Planning ahead...

I meet the surgeon on Sept 21 and hopefully will soon after get my surgery date. I am having my surgery in Ottawa and live 2 hours out of town. My mother will be driving me. Anyone from the area know how long I will be in the hospital and if I should book a hotel for my mom? I can't see her driving home and back but if I'm in two or three nights that is expensive. Also for those of you who lived far away did you drive right home after discharged or spend the night in a hotel. The behaviourist said if I was uneasy about going home to stay in a hotel but didn't say it was necessary. How did you feel driving after getting out of the hospital? I do realize everyone is different...just looking for advice...thanks!

When my friend from out of town had her surgery at the Civic her husband was booked in to a suite at the resident's building on the Civic campus. Ask the WMC if they can give you the info for it. Much cheaper than a hotel. They stayed there the night before her surgery then he was there for the two nights after her surgery.

For both of us, we stayed at the hospital for 2 nights...surgery on Monday and released on Wednesday mid-morning.

Good luck!

Tammy :)

A lot will depend on how you are feeling.  I could have gone home next day, but I stayed in for the 2 nights as I had kids and wanted to be sure I had a good start healing before I went home.

My town has a hospital, and when I went to ER for pain (which was because of stomach acid) they said if they had needed, they would have called the surgeon on call in Ottawa.  Being willing to call to get specialized help is a comfort for me.

Cathy