I’m trying to decide how soon after surgery I should book my return flight home. For anyone who flew out of state for your surgery, how soon after discharge did you fly home? Would you do it differently if you had to do it again? Thanks.
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Everyone is different with how their body responds to and recovers from surgery, but I did fly home on day 2 after bilateral surgery. I based this on Dr. Hackman’s recommendation, along with many things I’ve read here on the forum (mainly that pain and swelling can increase on days 3-6). If I were to do it again, I would do the same.
We had a layover in Minneapolis, with total up and about travel time (including drive time) of around 9 hours. I would HIGHLY recommend requesting wheelchair assistance through your airline. We flew Delta, and I can’t stress enough how nice that was! They met me at the Delta counter right inside the airport, and were willing to stay with us if I wanted assistance down the jet bridge to the airplane. I chose to walk that, but we were invited to board first since I just had surgery. The next wheelchair was waiting for us as soon as we got off the plane in Minneapolis. SO nice! It made the day not nearly as exhausting as it could have been.
A couple other choices I made because of flying… I chose to wait until I got home to start the prednisone med pack, as it can cause dizziness, and I also chose to wait on stool softeners (although I didn’t end up needing those).
Good luck with the planning! I know I spent a ton of time trying to think of every eventuality, and making sure I was going to be as comfortable as possible… didn’t know what to expect!
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Thank you so much, that is tremendously helpful information. I really appreciate it. And I hope you are doing well!
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This probably isnt the right place to ask this but what surgeon do you recommend for your surgery. I cant even get the Mayo Clinic to help me so I need recommendations on providers who specialize in Eagles. I am located in MN.
Hi, if you use the search tool you can look for the list of surgeons with Eagle’s experience. It seems to be the case that the larger institutions aren’t inclined to invest resources into something that has a relatively small population. I’m in CA and have had most of my testing at UCSF which is one of the major centers for neurology/neurosurgery in the US but no surgeons with Eagle’s experience. For myself, I am having surgery with Dr. Nakaji in Phoenix and I consulted with 5 other surgeons on the list to find the best fit for me.
Hi @chellelmer & welcome to the site! Lots of members have found that the Mayo clinic are not helpful with ES…here’s a link to the up to date doctors list:
Doctor Lists – no discussion - Symptoms and Treatments / Doctor Information - Living with Eagle
Thank you so much Jules!
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