Travel two weeks after surgery...doable?

[theblues]

I'm getting surgery in February (finally, woot!!!!), either on the 8. or 22. February. Since the latter date is better for me, and I'm supposed to go on a trip on 5. March, which will include a lot of activities and of course, a heavy backpack, I want to know if that shouldn't be a problem as far as pain or any problems with stitches are concerned, or if I should either cancel the trip or try to clear time and have surgery earlier?

How long after surgery will I feel pain in the chest, and how long do I have to be careful regarding lifting objects in order not to damage the stitches?


I'm looking forward to the operation so much, but at the same time I'm scared as hell... I know it's a pretty routine thing for a plastic surgeon (I hope so), but after reading that paper with all the warnings on what could go wrong....yikes. 

[DrBermant]

I'm getting surgery in February (finally, woot!!!!), either on the 8. or 22. February. Since the latter date is better for me, and I'm supposed to go on a trip on 5. March, which will include a lot of activities and of course, a heavy backpack, I want to know if that shouldn't be a problem as far as pain or any problems with stitches are concerned, or if I should either cancel the trip or try to clear time and have surgery earlier?

How long after surgery will I feel pain in the chest, and how long do I have to be careful regarding lifting objects in order not to damage the stitches?


I'm looking forward to the operation so much, but at the same time I'm scared as hell... I know it's a pretty routine thing for a plastic surgeon (I hope so), but after reading that paper with all the warnings on what could go wrong....yikes. 

Travel after surgery is one thing, what you do during that trip is something else.  Limitations on activities depend on the problem to be treated, surgical technique(s), skill of the surgeon, how you heal, and other factors best discussed with your surgeon.  The stress of a heavy back pack so soon after surgery can hurt and tear early healing tissues.  This is real surgery and I encourage my patients to give their tissues a chance to heal before putting the sculpture through too much stress.

Here is a post I put up a while ago:

I live about 6 hours away from Dr. Bermant - is it possible to get gyno  surgery done that far away?

Or will it be too hard to go back and forth?

How many times would i have to see him after the surgery?

thanks

We see patients from around the world, many much further than 6 hours away. So far this morning, I have talked with and or seen patients from Florida, Montana, New York, and Virginia.  I just recieved an email from one of our patients from Australia.  It was just a picture of him now smiling.  That felt really good, seeing that smile.

Follow-up after surgery depends on the problem to be treated and can be as short as the day after with telephone dressing removal to more frequent office visits for more complex cases.

You can read my patients' experiences about travel and gynecomastia surgery here:

from Texas

from Canada

from California

Travel from Illinois, New York, Florida,

Travel 3-4 Hours

Travel from the UK, Ireland, New York, Chicago, Washington State, Alabama

Travel from Colorado,

Travel from Florida


Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Gynecomastia and Chest Sculpture

Posts here in this forum:

Travel From Colorado
http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,9010.msg64727/topicseen.html#msg64727

West Virginia
http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,8034.0.html
and
http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,8212.0.html

Travel to Virginia
http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,7607.0.html

Driving 12 Hours the Day After Surgery
http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,9010.msg64727/topicseen.html

17 Year Old Patient's Experiences
http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,7317.0.html

Travel over 500 Miles for Surgery
http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,7608.0.html

Surgery Experiences
http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,7291.0.html

Travel Experiences
http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,7611.0.html

Travel Experiences
http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php/topic,7613.0.html

Almost all of my patients move on with their lives, put their gynecomastia days behind them.  Some do stay on the forums a while to help others.

You can learn more about Gynecomastia and Travel here.  Follow-up depends on the problem to be treated and varies from patient to patient. It can range from just the day after surgery to about 6 days for most cases.  More complicated problems need more after surgery care.  Such issues are best explored during a consultation.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Gynecomastia and Chest Sculpture

[theblues]

Thank you for the swift reply, much appreciated!

I will try to schedule the operation earlier. I don't want to risk doing any damage.