Missing Work due to Thyroidectomy

I have been very concerned with missing work due to the Thyroidectomy. There are doctor appointments, checkups, surgery, and I'll have a radiation treatment.  That adds up to be a lot of time off from work!

I am concerned for several reasons. First, my career is very fast paced and it is easy to fall behind. The competition for advancing skills and getting a "seat at the table" is very intense. If I don't demonstrate excellence, if I don't bring my "A Game" every day, there are five guys behind me that are younger, smarter, and faster that want my seat.

I am also concerned because I am the main bread winner. My wife works too, but, we really live off my earnings. I need to make sure my paycheck is preserved.

I didn't expect to get cancer this year, so, I carelessly used some of my sick and vacation time such that I am now down to 13 days off for the rest of the year. Any other year? That would be plenty! I probably wouldn't even need those remaining days off.

For the cancer surgery, I'm told I need 10 days off from work.
The radioactive iodine will be 5 days off from work.
And then I need another ultrasound, all the doctor appointments, etc.

Clearly 13 days isn't going to be enough! I devised a plan:

I work from home. So, I am going to try to recover from surgery in six days (four days off plus a weekend). That should give me nine days for the radioactive treatment and doctor appointments. In addition, I plan to work during the radioactive treatment. I just have to stay away from everyone, which shouldn't be a problem since I work from home. I'll just wall myself into my home office for 5 days.

It is a large concern for me that the math simply isn't going to work out and I'll come up short somewhere. What if I do need two weeks to recover from the surgery? What if they find bad lymph nodes - I might need as much as 8 weeks off from work. What if I can't work during the radiation treatments? What if 13 days isn't enough?

I did some research into Short Term Disability. I don't have a short term disability insurance like Aflac. I contacted my employer's Human Resource department today and learned I am covered for short term disability that will pay 80% of my current pay! And if short term turns into long term, I am covered for 66.6%.

Loosing 20% of my pay would suck. That's a lot of grocery money. But it isn't the end of the world and I have some savings that could see me through the gap. I am very fortunate to have a short term disability option. Learning about the short term disability has helped put my mind at ease. With this new knowledge, I feel I can take as long as I need to recover without needing to rush it. Of course... I will rush it because that is the kind of guy I am, and I need to get back to work before someone steals my seat at the table.