Getting close to surgery date

[RelievedofED1]

Starting to get excited and anxious as my planned implant date is under 3 weeks away. Dr Kramer will be doing surgery on a Wednesday and I plan to stay in Baltimore for two nights then drive back to New England which is about 8-9 hours depending on stops. I would love to hear any words of wisdom or insights into what the discomfort was like postop and suggestions for ride home in terms of ice packs, meds etc. I am allergic to aspirin, Ibuprofen etc so limited to Tylenol or opiates which I am not a fan of. Thoughts around feasibility of an 8 hour drive as a passenger or if I will be able to drive as I am not the best passenger. Thanks for any feedback or suggestions.

[dg_moore]

Dr Kramer did my implant in 2008 and it was altogether a good experience. After the first day I only needed Tylenol and ice packs for discomfort, and that was gone within a few days. Riding home the morning after surgery was uncomfortable, but not unbearable - but there is no way I could have done the driving. In fact, I wasn't able to drive at all until about 8 or 10 days after surgery - it was just too uncomfortable. Also, my drive from the hospital to home was 25 minutes - big difference. Everybody's different, though - you may be able to do some driving, but I guarantee you'll know in about a second if it's going to be possible.

Best of luck to you!

[FlaDon]

I know how you feel, the waiting is the hardest part, but the date will be here before you know it. I'm at 18 days post implant and am doing very well, at least according to my PA. As far as meds, I hate taking narcotics, but was prescribed Percocet 10 post surgery to take every 8 hours, but that I could take them every 4 hours if needed. Well, I needed to go the every 4 hour route for about 6 days, then I could get by taking Aleve a couple of times a day. My ride home was only 40 minutes, 4 hours post surgery, and the Percocet made the pain bearable. Once home, I was instructed to stay reclined for 4-5 days, to keep the swelling down, and to use ice packs for the first 48 hours for both pain and swelling. By day 16, I was healed up and out of pain enough to start inflating and deflating the device.

Best of luck to you & congrats on joining the "Bionic Brotherhood"

[RelievedofED1]

6 days to go before my surgery. Aside from the anxiety of no turning back if not a good outcome (every surgeon has those occasionally) still looking for any advice as to what to do post op. I'm sure Dr Kramer will have advice but looking for real world experiences that seemed to work. Ice? Bedrest? Walking and how soon after? supportive underwear? Hoping to run any of these by Dr Kramer at my preop Tuesday. Thanks for any tips that worked for you or for that matter thngs not to do that made you worse in hindight.

[jerseyhulk]

Hey billb603 your implant day is only a few days away. I'm being implanted on May 20 and I'm 33 year old. I would like to hear your experience after surgery and any advice you can give me since my big day is coming soon. Take care bro.