post-op flying?

[trish5713 2]

Hey everyone! A friend of mine recently asked me to go to FL with him on vacation. The thing is it's a week and a half after my scheduled surgery date. Would flying affect the band in any way?

[pjd3253 0]

No, I went on vacation 4 days post-op and my doctor said it was fine to fly wouldn't hurt anything.

[BethO 0]

No- I flew two days post-op from Mexico to Florida. No problems.

[HeatherO 7]

No problems for me and I have flown many times post banding. Some people say they feel a little tighter after flying when they have good restriction. However, just after surgery you will not have any (or very little) Fluid in your band so it is no big deal.

You will need to find some creative ways to follow your doctors diet while on vacation. You might want to consider checking a little emergency stash of food in your luggage (can't carry on more than 3.4 ozs of liquids). Soups might be OK when you are eating out, but you may still be eating strained/pureed Soups by that time.

[Marivali 0]

Hi--I've never actually contributed to a thread before, but this one struck a chord with me. I live in Puerto Rico but was banded in Ft. Lauderdale on July 23, 2007 (a week away from one year!). I stayed in Florida for 10 days to heal, and then flew home. Everything was fine, except the gas-in-the-shoulder thing, which had gotten a lot better, returned in full force during the flight! I mean, by halfway home I was twisting and turning in agony, trying to hide my tears, and just begged for relief!! That's about when it occurred to me that the pain had built up as the plane moved up to its cruising altitude.... And sure enough, the pain eased from that point on, and by the time we landed, I was fine--quite bedraggled, and looking like I'd been thru a war, but the pain was gone.

So if shoulder pain is one of your symptoms after the surgery, prepare for that BIG time on the flight! I would've taken along some of those heating pads that activate when you remove the paper strip, and ultimately what helped me most with the whole trapped-gas phenomenon was peppermint tea (tho I still can't understand why swallowing something--GasX or otherwise--would relieve stray gas in the abdominal cavity & all points north!!).

As I said, it's been a year now, and I've flown a dozen times, but just last month I had my first problem with feeling the band tighten as the pressure changed in the cabin. It was a smaller plane, so maybe you feel it more, but I ended up sliming on both flights--coming and going, even tho I was on another (larger) plane the next day for 7 hours and had no problem at all.

So it's definitely not impossible to fly so soon after surgery, but I'd urge you to be prepared for any gas issues, and hopefully you won't even have to deal with it.

[pjd3253 0]

I guess everyone is different - I flew to Tampa and back 4 days after my surgery which is a two hour flight from Dallas no problem, no gas, no shoulder pain - I have also flown to NY and back - about a 3-4 hour flight from Dallas still with no gas issues or shoulder pain - I think everyone is different and everyone has unique experiences. My doctor told me I could fly right after my surgery and didn't mention the gas pain - sorry you had so much pain on your flight. That sounds awful.