Hi
@Regenm I'll join in the chorus...put off your return for as long as you possibly can. I was fortunate that I didn't have my THRs until after I retired (8th grade English teacher). We recommend a 12 week hiatus till returning to work, and I remember thinking at 12 weeks how difficult it would be to have to return even then. 3 or 4 weeks post-op? Yikes!!
So a couple possible problem-solving thoughts :
1. Does your district have any kind of sick leave bank you could tap into?
2. Would your district allow a sub who was willing to donate services to you?
3. Would your district allow you to bring in someone as an aide, if you had a qualified person to help you out? I returned to work 4 weeks after a hysterectomy, back in the olden days before laparoscopy. A good friend of mine was a certified teacher who was not working at that time. She came in to help me for a couple hours each day, and it made an amazing difference.
4. Do you have any friends who could organize a fundraiser for you, to help offset your expenses if you have to take unpaid leave to gain a few more weeks?
Good luck. We all do what we have to do. At the very least, if you have to go back to work, put everything else on hold. No other PT. Don't run errands. Don't do housework. Rely on frozen dinners for a few weeks. If you're still limping, use a walker or a cane at work. At home, ice liberally if pain is still an issue at all. Recycle old lesson plans for a while. Get creative about grading papers to avoid taking work home. Go to work, then go home and rest and sleep. You will get through it. Somehow. Then come back and tell us all how you did it!!