Davinci surgery and recovery

I'm a newbie to this site and had my consult with my onco/GYN last week who recommended the Davinci hysterectomy. I was told it was a 1-2 week recovery and after reading some of the posts I'm wondering if this is really true?

I have a weekend trip planned 18 days after my surgery and am wondering if I'll be up for it. I was planning on flying which will involve about 5 hrs travel time plus a 2 hour drive. I'm thinking this may be too optimistic.

What do you experienced Davinci ladies think?

Thanks,

Cathy

I would double check with your dr...I went to disney world and a transatlantic cruise 5 weeks after surgery and did well but I ended up in the hospital a week after surgery due to complications (infection..) double check with your dr...Good Luck

hokuspocus,

I had my Da Vinci Surgery 2 weeks and 2 days ago. I almost scheduled it 21 days before a cruise...to get it overwith earlier...and my Dr. said I would be good to go, but I was afraid it might end up being worse than thought or turning into an abdominal and did not want to risk it. I'll tell you my time frames, but remember that it depends on what gets done and from what I have read before and after my surgery each person is very different about recovery. For me...Surgery was Tuesday...ended up being very long and very extensive - had to take everything because of severe endo and even had to get my bowels all "unstuck" Dr. wanted to keep me in the hospital till Thursday and told me to expect a longer recovery than we had planned, but I peed and walked quickly and they let me out on Wednesday. I don't know how long I needed pain pills, because my mom insisted that I take them a regular intervals for the first 5 days. By Saturday night (day 4)...I was feeling really good, but then had a set back on Sunday - severe diarreah and stomack cramps for hours that was a living H*** while it lasted. I had to go on BRAT diet for a few days to get my belly back and I believe the lack of food and diet put me back a bit, but I was amazed at how much better I felt each day. Normally, my Dr. will release to drive at week two and consider work release at week 4, but I talked her into letting me go to an all day meeting yesterday (2 weeks and 1 day post) and she has released me back to work full time on Monday. (with pushing/pulling/lifting restrictions) I'm sore from yesterday....(before today I had experienced pretty much no pain for about a week) - Well, I should say no pain except for Gas bubbles...they are still a bit uncomfortable and were actually the most painfull part of my recovery...other than my bad tummy day. I could have gone back full time yesterday...but with the soreness...I'm glad I'm waiting until next week. (Sorry so long)

As for the travel...I don't know. I can get pretty uncomfortable if I sit in one position for too long...and riding in a car (even short trips) can cause some soreness. Even letting my bladder stay to full can cause some discomfort and I still a little uncomfortable but minimal pain w/ BM's and Gas bubbles. For my meeting Wednesday, I had to get up and walk a bit every hour or so, and I had a pillow so that I could rearrange how I was sitting...and that seemed to really help. If you don't have as extensive of work as I did, you might be good to go, but I have read many other Da Vinci ladies who are not progressing near as fast as I have. As long as you didn't overdo, and seriously follow restrictions...I would think that the trip could be doable...with breaks...and probably some pain killers. I still take mine at night just to sleep hard and not notice pulls, tugs and soreness from sleeping on incisions.

Just be aware..that some women have unseen problems that appear during healing - fevers, infections, nausea, bowel problems, extreme fatigue, etc. even with the Da Vinci. I would hate to be far away from my Doc if something like that happened, but that part you never know. Personally, I feel good enough to take a trip right now....but don't know if I would be willing to...I just don't want any adhesions showing up, etc. so I'm trying to be really careful.

Good Luck on your surgery...and your decision..
Blessings,
Tank