For anyone having a gastric sleeve done outpatient - how painful was the ride home? I’m schedule 11/13 for outpatient gastric sleeve, but have a two hour drive home. Would it be better to drive home day of surgery while still somewhat under the effects of pain meds or get a hotel and go home the day after surgery? Opinions?

Edited October 3, 20205 yr by Goulagal

You know your body best, but if it were me, I’d opt for a hotel near the hospital and then drive home the next day. Without knowing what you’ll be prescribed/dosed with for pain meds, it could be a recipe for disaster with that long of a drive. Better to spend a little money to stay somewhere overnight and then head home the next day.

Pandemonium & MsMocie, as usual, make good points. Add what I say to what they said.

I'm assuming that you are not doing the driving. Even if you feel great, you don't know what movement it might take to cause tremendous pain at the wrong moment. So, don't drive yourself. Now that that is settled.

Staying over: Another reason for staying over is, heaven forsake, some complication rears it's ugly head. You are there and your Doc is there and driving back that time/distance is removed from the equation. It's also likely that whoever is driving you home drove you there then waited uncomfortably for hours. It's already been a long day and they may not be at their best driving home.

Going home: You will get to sleep in your own bed and have everything you prepared available to you. As mentioned, you'll be under the effect of pain meds but also the lingering effects of being put to sleep. You can likely sleep much of the drive home. You may not have this perk tomorrow.

A middle ground is to reserve the room. When you leave the facility take an inventory of how you feel and act accordingly.

Good Luck

Tek

Thanks for your feedbak

My husband and I will be staying in a hotel the night before surgery since we have to be at the hospital @ 6 am. I am the only patient my dr is doing surgery on that day so he assured me we would start by 8 am and the surgery should last an hour. He uses the robotic Da Vinci laparoscopic method and he says to expect minimal pain. He said I could go home as soon as I drink, walk and go to the bathroom the required amounts. He didn’t seem concerned about the drive. I thought all that was easy to say when he hadn’t experienced the pain.

Wow, outpatient ... pain, effects of sedation, and a long drive. They told me one hour also for the surgery and it was two hours then there was the 60 minutes of pre-op prep. I had laparoscopic and was in recovery for 3 hours before I got moved to a room. I needed help the first day to get out of bed to get to the bathroom so glad I was there. Good luck.

I’m scheduled Oct 15 and will be outpatient about hour from home. My initial follow up is the day after, so I will be in a hotel near my doctor’s surgery center.

2 hours ago, MsNuBooty said:

I’m scheduled Oct 15 and will be outpatient about hour from home. My initial follow up is the day after, so I will be in a hotel near my doctor’s surgery center.

Please let me know how it goes!

I would stay in the hotel. It's a long day mentally and physically. Plus if something goes wrong your close to hospital. I can't believe this is an out patient surgery! Would at least give my self 24 hour safety net...good luck.

If you have a choice in this matter, I would stay overnight in hospital if you could. Even just for the IV fluids to help with hydration levels, plus nurses can monitor if you are able to take fluids, pass wind, pass urine - they can also put pain meds through the iv.

I recovered fairly well from surgery and I wouldn't have wanted to leave hospital the day of surgery, I stayed two nights, I may have gotten away with one but two was just right.

I certainly wouldn't have wanted to get in a car and be on the road on the day of surgery.

1 minute ago, Hop_Scotch said:

If you have a choice in this matter, I would stay overnight in hospital if you could. Even just for the IV fluids to help with hydration levels, plus nurses can monitor if you are able to take fluids, pass wind, pass urine - they can also put pain meds through the iv.

I recovered fairly well from surgery and I wouldn't have wanted to leave hospital the day of surgery, I stayed two nights, I may have gotten away with one but two was just right.

I certainly wouldn't have wanted to get in a car and be on the road on the day of surgery.

Yes, I.v fluids! Good point.

After my sleeve the anaesthesia affected my bladder, and I needed a catheter for 24 hours. Plus I was drugged out on self dosed fentanyl through my IV during that time as well. I was pretty sad when they took that away! It took 48 hours for me to feel comfortable going home, and even then they were going to keep me in an extra night if I couldn't get a certain amount of fluids down.

So if I was you, I'd hang around for a few days, I don't think I could have handled a two hour drive so early on. When you do drive, make sure you have a pillow to hold on your belly, it helps. Good luck!

Edited October 4, 20205 yr by Daisyjayne
Typo

I am having my VSG on 10/26 and it is outpatient. On one hand, I’m happy to get home and another, I’d feel better having at least one night for observation — but my surgeon doesn’t do that.

I had laparoscopic Gastric Sleeve surgery through my navel (no scars) and I spent 2 nights in the hospital. It's helpful to have a nurse measuring you out 1 oz cups of juice and protein water. I was also on an IV for a lot of the time. I was exhausted from the surgery and anesthetic and I probably could have gone home after one night, but they suggested I stay since I was not functioning at a very high level.

10 hours ago, aubrey_ said:

I am having my VSG on 10/26 and it is outpatient. On one hand, I’m happy to get home and another, I’d feel better having at least one night for observation — but my surgeon doesn’t do that.

Please let me know how it goes.

My surgery was initially supposed to be in-patient, with two nights in a special bariatric wing of the hospital. Along comes Covid (second wave) and I'm in an out-patient surgery center with a night at the Hampton Inn with nurses in attendance to about 6 of us. I had an IV tied to my bedpost and no IV pain meds (darn it) but the nurses came every four hours to melt my oxycontin in a little warm water and make me drink it. I was walking but I really felt like crap!!

I REALLY wished I was in my own home (although I wouldn't have had an IV...I'm not sure how much that helped) because I would have been in my own comfy bed. BUT, the next day, I went back to the surgeon to check the incisions and make sure that I was feeling okay before we took the 4 hour rife home, and I REALLY needed to someone to bring me my pain meds every four hours.

So, if it was up to me, I would book the hotel and see how you feel. And I would make sure that you have someone prepared to give you your pain meds every four hours (or whatever your surgeon orders!)