Fly or Drive

[PhatKat 27]

I live in Las Vegas. It takes about the same time to fly to San Diego as it does to drive. I hate the hassle of flying and my sleeve buddy is afraid to fly. How hard would it be to drive home after surgery? We could take turns. It is about 5.5 hrs. Am I crazy to consider it?

[anniemay 150]

You need to be sure and stop and walk. Don't want any clots

[jensjoy28 351]

I grew up in San Diego and live in Orange County...when you say it takes the same amount of time to fly vs drive, do you mean the entire process of driving to airport and having to get there early? But, as to your actual question of driving, I would imagine you could get the a-ok as long as you stopped every hour or two to walk around a bit to discourage blood clots...and my dr. Required that I be off narcotic pain meds before driving...so not sure how many days post-op you are talking about, but I had virtually no pain and still waited 4 days to drive anywhere...and drove 1.5 hour at day 6

[yoyobgone 5]

Vegas to San Diego is an hour flight...much faster than driving

[Ms.Cali 56]

I would say drive vs flying. With driving you can take a pillow with stretch your legs in the car. When your tired you can stop.

I did the flying after surgery and whole airport check in and security than the flight (got very nauseous during the hour flight) was too much for me.

I'm a few months out and drive a lot to Vegas from LA - at least once a month. It's always less stress on me to drive. But of course I have someone with me that does most the driving. I'm in the passenger seat relaxing :-).

Make sure you have lots of Water and Snacks for the road. Hope this helps!

[PhatKat 27]

I should clarify..the flight ordeal is the same time as driving. The hour flight is the least of the time and hassle. I used to love flying but it Issachar pain in the butt now. The airport is huge now. To get from long term parking to the gat is more than an hour. I don't like strangers touching my body. And I certainly don't want to be seen nekkid. I hate being squished like a sausage in the plane. I am a BMI 40 and my companion is a BMI 50. The attitude of the flight attendants is not so great when you are phat.

I really would rather drive. I just wanted to be sure I wasn't doing something stupid.

[Ms.AntiBand 2,984]

Driving would be more relaxing since you're in control of every thing you do. If you plan to drive make sure to stop the pain meds the first day so you're clear headed. And yes.. Stop every so often and walk, walk, walk.. It's good for everything

[rollargirl 210]

My advice (I was there 3 weeks ago) drive to SD airport and park and have Samuel pick u up - TIJAUANA traffic / drivers are CRAZY!!! ... I was afraid to even be a passenger ... If your partner is afraid to fly - they'll be petrified to drive down there lol

[bayareanan 24]

There is parking at the border you can use and the driver can meet you there.Or atleast Dr A. Ortiz's driver did.

[vegasneon 181]

We just drove home yesterday from San Diego area to Vegas. We don't fly anymore, we drive even if its cross country- we're just weird like that. Anyhow parked at the Border Station parking lot for $7 a day and the driver picked us up and returned us there. Different Dr but anyone should pick up there coz its right at the border.

We could have come home Thurs but I wanted a restful day at a Hyatt Place (love them) and so glad we did that. We didn't get out of TJ until 1 or 2 pm and it felt kind of hectic that day. So I had surgery Monday, we did the drive home Friday. I could have driven myself especially if I was trading off with another driver but my husband drove. We planned to make lots of stops but on e we were rolling we didn't want to. Stopped in Lake Elsinore for him to eat, stopped in Barstow to pee and walk, stopped in Primm for gas. I was fine through it all. Feel pretty good today.

I think you'll be glad you drove and had control over stops and timing.

Good Luck!

Sent from my iPhone using VST

[PhatKat 27]

This really helped. Thanks. My friend who is getting sleeved with me really, really didn't want to fly. I just think it is a hassle that I try to avoid. We are driving then. Vegasneon, who is doing your aftercare?