I'm planning out my surgeries and how it would work with time off/vacation.  Worse come to worse I can go on disability but it would reduce my income. I usually get 21 days vacation per year though. Would that be enough? That's 21 working days and I work 5 days a week. So that would be about a calendar month.

Everyone is different. I didn't go to Suporn but I was recommended a minimum of 6 weeks post op before a return to work. I know girls who have managed 4 weeks but goddess knows how.

To be honest if you can, 8 weeks. It also depend on the job. Mine is desk bound, if you have a physical job that is a different story.

These days I'm desk bound. There used to be a time I would be running up and down, but not anymore.

I took a month off for a desk job and still could have used one more week at least. And I did penile inversion; Suporn's recovery is supposedly much longer (he recommends people stay nearby for a month, much less recovery at home).

His web site, of course, recommends 24-30 days in Thailand and 3-4 months recovery period...

Here were some similar threads:
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=165918.0

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,122108.msg962466.html#msg962466


hugs

I'm a Chet girl and returned to work yesterday, 4.5 weeks after my surgery.

I have the advantage that I'm allowed to work from home about 90% of the time normally and have been given special permission to work from home exclusively til the end of October.

You need time to dilate including mid-day dilation. If you don't have a safe, private place to do that at work, this is going to cause issues with your recovery, possible loss of depth, and perhaps other complications.

If you are purely a desk jockey you might get away with it, other than the dilation issue. For me, that's not a problem, as I just get up, walk to my bedroom, and do my thing. For people in office environments, it could be a serious problem.

I did float the idea an an occupational health conference that if women are given rooms and support for breast feeding on return to work, should post op trans girls be allowed rooms, a bed and privacy to dilate.

The silence was total!

I still have wars to fight!

I could possibly negotiate a work from home type of thing for a week or two once i've used up my vacation which gives me 5 weeks total. There are other employees who work from home, so I don't think they should refuse me. They have shown willingness to work with me. Push come to shove I might just take a week unpaid.

The other thing I can do is schedule it near the end of the year so I run into the next year and start to use next year's leave.  It gets tricky though.

I think there are two factors. Your maintenance and your comfort. Some girls are OK sitting even the next week, some a few months or longer. What you need to work in. Trousers, jeans , no way for me. Fine for other girls. I was fine sitting but jeans where a no way.

Transport, if you need to drive - can you sit? Do you ride a bike! No damn way!

Tiredness was the killer for me I just didn't have any strength and fell asleep very easily? I needed a nap.

But I'm old!

Dr Suporn's requirements are to plan for a month in country.  Your discharge/FSA paperwork will tell you to take 8 weeks off of a desk job.  No lifting 30 lbs for 12 weeks.

I worked as a Nurse's Aide when I went to see Dr Suporn.  I needed every day of 12 weeks to recover.

Elaina

The overall Suporn experience was amazing and wonderful, but as far as pain and/or discomfort following, I didn't feel myself for six months or more, and I'm healthy and relatively young. I couldn't sit upright for more than ten or twenty minutes for the first few weeks due to really atrocious stinging pain donut cushion or not, almost like the blood rushing to that area where everything had been rearranged.... Some girls were chatting at breakfast a week later, so you might be one of those annoying ones * * but I had my partner get food for me half the time and room service every night for a month so I could eat lying in bed!

Have a look at your contract, there's got to be some inclusion for medical leave..

I returned to work about 4 day out of the hospital. One of the biggest mistakes I made in my life. Even though I had a sit down job, my sleep requirements were well above normal and living by myself there just weren't enough hours in a day. You should figure 6 to 8 weeks recovery time though you might feel like returning to work after a month. Consider Sick leave, vacation time and leave without pay as options to get the time off that you need. Being out on the job is an advantage because personal is more likely to work with you.

Quote from: Isabelle on August 31, 2015, 10:42:09 AM
Have a look at your contract, there's got to be some inclusion for medical leave..

There is, but unpaid via FMLA.

That said, I could save up some $ to cover me then.

do you have disability insurance, most have a 30 day min elimination period so i don't know if that could be helpful, don't know if it has an exclusion for elective surgery recovery though

Quote from: Madison (kiara jamie) on August 31, 2015, 03:12:53 PM
do you have disability insurance, most have a 30 day min elimination period so i don't know if that could be helpful, don't know if it has an exclusion for elective surgery recovery though

I do have LTD insurance. I have to check what the policy says.

I found sitting to use my computer really hard for about a month after getting home from Bangkok. There was no way i was going to try driving anything more than round the block until I was 8 weeks. I found standing and walking easy it was just getting the right sitting position I struggled with. Dilation is also important in the first few months so being home even when working would be an advantage.

Could you ask your employer about allowing you to bank leave so you could put 2 years leave together at a time they agree to so maybe a less busy period? Suggest a trans version of maternity leave on a shorter scale.

Good luck when the time comes

Quote from: Cindy on August 25, 2015, 10:02:47 AM

I did float the idea an an occupational health conference that if women are given rooms and support for breast feeding on return to work, should post op trans girls be allowed rooms, a bed and privacy to dilate.

The silence was total!

I still have wars to fight!

That would be wonderful and I hope you convince some companies of the benefit


Hugs

Sorcha 

Suporn girl here too, and I was like GendrKweer. Long recovery.

I was fortunate enough to be in a position where I could take almost as much time off as I needed and I needed the entire 7 months I took off. I was so tired and at 5 months I was still sleeping 12 - 14 hours a day. I also had issues with dilation from the get go - you're not supposed to tighten up until after the 1 month mark and I began to tighten right from the start. Dilation was a pain and a drag from the very beginning and it took me around 3 hours every time. That being said, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. I have been very sexually active after the 1.5 year mark with many different partners (I am young and live stealth) and everything works beautifully. I have no need for lube ever, I get vaginal orgasms as well as clitoral, and no one has ever clocked anything. I will probably go back to Suporn eventually for a cosmetic touch up, but it's been several years now and I still haven't made time for it - it's just not an issue.