Leaving Hospital Day of Surgery??

Hi, I'm not even close to my surgery date but had a quick question about leaving the hospital after surgery....Do you have to have someone there with you to be discharged?  I would actually prefer to be alone, (even though I know i will be needing help at home later on), and would want to check in, have surgery, spend the night, and then probably just have a friend pick me up afterwards.

Has anyone done this before, or is it required to have someone waiting for you at the hospital during the entire process?  I just don't want to burden anyone for the whole 2 days when it should be a relatively non-eventful thing.

Thanks!!

What surgery are you having. At my hospital people who had the lap band & went home the same day had to have someone with them to be discharged because of the after affects of the anesthesia.

Since I had the vsg & stayed there for 2 nights & left the 3rd day, they were ok with me taking a cab home. You should call the hospital & find out what their policy is.

Hi, I'm having the VSG and am planning on 1 or 2 nights.  Did you have anyone there during the surgery?  I figure that I could take a cab as you did if it's a day or 2 after the effects of the anesthesia have worn off.  

Thanks!

They won't let you leave in a cab. You'll need someone you know to take you home. You can kick them out when you get there! ;-)

Every hospital has their own policy in regards to discharge & being allowed to go home in a cab by yourself or not. They need an emergency contact name just in case, but otherwise if you're ok they'll let you go. It's not a jail, can you imagine what would happen to people if they didn't have someone to take them home on the day of discharge, I'd still be there. I can see it now, hiding amongst the visitors while making my great escape! LOL

No, I didn't have anyone with me during surgery or while I was recovering. This was a choice & I preferred to be by myself. I did check with the hospital just to be sure. They just didn't want me to drive home. They even called the cab & helped me carry my bags to the cab, the nurse was very nice.

It was only if I had surgery & was going home the same day that they required someone to be with me. I think they might have preferred someone to be with me when I was discharged, but it wasn't a requirement. I explained that I was living on my own & had no one to come with me home. 

Most hospitals will require someone there during surgery, in the event of an emergency. But after you are put in a room there is no need for anyone to be there unless that's what you want. I preferred to be alone. You of course won't be able to drive home. 

No one has to be there while you have surgery but if you really don't want anyone there, be sure the hospital has instructions for an emergency contact, just in case.  I have had a number of surgeries and my mom has been there for most of them, but when I had one of them, she was caring for my 3-month old Chow puppy so she was with me until they took me into surgery and then we just had the surgeon call at home when I was done just so she would know everything was ok and then she came to visit me that night (I was in the hospital several days).

You will, of course, have to have someone to drive you home when you are discharged. 

Lora

Okay good to know.  I'm having the VSG surgery and I'm told to plan for either 1 or 2 nights.  I wasn't sure what the procedure is for discharging patients a day after surgery.  I understand that it probably wouldn't be the same day discharge, but if I stayed overnight and wasn't under anesthesia anymore, I would think it would be okay to call someone when it's done and have them pick me up.  I guess contacting the hospital would be my best bet, just wanted to see if anyone knew off-hand.  

Thanks for the info guys!  

My hustband had to go to work after they wheeled me in, and he left his number at the surgery  desk.  They didn't give him a hard time at all.