Revisioners Who Have Had To Travel For Surgery

 I am planning on having a Revision with Dr. Rabkin in San Francisco and I live in Ohio.  For those of you who had to travel, did you feel you needed to have your spouse or another family member with you throughout your hospital stay or after your discharge before you traveled back home?  This is going to be an open procedure, so the recovery time is a little more significant.  My husband is willing to come out for a few days, but since we have small kids, and with work and their going to school, he won't be able to stay with me the whole time.  At what time would you think that I would need him the most?

I can't imagine going through the process without my hubby.  But.....I think the nursing staff would have stepped it up a bit if I hadn't have had such an attending support person around the clock.

Assuming the nurses have the time and expertise; you'll probably be ok alone in the hospital.  I think you'll need help more afterwards at the hotel.  But...the 2 times I really needed my hubby emotionally were right before surgery and when I was waking up from surgery.  Tough one!  I went through the same dilema and scheduled sister's to rotate in and out of CA from several locations.  My hubby's boss just decided to let him telecomute for 2 weeks so my hospital room became his office:)  We didn't have little kiddos to worry about though. 

What does Dr. Rabkin say?  Some surgeon's insist on a support person (Dr. Keshishian does).

Good luck!!!  .....Also consider rallying DS peeps in the area to tend to you a bit.  I had sooooo many kind offers from folks I've only met through my keyboard on this forum!  DS'ers take care of their own!


 

Hi Sandy,
I had a RNY to DS revision in Feb with Dr. Keshishian.  I live closer to him than you do Rabkin, but still had to drive 6 hours and stay in a hotel after surgery.  I had my Mom with me the whole time and I was grateful to have her nearby.  Everyone has different surgical experiences, some people pop back faster than others.  When I look back on the experience I was grateful to have my Mom there, it was like a private nurse.  Sometimes the nursing staff gets so busy you're waiting.  If I wanted to take a walk, she'd help me up, etc.  If they forgot my meds, she'd hunt them down and get them.  When we got to the hotel she'd help prepare foods, give me meds on schedule etc. so I could concentrate on walking, sipping, walking, sipping and trying to get rest.
For me, it was a tough recovery, I'm thankful I had her the whole time.  If I had to choose I'd rather have my husband there while I was in the hotel so I wouldn't be alone.  Ideally, would be great if you could have someone there the whole time.  Might even be worth investing in an airline ticket to get a friend to help when your husband isn't available.
Best of luck, I hear absolutely wonderful things about Rabkin.

Debbie M.

I travelled to Mexico for my revision.  I stayed 3 weeks by myself.  I didn't need to stay so long but wanted to stay longer just in case I had a complication ( I did not).   I was pretty lonely but physically did not need any help.  If I was to do it over again I would take someone with me for company and stay state side.
Good luck,  seems to me there are a few DSers around the bay area that would be more than happy to come see you.  Put out an alert for company and they'll come runnin..............................

I went by myself for the surgery and stayed in a hotel for a week and a half after I got out of the hospital.  It's an 8 hour drive from my house to Omaha, so I flew because I didn't think I'd be in good enough shape to drive home.  I wish I had driven because within a week of the surgery I felt more than good enough to drive and was going stir crazy at the hotel.  My surgery was open, but I wasn't taking anything other than Tylenol after I left the hospital.  I had a remarkable easy recovery.