Surgery alone

Douceur72 · June 23, 2011

So surgery was Monday and I drove myself there. The surgeon asked in pre-op if there was anyone he should call after the operation, or if I preferred to do it myself. I told him no, I’d call folks when I woke up (of course my emergency contact was reachable but wasn’t needed).

I spent the two days by myself, and honestly preferred that. My siblings are far away, and I didn’t want my anxiety-ridden mother there, or my friends to rearrange their schedules to come see me when I was fine, just bored. I had plenty of communication with the outside world via texting/phone calls.

When discharge came I really didn’t know how they would respond to my request to drive myself home. Luckily since I hadn’t had any pain meds in over 24 hours, and had been walking so much, they didn’t have a problem with it. If I had pain meds in my system I certainly would have had to make arrangements pickup & someone to bring my car home. Which to me is perfectly reasonable due to liability.

msdw59 · June 23, 2011

Great Question

For myself, I went to the hospital all by myself. I didn't want my family sitting around stress while I was in surgery.

I took a car service to the hospital and told my family to come up to the hospital around 4:00PM. They arrived earlier and were stressed because of a "complication" that my surgeon said he encountered during the surgery. He wanted them to give him permission to do a bypass.

While in the hospital, by day 4 I was done, I had disconnected my IV. Told the surgeon to begin me on liquids and when I was able to demonstrate to them all that I could get 3.5 ounces of liquid down in an hour (I was able to do it in a 1/2 hour) I signed myself out. I had no one to take me home (they were all attending a funeral). Even with the complication, I was able to strut out of the hospital (in high heels). The wheelchair was used to transport my bag. No one really recongized me (Sick patient vs. a vibrant woman).

Went home, sat up for an hour and then went to sleep in my own bed (on my stomach) LOL. Checking in and out (in NYC) alone is possible.