Hi Tony,

This is a question which I have been pondering as well. I am facing surgery similar to yours in a couple of weeks, and have been wondering how things will progress afterwards. My surgeon has said to tell work I'll be gone for a couple of months, which I have, but who knows how it will pan out.

I was fortunate to have been self employed the last time, three years ago, so I just shut up shop (metaphorically, not an actual shop) and we lived on my wife's income until I was in a state to ease myself back in to work.

This time round, I definitely have an uneasy feeling that maybe I shouldn't be spending whatever remains of my time in this world doing a job that, while I certainly don't hate it, isn't the highlight of my life. On the other hand, we have a young, growing family and the fact is you need money to survive, so some sort of work is always going to be in the picture for me. One thing I have decided is that I definitely won't be pushing myself back into it. Health (both physical and mental) has to come first now. We are extremely fortunate that my employer is very understanding, and also that both sets of parents are in a position to help out financially while I am not working.

I think for most people it boils down to the relationship you have with your job. If you're lucky enough to be one of those people who loves their job, you will naturally wan't to get back to it.

Just my $0.0168 worth (the exchange rate is slipping again...)

Cheers
Jules