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Driving after surgery



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I'm from Los Angeles and considering having my surgery in Tijuana. I would rather go alone on my trip. It's a little under a two hour drive for me to San Diego. Will I be able to drive home or am I going to have to use a car service?

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You won't be able to drive yourself back depending on how you manage pain. I'm 5 days post op and don't find myself able to sit for too long. Best of luck.

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It would be best if you didn't drive back the day after surgery.

It may be a little painful to have to twist your body due to the stitches pulling, as you looked over your shoulder. Also, do not drive if you are taking a prescription pain killer.

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How long are you staying in TJ postop? I had surgery on a Friday and returned home on Monday. I totally could have driven. In fact, after my return flight I DID drive myself home .....5 hours on icy roads. I had no pain postop and wasn't taking any pain meds so I could have driven just 2 hours that Saturday or Sunday. But without a medical pass, and depending on your timing, your wait at the border alone could be several hours, so take that into consideration with your expected drive time.

Depending on what surgeon you are using and how their service works, you may drive to the San Diego airport, leave your car there and then use their shuttle service into and out if TJ like any other patient that's flying in. That would save you the border hassles, especially if they provide a medical pass.

There were two girls from LA that were at OCC same time as me and they had driven there and kept their car at the TJ Marriott where we stayed as part of the surgery package. But they had been to TJ several times before and were very familiar with the city as well as the "tricks" of easy, speedy border crossing.

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I had no problems at all driving 6 hours home following surgery, though I did stop once per hour for a brief walk- insisted on by my surgeon

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