How Long Post-Surgery until I can travel for Vacation???

I have VSG scheduled for Tuesday, June 16th, and I plan to take off from work the rest of that week/weekend to (partially)  recuperate.

I am considering a (1 week) Beach Vacation as soon as possible thereafter  to relax in the sun and rejuvenate a bit.   My question for the Veteran VSG'ers: Do I need to wait several weeks or more  before traveling>?   I currently travel a lot with my work, so short flights (1-2 hours) don't bother me at all, and I realize that I will be on a special diet... BUT..... do you see any problems in taking off to the beach only 7-10 days post surgery?  Thanks in advance for your replies...

Love the idea, but if it's possible, you may want to wait to see how you're doing before you make plans for a getaway & some of the airlines have last minute deals. For me, at two weeks out, I was still having a lot of problems with diarrhea, mostly due to meds. Not something you would want to worry about while you're on a plane or when you're laying on a beach. 

I am by no means a veteran at 10+ weeks out, but unfortunately this was my experience. I wish you luck! 

You will have to be super careful about blood clots and ensure you walk every 60 mins or so whether flying or driving. That said lots of people fly home from Mexico after surgery so it can be done.

Please follow your surgeon's advice on this.

Personally, I wouldn't have enjoyed a vacation at all at one week out. Too weak and sore and luggage is a no-no. Nothing over 5-10 lbs for several weeks.

 

Hi 

PI went back to work one week post op and 10 days post op did a long weekend site seeing in Washington DC with my kids who were 2 and 3.  I did nap in the afternoon with the kids and was a little slower but I did fine with the travel.  I brought a bunch of my own food.  

Good luck

 

I was not myself until 2 weeks post op. I wouldn't pu**** I had no complications and only stayed one night in hospital and am young. I personally would not want to be to far from my surgeon for at least 4 weeks. 

Travel medical insurance often states you have to be more than 90 days out from a surgery in order to have health coverage.

If you are flying you need to ask your surgeon how long he wants you to wait. I know my surgeon wants 6 weeks for all surgeries.

before going to the beach I would wait till the insistions  are fully heal at least 1 month , my surgeon said even though they look healed there may be microscopic openings that germs can get into , and I should not swim in a pool for at least 1 to 11/2 months  , you don't want to get sand in the wounds and get a nasty infection

 diarrhea  is very common the first few weeks till your on solid foods   and then constipation is common till you can eat enough to eat high fiber foods

 I would put off a vacation  for at least 1 month and then see how your doing 

I have only my experience ... Traveling while on 'regular' food was so much easier.

7-10 days is way too soon. What if you have a complication and/or end up with an infection?  Remember, you would need to find a hospital with high volume bariatric program in order to get QUALITY care. Many complications would land you with an upper endoscopy, which needs to be done by someone who is familiar and experienced with bariatric anatomy (someone affiliated with a high volume bariatric program). You can't just go anywhere.

Other than that, the biggest issues are the risk of blood clots and the lifting restrictions. My surgeon said 4 weeks to travel, but the lifting restriction is 6 weeks . . . which means no heavy luggage. I'm traveling at week 4, but it's a quick 4-day trip and I've resigned to packing light. I can buy whatever I need down there.

I went back to work at one week out. It wasn't painful, but I was exhausted by 2pm. Between recovering from the surgery and not eating a lot, your body just doesn't have a lot of energy yet.

Also, I would not swim until incisions are fully healed (mine look 90% closed at 3 weeks out, but everyone heals differently). No need to introduce bacteria.

One other consideration is that you would want to check your meds regarding possible sun warnings. Which reminds me, I haven't done that yet.

So, in summary, I highly suggest that you wait 4 weeks before you travel. The chances of something going wrong might be slim, but if they do go wrong, they could go really, really wrong.

Not worth the risk!