My advice would be to find a new doctor. I am sorry, but any doctor that tells you that it "would be good for you" 3 weeks after having double PE's has NO clue what it is like to recover from a PE. Unfortunately, there is nothing set in stone as far as recovery goes. I have heard many people on this site say they have went back to work a couple weeks after their PE and many of them have done fine, but then again, there were many people that regretted going back so soon. Then there are people (like me) and I have had so many problems since my Saddle PE that I am still not back to work and it has been 10 1/2 months. I absolutely LOVE my job too and I was working 60-70 hours a week up until my PE. Going back to work for me would mean I have to be 100% and nothing less as I work in a prison.
All of us has been thru the stage where we couldn't take care of ourselves and if you are still in that "stage", you definitely don't need to be going back to work. You need to be honest and frank with your doctor. You need to tell him exactly that!!! You can't even take care of yourself yet, how can you be expected to work????? Who told you you should go back to work? Your primary care physician or your vascular surgeon? I would think your primary care physician would understand 3 weeks is definitely NOT long enough!!!!
Good luck and please keep us posted.

When I was released from the hospital the vascular surgeon gave me a note for two weeks off work. My doctor added another week and a half when I told him I knew I wouldn't be able to do it. I'm only 38 and I really feel like a total whiner, but in addition to the pain in my leg and back (lungs) I just don't have any energy.

We ALL know what it is like to feel totally exhausted. I was one who only needed approx. 5-6 hours of sleep at night prior to my PE, after the PE my body now requires 10-12 hours and for a few months after I also needed a few naps a day! I hope you have a return appt. set with your primary care physician and he understands what you tell him. The only advice I can give is.......LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!!!!! If it is saying it is toooooo soon to go back to work, then don't do it and just explain that to your doc!!!!

I wholly agree that going back to routines, such as going back to work, is indeed "good for you", generally speaking.

Fully committing to doing so less than a month after PE and two surgeries may be, to put it very lightly, a bit much.

It may be time for a second opinion, Meanwhile, when you feel ready is it an option to do something like fill in as a substitute on a trial basis for a day or two and see how it goes?

I had massive PEs in both lungs, with a DVT, and my doc said, since I didn't have a strenuous job, that I could go back to work as soon as I wanted to. I worked from home a week after I got home from the hospital, and then after that, I went back to the office. It was incredibly exhausting, and if I could go back, I'd probably taken one more week off to rest. But with that, I'm glad I tried, I'm glad I gutted it out. And personally, I think it ended up helping me recover faster, and it absolutely helped me psychologically.

With going back to work, there's a balance between resting and listening to your body, and just waiting to feel really good. Because honestly, most of us don't start feeling really good 3-6 months post PE. I just figured, for me, I had to start somewhere, so I might is well jump in.

If you don't have pain meds for your leg, you may want to look into that. That really helped me with going back to work. If you do go back now, just know that you're going to be whipped when you get home. Everyday when I came home from work, I would go to sleep for the night. But that only lasted a couple of months.

I personally think the tiredness of going back to work and getting back to life is better than trying to overcome the tiredness from laying low for too long. But you kind of have to do what's right for you. A lot of it is just psyching yourself up for it.

Is there a way to go back just a couple of days a week at first, to ease into it?

After my bilateral PEs last year, they told me to "listen to my body" and my body told me it was exhausted for several months out. When I was looking for things to be grateful for, I included the fact that I was retired and could go with what my body needed so I admit that age was a factor.

I would find a new doctor too - yours has a breezy attitude that seems to say "if it's good for me then it's good for you!" I found that my Drs had no clue as to what it was like to be inside my body even when they had the rest of the tools needed to help me but I didn't need to deal with the work issue of course.

It's 14 months now and the clots are still there and I am just getting back to functioning pretty much the way I did before the PEs.

Do keep us posted- this issue has been an important one for so many. It's your life and it should be valued by the physicians too in terms of your recovering fully and rationally.

Amy, I had my PE 1/25 and am still not back to work, however, I am still on oxygen. Physically I feel like I could go back now but I didn't feel like I could for about the first month.

With that all being said - I worked in a middle school for 15 years and I am hear to tell you....take a little more time. Those kids are exhausting and the job itself is stressful. Why not wait a week or 2 before you go back and with that just go back part time to get your feet wet.

God Bless you for devoting your life to our teenagers of today. They are certainly a handful (and yes, I know not all but unless you work with hundreds of them every day you really don't understand.).

