autonomy after vsg

I would not do this alone at all. I don't know about

England, but in the states one is n OtmALLOWED to leave. The hospital unescorted.

The day after surgery,I would not have wanted to do this much traveling and certainly not on public transportation.

i would seriously suggest you rent a room for three days and see how you feel then for that much traveling.

Congratulations on your surgery, Barkette!

You have lots of great responses here. Adding to the voices in favor of getting a room for a couple of nights or taking a car.

I was released from the hospital the afternoon of the day after my surgery. They would not even have released me unless it was to someone who could take me home and get me settled (ie, they would not even have released me to a car service. Learned this the hard way when I tried to Uber home from my EGD). I was in a lot of pain and still had meds in my system. Every bump during the drive hurt. I coughed during the drive home and it was agony. I had a rough go on recovery as far as pain. Some do much, much better. There is no way I could have handled the commute that you describe.

Some hospitals in my area have "recovery hotels" or "surgical aftercare" facilities. Often, they are utilized by plastic surgery patients, but I imagine they'd cater to just about anyone. Imagine a hotel with a medically trained staff that looks after you. Might there me a similar facility near your hospital?

If you do stay at a typical hotel, it would be a good idea to make sure that you include in your luggage a couple of days worth of water and clear or full liquids (depending on your post-op diet). Want to make it easy on yourself to hydrate and get your protein in. If you have left overs that are too heavy to take on the train, jettison them when you check out (but take a couple of things with you on the train!).

If being at home sounds better, perhaps consider a car service or medical transport service? This could work. If you are in a lot of pain and have your medicine with you, you can take a pill and zone out. Can someone at least meet you at your home and make sure you're settled?

In the US you will be on pain killers so definitely not allowed to leave alone. I was not in a ton of pain but the nausea was absolutely horrid the first few days. I am a nurse and worked in the hospital where i was admitted and told the surgeon i was going home the next day. He came in at 6am and asked if i still wanted to go home and there was no way...i wanted my anti nausea drugs and took them around the clock. You have to get out of bed the day of surgery and show you can pee so it wasn't physical however i would never have wanted to do all that transport you might have to do. You also need to drink something about every 20 minutes so i highly recommend you find a date when someone can help you.

You've gotten some really good advice. I would have to say that you will not feel up to going it alone. I doubt the hospital would let you leave if they knew you would be using public tranpsortaion.

I hope you get these posts. I don't understand why you've deactivated. It's kind of hard to help you if you aren't really plugged in to OH.

Best of luck!

she is not deactivated unless she deactivated and then reactivated.

She was deactivated when I responded to her. I see now that she reactivated which is great. I would hate if she missed out on good advice!

I had my surgery about a year ago and was discharged within 24 hours. The only pain reliever I took afterward was one dose of Tylenol (I think you call it paracetamol over there). That being said, I really needed to focus on hydration and it's very hard to get much fluid in right after surgery, so you also need something to measure it like a medicine cup so you can record it. (The number one cause of readmissions after this surgery is dehydration.) If at all possible, I would stay 1-2 more nights in a B&B or at least a place that has a small refrigerator and microwave or stovetop. Some people need cold liquids; others tolerate hot broth better. Is there a friend who could come with you to provide some moral support and a little help? Sometimes it's hard to ask for help, but I know if a friend or even acquaintance asked for my help, I would be there! Even though I recovered quickly, I know I wouldn't have been ready for public transportation or walking more than a few minutes at a time the first 3-4 days. Surgery is tiring. I do believe we recover better when we have good social support. By the way, my gift to myself when I reach my goal is a trip to England and Ireland. I can't wait. 60 more pounds!

I have a friend coming to spend the week with me once I get home but they won't be able to come pick me at the hospital. And that's an awesome gift to yourself, you'll love it!!

Interesting you're having a VSG because it seems like RNY is the NHS standard. Are you going private? Anyway, you will definitely need to make arrangements. Have you thought about a car service? Cost will probably be about the same as what you're proposing.

Whereabouts in England are you?

I live in peterborough, but I am having the surgery at Luton because it's one of the NHS hospitals for bariatric surgery