I had a large mole removed from my back and 5 stitches and they said absolutely no lifting for 2 weeks. That lasted about 2 days.

But, as said def. take this time to let your body rest as that's really important too. when you get back to the gym you'll be ultra motivated and will crush your workouts. This is also a good time to be out as the newbies that only last 2-3 weeks are clogging the place up.