Looking for advice re: sickness record

[IronyFreeAnnie]

Sorry this is going to be a bit of a long one,but i wang to make sure i dont levae anything out!

I have been off work sick since last December, when I was taken to hospital in the middle of the night with severe stomach pains. After a week in hospital i had a laproscopy and removed some lesions which they said were causing the pain.

Unfortunately the pain has continued since which basically means I have trouble standing, sitting for too long,walking,stretching, any kind of movement all exacerbate the pain, even with the hefty wack of painkillers I am now on (including morphine). I am scheduled for another op in September, which should solve all these problems.

So, long story not so short I have been unable to work since December and since I've been off my hours have been reduced, meaning I've been looking for another job.

One has now come up which sounds like my dream job. My questions is how should I approach the question of my sickness record?

Prior to this I was rarely off sick, in fact I was me of those annoying people who would go in whatever, and if the hospital had treated me properly at the time this would never have happened- but that's a different story!

Would you even consider looking at the application of someone like me? The application form asks for number of days off in last two years- should I address it there, or add it as extra info? Or should I just ignore it and hope for the best?

Will you have your op and recovery time before you start your new job? If so you would be able to describe it as something like a long term health problem which will be resolved before role commences.

I hope that if I did get offered the job that I could use my notice period as my recovery time - which I would be signed off for.
The dream job is nowhere near as physically demanding as my current job, so the odds are that I would be capable of doing it much sooner than I would be my current job.
I do feel guilty about potentially leaving my job after so long off sick, although there are changes going of there which would mean that my leaving would be beneficial to my colleagues.

I would be honest and say you have had x time off, but you've had/are having your operation and it will cure it. Prior to this condition your sickness record was as follows (insert)

Employers recognise that people do get genuine,y sick from time to time - one period of long term absence which has now been treated woukdn't concern me, but frequent short term absence would.

I think you need to be honest in your application, but provide an explanation.