. My boss did provisionally OK a week discretionary sick, but 2??
Rabbit You must be wearing my glasses. (+7.5) if this means anything! My conscience is in overdrive at the moment as I never take sickies normally, but would use a lot of my annual leave up. It is not for cosmetic reasons, but limited vision, headaches etc. And I will be genuinely unable to work - but still classed as cosmetic!
Mme Blue was that laser surgery? I have to have my eyeball cut into and my own lens (inside my eyeball) removed and the new one put in. It is the latest so correcting both types of eyesight. My eyes are too bad for laser. (They will also laser later on to 'fine tune' my sight).

I have a GP appointment on wed to discuss with them if they feel it can be classed as medical and can sign me off.

Daft Apeth .... Did you discuss it with your GP or employer first, or just present them with the sick note. I don't intend to lie but dont really know what is sick leave and whats cosmetic. I wouldn't expect to have sick leave for a boob job.

I have no peripheral vision at all, more like looking through a narrow tunnel. Cant reverse the car as I cant see behind me.(v dangerous!) Get neck pain trying to crane my neck to see, perhaps there are medical reasons?

Didn't discuss with gp as it was consultant who wrote my note confirming that I'd had surgery and was recommended to have x weeks off work.

Discussed with my boss before I planned the date in order to work out when the best time would be workwise.

Do you have an HR department? Could you call and ask them what the policy is?

Have a look at this link

Could you also post this in employment?

Daft... that link is very helpful, so it is down to my employer and my contract, but if they dont give me discretionary sick leave but do to someone else with similar I can complain. Must contact my friend who just had boob reduction, but for medical reasons too. If I can prove it is medically justified (neck pain, tunnel vision) they presumably cant turn me down? Will post in employment too and see what tomorrow brings. For info. my employer is recently coming down of sick leave as we have sky rocket levels - not fair to me as only a week in 2 years, and prev job 2 days in 7 years! I will see GP and also discuss with opthalmic surgeon at pre op consultation.

My other friend there also just had fertility treatment - got pregnant first time!! Will talk to her too.

I had sick leave (6 weeks of it in fact) for a breast reduction. It was on the NHS and deemed medically necessary, but all that was on my sick note from the GP was that I required time off work for recuperation from surgery.

Can I ask about the proceedure - I was told 5 years ago that my eyesight is too bad for laser surgery. Partly because I have very thin corneas and not enough cornea there for the amount they need to shave off. Is this different. My prescription is -8.0. Is it expensive?

Hope you get the time off. When I got sterilised my boss was funny about me having the week off as he said it was my choice to have it done. I hinted strongly about me having other "womens problems" that would be resolved by being sterilised and he was too embarrassed to ask anything further and dropped it.

sayitwithwine - if you want I can tell you exactly my experience with multifocal lenses, unfortunately it is not a great experience, so it depends if you want honesty or positivity.
Am cattable.
But you can work if you can wear contact lenses. Problem with taking a lens out of one side of glasses is that the image sizes are different and that is quite horrible.

Bad Kitten... I am not sure now if its re zoom I'm having?? no name was mentioned. Did you have your own lens removed and replaced (me) or a lens implanted in front of your own lens? I know what they intend to do but all the mono, multi this that etc. is confusing. Optical express are doing the op. I was told it is the same op as cataract surgery only a better quality of lens is inserted. Did you have this?

Viva... Contact Optical express or one of the other big opthalmic people. The initial consultation is free, just 'think about it' before signing! I would imagine you would be able to have implantable lenses - these sit in front of your own lens and correct vision that way. Cost is around £3000 + though

If I looked at it from the standpoint of having a disability corrected my employer may be OK about it?

I've googled refractive lens exchange and the research/experiences look good, and my eyes are very healthy. But I'm secretely terrified.

I had cataract surgery with multifocal implants. I am happy to talk off board with you because it tends to be more challenging for younger people than the literature would suggest. Well worth knowing the name of the lenses you are having! as they have very different qualities. I would particularly ask how much experience they have with yag capsulotomies with multifocals because they are difficult and being younger than the average cataract patient you are probably more likely to need this despite what the literature says.

