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DRIVING AFTER SURGERY



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How long after surgery are you allowed to drive ?

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I was clear to drive at the 10 days mark but every Dr is different ask your Dr see what he tells you

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my Dr. clears once you are no longer on pain killers. Since I didn't take any in the hospital nor fill my script.. I drove 4 days post op. I had surgery on Thurs and by Mon was driving.

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Mine says normally 7-10 days; earlier l lu once you're off narcotic pain meds for at least 24 hours.

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I had no restriction from driving. The doctor didn't really even caution me against driving while taking pain meds.

I had surgery on a Tuesday and drove home from the airport on Thursday. *I had surgery in another state.

I never filled my script and managed just fine with tylenol, so there was really no risk for driving impaired.

After that initial drive home from the airport, I probably didn't drive again for about another week. It's not that I couldn't, I just didn't need to.

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Did it bother you at all when you drove to the airport? I'm being sleeved Friday but have to get my son to and from school on Monday so trying to see if it's possible for me to drive or if I'm going to have to send him in an Uber

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11 hours ago, TeeMillz said:

Did it bother you at all when you drove to the airport? I'm being sleeved Friday but have to get my son to and from school on Monday so trying to see if it's possible for me to drive or if I'm going to have to send him in an Uber

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I took an Uber from the hospital to the airport. Bumping around in traffic in the back seat of a stranger's car was a little nerve-wracking. The plane ride was a bit uncomfortable. I felt every bump and I think the change of altitude increased my gas pain. I was pretty miserable when we landed, got our luggage, and waited for the shuttle to the parking lot. I was exhausted and it felt a little like my guts wanted to fall out, but there was no choice about it. My friend, who went with me for the surgery, could not drive for her own medical reasons. I guess the bright side of this adventure was that I got a lot of walking in! 🚶‍♀️

So, I got in the car and drove about 30 minutes from the airport to my home. Once I got in the car, I actually felt better than my time in the airport. I put on my seatbelt, but left it looser than usual and drove as cautiously as traffic would allow. I even made a few calls en-route (blue-tooth of course).

I'd say your biggest concerns with driving on Monday after a Friday surgery is whether or not you're on pain meds and the overall driving conditions of where you're going to be driving. Not that you CAN'T drive, it's more of whether you should. If you're on any pain meds that affect your cognition, you really shouldn't be driving. I say road conditions because of safety. If you were involved in any kind of accident, aside from the accident itself, it could put you at greater risk for injury since you're already compromised.

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On 12/03/2018 at 20:43, TeeMillz said:

Did it bother you at all when you drove to the airport? I'm being sleeved Friday but have to get my son to and from school on Monday so trying to see if it's possible for me to drive or if I'm going to have to send him in an Uber

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As long as your not on pain meds you should be fine. I drove 3 days after surgery. I just made sure my seatbelt was below my incisions- just in case I had to stop quickly.

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My surgeon was okay with driving as long as you were no longer taking meds. Fortunately I was never in pain and didn't have to take the prescribed pain medication or Tylenol. However, I waited 10+ days after surgery before driving because I was so lightheaded/dizzy due to dehydration. Once I got that under control, I was ready.

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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
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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.
      · 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.

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