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Not telling people/work about surgery

Miss Tickle

Well-Known Member
I'm usually a very honest and open person but I really don't want to tell people about my surgery if I'm fortunate enough to get it.
I think it is really personal and private and certainly don't want the detail mentioned on my sick note. Apart from DH I don't plan to tell anyone. I don't want family to worry and don't want others to judge me negatively-I do enough of that to myself.
I'm worried about what goes on the sick note and what I could tell people I've had done.
Know it sounds dishonest but I just want my privacy.
So what does go on the note and what could I say?
 
WM put abdominal surgery on mine. If you wanted it to be even more vague, you could just ask for it to say surgical recovery.
 
I have only told family and I am 5 weeks post op and hope no one will ever find out unless i decide to tell them x
 
I haven't told anyone other than my hubby. I didn't need a sick note as I don't work but my surgeon offered me one that simply said surgical recovery.
 
I've only told my nearest & dearest, when I spoke to the surgeon about my concerns he said he would just put abdominal surgery on my sick cert, so no worries there.

Regards
Bunnyxx
 
I have only told about 5 people.

When I saw my consultant he told me he would sign a sick note for me which simply said 'post operative recovery'. In actual fact he forgot to do it and my GP had to do one instead and he willingly just wrote 'gastric surgery'.

My consultant told me to tell everyone that I had had a hiatus hernia operation as the op itself is in the same place, can be done keyhole and has a similar recovery time.

I am not sure which op you are having but if you are having a band, there's your answer!
 
I didn't want to tell anyone either so if someone commented on my weightloss I just said thank you very much and left it at that. As more weight came off though and it started to become very noticable people started asking how I am doing it. I never lied, told them about the op and have only ever had extremely positive responses.

Now, three months on, I'll happily tell anyone and everyone! :D

Cuppa xx
 
It is completely understandable that your dont want to tell many people. I chose to tell very few, my immediate family (not in laws, nieces or nephews) and a few very close friends that need to know as they are like my family and will pull me through the rough times if I have any. I have always been very private about my weight battle and would feel very uncomfortable having my weight loss discussed by all in sundry.

The hospital gave me a sick note that said, abdominal surgery for the two days I was in and then my Dr gave me another one that said post operative recovery. She did give me the option of what I wanted to say on it so maybe discuss it with your dr at the time.

Good luck with everything.
 
I've only told a few people too but my boss is one of them. I think it depends on what job you do but in my job it's actually really important that she knows...in fact a risk assessment will need to be done before I start back. I hope you've got an easier situation but be careful with no one knowing x
 
Only my youngest son (17) knows I'm having WLS, and only because he lives with me so will obviously notice the change in my eating habits! It took a while to tell him but I'm glad I did as he is tremendously supportive and knows how important this is to me.

If anyone else wants to know why I'm having surgery, assuming they find out, they will be told it's to repair a hernia which I discovered was there during the gastroscopy. I certainly won't be telling anyone else about the WLS.
 
I didn't want to tell anyone at first but I had to tell my mum so that she'd come with me to support me when I asked my GP about surgery. Then she blabbed to my Aunt (despite me asking her not to) and then to her bf. She then begged me to tell my sister so that she could talk to someone about it, then my sister blabbed to everyone where she works and then one of our friends so then I decided that I may as well tell the whole world and announced it on facebook! lol

I told my boss as her sister has had a gastric band and she was incredibly supportive and has been fantastic about it as has everyone else.

I didn't want to tell anyone because I felt it was like I was a failure and I couldn't lose weight the 'traditional' way and needed surgical help in order to do so. But as more and more people found out, I got more and more positive comments and support.
 
I only told family , GP note just said "post op recovery" so no problem, touble is these things tend to come out eventually , so over time i may tell a chosen few , then again i might not ? is it anyones business? i think it is down to your own choice.
 
I understand your concerns, this is a very private matter & if you decided to keep it that way then it's entirely your choice. I feel exactly the same way & very few people know of my intentions.

I've just been diagnosed with sleep apnoea & have told people at work that loosing weight would help. I've also said that I'm having digestive problems that may result in me needing an operation. I'm hoping by saying this that explaining the hospital appointments and hopefully having an operation will be easy. The people I work with are a nosey bunch so thought I'd better pre-empt it lol
 
I told my boss what was going on, so I could slope off for all my pre ops and diet clinics, although I start a new job next month and dont plan to tell them whats happened .... new start and all that..... only have 4 1/2 stone to go till goal so intend on blaming diet and excersise as these guys are from out of town and dont know me as the big lad, only know me by reputation.....
 
Thanks for all the helpful replies guys. I feel much better now
x
 
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