I feel quite annoyed with people who claim that any operation to cure eyesight problems that can be largely overcome by wearing glasses is a cosmetic one. If you would be quite disabled without your glasses (eg unable to cross a road safely, or see to read anything more than a few inches from your nose...), then it really is not a cosmetic decision to want to be free of the need for glasses. After all, glasses are an extreme annoyance, or even a danger, when doing water sports; they can steam up in the wrong weather (which is all very well if you can see OK without them when you take them off to clean them, but not really if you can't); if they are knocked off your face and you are are unable to see well enough to find them again, this can be very dangerous, particularly if you are, eg, responsible for small children at the time; and they do not do anything to improve your peripheral vision, something that someone with mild eyesight problems might not notice, but very noticeable if your eyesight is moderately bad or very poor, as you are aware of a significant blur on the outer edges of your vision. They can also be extremely uncomfortable - you constantly have something weighing down on your ears and pressing down on your nose, they slip constantly if you have greasy skin, you may even be mildly allergic to the pads pressing onto your nose or the frames, they can easily get scratches and grease marks all over them which compromise your enjoyment and ability to see clearly; (and they are very annoying at the hairdressers', as they get in the way of the haircut, but without them on, you can't see what the hairdresser is doing to you!...). It is horrible to be totally dependent on something and vulnerable without it. And not everyone can wear contact lenses - which in any event carry an increased risk of infection.

So, I would definitely approach your employer from the standpoint of having a disability that needs correcting!

VivaLaBeaver you are lucky that at least you know your corneas are too thin for laser surgery. I had Lasik surgery 10 years ago now. They waited till after they had done the procedure on both eyes before telling me that my corneas were very thin, and as a result the diameter lasered was not as wide as is should be. So now I have very blurred vision around the edges at night - giving the starburst effect on headlights etc.
The problem was that because you sign so many disclaimers pre-op, there is no comeback to them whatsoever. I really wish I had been told that about my corneas before. Although I would have been gutted not to have it, at least it wouldn?t have been £2000 wasted, as I still need contact lenses and glasses .
I wish I had waited as ten years on, these things have developed hugely.

sayitwithwine good luck I hope you get your sick leave. I don't see why you shouldn?t.

ps I do not have any opinions, however, on the actual operation you wish to have, as whilst I do feel strongly that glasses can be more disabling than some people realise, and can restrict your choice of career and leisure activities, they are a good deal better than having eyesight problems that cannot be corrected at all. I would therefore only consider surgery if I were confident the operation would result in a genuine improvement in my quality of life and not just replace one issue with another.

You sound like you've done your research and are aware of the risks and possible long term issues, though, so I wish you luck, with the operation and with your employer! Any chance of letting us know how it goes?????

Hi rabbitstew. Everything you say about glasses and more applies to me. I work all day on a computer and have it about 12" from my nose and wear reading glasses. my other glasses cant refocus from the keyboard to the screen!

I am feeling much more confident about my employer giving me the time off and I will take an extra week annual leave to fully readjust. My lenses have always been of the milk bottle variety and I really feel that if I only had a 70% correction it would make my life easier so choosing this route has got to be best for me. If I needed minimal correction I would think twice, but the more I think about it the more intolerable my eyesight is. I cant wear contacts as my eyes get too dry.

Badkitten I am 40+ and my lenses are hardening anyway so I think cataract surgery not far away! The only other choice is stronger and stronger vari focal lenses (£350 ish a time)

Millie A friend had too thin corneas and they turned him down and said only implantable lenses would suit (He declined). Would these be an option for you? Its a permanent contact lens fitted inside the eye but expensive!!

Mumsnet is brilliant for getting lots of views and clarifying a situation, dont you think! I will post on here when I've had it all done to share the experience as there must be many people in my situation.

:) that sounds more sensible then, I was younger and a high myope, both big risk factors that unfortunately had a strong affect on the outcome.

Sorry if I've missed it, but have you actually asked work? I don't think you should take annual leave, you're having a medical procedure!

If it was laser eye surgery due to normal myopia then personally I'd take leave as it'd likely only be a couple of days, but you NEED time off work. Just tell them you have eye surgery scheduled and you'll need time off, surely?

HTH

Yes, I agree Jareth.

Just say you are having eye-surgery and need time off. It's none of their business why, surely?

My cousin had her laser surgery done at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, the private bit not on NHS. If I was ever brave enough to have it done I would have it done there, and only there.