Returning to work

Sue

You have bigger problems, 5 year olds are not famous for being able to restrain themself just remember what you have to lose if you get knocked down or ran into, I'm just saying tell your boss you can come back when you feel stronger but explain to her that you will have limitations. If you are 6 weeks you still have another few weeks of messed up sleep. Ask if you can use an OTC sleep aid (no pain med added). Get a heating pad for stiffness I love mine. Ice for swelling heat for stiffness. Most important DON'T let anyone push you, listen to your body.

Thats a very hard question ! Im 49 and am 11 wks post op i was hoping to go back at 13 wks in another 2 wks but my physio said i would be mad to! Iv been walking for a couple of wks unaided and thinking i was doing well. Hadnt been for physio for 3 wks and when i went he said i was walking stiff legged and needed to walk for nxt 2 wks with my crutch to get my walking technique right. So i had hindered my walking! I was gutted as obviously i cant go back to work until im walking correctly. So im doing all my exercises religiously and walking for 20/30 mins a day with crutch. Im walkin better. Most people have said to me the turning point is 12 wks it does seem to be for most tkr.

For your boss to say 6 wks is daft you have 6 wks off with a broken bone! This is so much more than that! We have got to heal correctly to make this succesful. It is a major op and needs time. Keep doing all you can and take your time. Your gp will be supportive and the physios wil advise you. Keep us posted !

A the very least you should be off work for 6 weeks, that is standard healing time for broken bones.  You have had much more done.  If you feel up to it mentally and can guarantee that you will be sitting down for a good percentage of the time, then by all means go back, get the little horrors on your side by saying you have a new magical knee and you need to test it out.  Get them on your side and your day may become easy to cope with. The trick is to rest as much as you can and be in a position to raise your leg every now and then. No point sitting on the floor as you just have to get up again (from a childs point of view that will be hilarious). Use 2 chairs, one to sit on and one to rest your leg, their chairs are just the right height for you to rest on.

You will be absolutely shattered by the end of the day, so make sure you are taking your pain meds on a regular basis and meds to make you sleep (I say make as opposed to help, as you really do need to sleep if you have any chance of getting up in the morning and face the world of 5 year olds).

It is do-able but there has to be a lot of contingencies in place. Don't feel bullied by your colleagues or headmistress/master, unless they have gone through a knee replacement, they have no right to judge your ability to go to work or take (longer) time off. You will heal to your own drum beat. But stay positive and you will achieve anything.

Good luck with the monsters, at that age they do have a lot of empathy, so tap into it and use them to your advantage.

You don't go back to work on the dictates of a boss who is a teacher.  That is totally ridiculous.  One little kid running in to you or even running up to give you a hug could put you off balance and you could fall.  That could be very serious.  I'm sure your doc will back you up on this.