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When Can You Drive Again?



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Just wondering,in general, how long after surgery can you drive a car?

Hoping to have my surgery on May 10th & just noticed I have a dentist appt on May 18th. So wanted to see if I need to change that appt or not.

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For most people, pretty much whenever. As long as you are NOT taking your pain meds there is no reason why you can't drive. As my doctor loves to say "if it hurts, don't do it". I was a bit uncomfortable even a week later, however I drive a manual car... so I had to use both legs (and since I'm short I have to really reach with my leg to reach the clutch) and both arms... so my stomach twinged a little bit. But honestly, it didn't last long. I would say that you should be fine to drive at that point.

Good luck!!

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NJSharon, I also live in NJ and have a surgery date in May. Looks like May 30 but I hope I can get in before( depends on insurance and they are switching over to a new hospital). Let's keep in contact and take our journey together.

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The only restriction to driving was to be off the pain meds. I had surgery on a Tuesday and switched to liquid Tylenol on Saturday so I could drive on Monday. By that time Tylenol was enough to take care of the pain for me. It was uncomfortable getting in and out of the car for a few weeks, but it wasn't too bad.

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Great, thanks for the fast replies!

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I haven't taken my pain meds since the day after surgery. I drove the fourth day out for about 3 hours! No problems!

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This is good to know. I have 4 kids that will need to be driven to and from school and my hubby can only take off work for so long.

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I just talked to my surgeon's office yesterday about the same thing. I am getting sleeved on April 4. I am not allowed to drive for 7 days after my surgery and have to completely be off all pain meds.

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I haven't taken my pain meds since the day after surgery. I drove the fourth day out for about 3 hours! No problems!

This was me, pretty much word for word. I did get a little stiff sitting in the same position for a long time but getting up and walking/stretching seemed to help a lot.

As long as you are not on any pain medication or anything that might inhibit your drively safely, you should be fine.

Good luck!

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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    • KimBaxleyWilson

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
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    • bellaamey

      https://alluniqueguide.com/java-burn-coffee-reviews/
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