I really think this is not a one size fits all situation, where you need to to be out for months or you need to go back right away. Everyone is different, and I don't think your doc's advice is that out of the realm of possiblity. It's very consistent with what mine told me, and my doc was a respected cardiologist. I'm not saying you don't need more time off. I'm just saying to call for one's firing over telling you it's ok to go to work seems over the top.

Thank you for all of your comments.

I am a very dedicated professional that was voted "Distinguished Educator of the Year" this year at my school by my fellow teachers.

I am going to get a second opinion because while I know I would love to be back at work with my students and friends, I also know my body is not physically ready. A lot of people think teaching isn't "physically demanding" but I would say to try it yourself. I pride myself on doing an excellent job and know that right now I am just not capable of it.

Get another opinion! Its been 2 months off work for me and I still dont feel ready. I am on a computer all day and sit at a desk but it is a very stressful job that requires a focused mind and multi tasking almost the entire time I am at work. Go to Dr this coming Thursday will see if he releases me. After a bad day today I sure dont feel ready. Money is driving me but I want to keep that job, not loose it, if I start calling in sick every other day or so from fatigue.

I would definitely listen to your body on this! I went back to work about four days after getting out of the hospital. I started with four-hour days (I usually work a ten-hour day) and slowly worked my way up over the next four months or so. Finally got back to work full-time but I did have more than one episode of exhausting myself and spending several days too tired too move.

My job is in a bank and I am required to be on my feet for 9-10 hours a day. I did get a doctor's note for a stool after I went back to work, but even then I was still up and down and back and forth a lot. It was beyond exhausting some days and I went home early more than once.

My mom is a teacher (elementary school) and I know how demanding that job can be. Kids have boundless energy and ya gotta keep up!

I wonder if there is a way you could come back for one class a day for a while. Not instead of a substitute but just to give the substitute a break and so you could start getting your feet back under you. Then work your way up ... I know scheduling with substitutes can be complicated, but maybe there is something that would work?

Still though ... I wouldn't push it right now. If you feel too tired, you ARE too tired. I would take it easy and focus on getting better instead of getting back to work.

And, as for your doctor, he's a doofus. Seriously.

I would have to agree with many here - you are the only one who can gauge how much you can handle and sometimes doctors are more optimistic (or blase - take your pick ) than we know we can handle. I haven't found the doctors all that helpful in letting me know what to expect. It wasn't until I had been struggling with pushing myself too hard for a couple of months that my doctor finally said some people take a year to recover. Would have helped to know that earlier. I too had a very demanding job - physically and emotionally working as a patient advocate in a 250 bed hospital. When I had my bilateral PE's, my doctor initially gave me a week off work after I got out of the hospital. A week turned into two and a half months as I kept trying to push myself to get the energy to get back up to speed and ended up in the hospital 3 times as a result. Much of the support and experience I found on this site helped me to be realistic about my capabilities and the length of time it can sometimes take to recovery. What I heard loud and clear from everyone here was to listen to your body and find your own path to recovery. Some people return to work fairly quickly and depending on the extent of their PE's, their work schedule, and home responsibilities, overall health prior to the PE, and course of their recovery - others had to take more time. I opted to take a break from the type of work I was doing before and got a part time desk job in a temporary veterans program. This will give me time to fully recuperate and determine what I want to do next when I grow up. I am ok with this decision, partly because I wasn't satisfied with my working environment before this ll happened. But I would enocurage you to figure out what is most important to you, health, work, family, all three and then work patiently toward getting back there. It may take a while but it will all work out. We do recovery from this thing.

Hi
I'm also a teacher, and I'm 36. I had double PE last year on November the 1st, and expected to be back to work quickly, but it took a lot longer than I thought. I was due to start a new job in January, and did manage to do that - so 8 weeks off is probably about the minimum. Be warned, the first days and few weeks back at work are murder - you basically exist to work, and need to be in bed early enough to get 10/11 hours sleep at least. It is do-able though! I was helped by the fact that the new job very kindly gave me Fridays off to help me recover - and that long weekend has made all the difference.
Good luck!

Thanks for all of your advice. I went back to the hospital to see the Pulmonologist who treated me. I don't understand why I didn't have a follow-up appointment scheduled with her in the first place! She said bluntly that my body needs lots of rest and a lot of time to heal. I'm really glad I went for a second opinion from a specialist in pulmonary medicine.

Gold star for the pulmonologist! And gold star for you for getting a second opinion. Glad you got to see someone who has a little more empathy for what your body is working through. Keep us posted on how you are doing!