Thanks, Jay. I tend to be slow to recover, so I figured I should allow about six weeks before going back to work. It sounds like I made a fairly accurate estimate.
I will have to schedule my surgeries very carefully during academic breaks. I hate to take summers off (or partly off) because I would lose a lot of money, but I don't think a three-week winter break will give me enough recovery time. If I don't get this job, it's a moot point anyway. Even if the surgeries are covered by insurance at my part-time job (the laws just changed in CA), I won't be able to afford to take a few consecutive summers off. I suppose I would go for a meta in that case, but only if I could get everything done in one go. I could take the hit for one summer, maybe. But I have a long way to go before I need to start planning.
I was hit pretty hard by top surgery. I was taking daily naps for about three weeks, and then I skipped a couple because I was volunteering at Pride (I know, smart decision), but I took naps every day or two for a week or so after that because I was still pretty tired. But I went to therapy and men's group five days after the surgery. Doing these things was a bit of a stretch, but I did them. I don't think I would be able to after bottom surgery.
