Thank you all so much for your helpful comments!

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In my entire career working with employment issues, I have seen so very few people who actually lasted a full year at any one fast food restaurant that I think this OP's worries about medical leave policies on a job he/she hasn't gotten yet are very much premature. And it sounds like he/she is about to try to research before there's really a job in the offing. What I'm seeing is no prior work experience in the field, someone just finishing high school, expecting "to get out on my own" with this fast food job. But from the sound of things this may not be a major career move.

I'm still interested in who is going to carry the health insurance to pay for this rather serious sounding surgery, and why it is being postponed till so far out in the future? Is it an elective surgery? I would suggest the OP apply to several fast food places in the area, see who offers him/her a position and ask them questions about what their medical leave policies are before accepting a job (and without revealing that they are anticipating surgery in 6-8 months) and chose the best sounding.

Right offhand, I'd say that the average fast food place will have around 20-25 employees at a time. Don't know if FMLA would count all the employees in the particular franchise. But then, we don't know that this person is even going to get a job, that he/she is going to last a full year, is willing to wait a year to have the surgery, is going to get in 1250 hours in that time, if the surgery is major medical procedure for a serious condition or elective, etc. So all that is really important at the present is this particular business' medical leave policies.
Ok so, in reading the replies, which have been extremely helpful, I've realized I was kind of super planning ahead. I don't plan on making it a career, and I think my best option since from what I gathered I wouldn't be able to qualify for the FMLA would be to put in my two weeks notice and apply again after the recommended healing time. The employer wouldn't be the one providing medical insurance, as I'll be paying out of pocket for the surgery. Which is also the answer to the questions of why I'm waiting 6-8 months: I don't have the money for it yet and my insurance doesn't cover it.
That's besides the point, I have worked for almost a year at a different fast food chain before, but this has opened my eyes a bit to my tendency to overplan. I'll also remember not to tell anyone about my surgery except close friends and family.