[Maria]

Jenn,
You are so busy! My neck hurt just reading about your schedule!

Re postponing surgery a bit if you can do it at least until you've settled into your new job that sounds like a reasonable plan.

I still think when requesting your future leave of absence for surgery you should err on the side of caution and go with maximum amount of time that one can take off. I think w/my lumbar surgeries I took an 8 week leave for both and had to extend it both times and in fact return to work part time first and graduate over a few months back into full time hours.

Anyway the most important thing to consider after you have the surgery is how you handle the recovery so do yourself a favor and give yourself the best opportunity to heal well after surgery.

And like your doc said if you've got bowel or bladder incontinence or loss of extremitiy function/sensation (numbness) get to the ER for evaluation STAT(immediately) or if you've any new severe unrelenting pain that is not alleviated by your normal relief measures.

Meanwhile stay well and good luck with all. Hope the new job goes well for you! Maria