too soon to travel?

I am in the process of trying to schedule an exploratory laparotomy with a possible TAH/BSO. The person who schedules surgery is looking at at least a month away. My family is scheduled to go to Orlando the week after Thanksgiving. That will be about 6 weeks post-op. I probably cannot reschedule without some pretty big penalties.

Is it crazy to even think about vacationing so soon after major surgery? I know the parks will require alot of walking. Can I go on rides? We were planning on going to Universal since we've done Disney a number of times.

I would hate to let everyone down. Please advise.

Thanks,
Liz

Evrybody heals differently. You can read here how some women went back to work at two weeks and feel great. I had a pretty easy timen no real complications, and I would not have been ready for a vacation like that at six weeks. I'm at eleven weeks now and decided last week that I was going to the gym and increase my workout. I have been going all along since surgery but going slow. I did 1 hour of cardio and about 25 minutes of weights 4 days last week and it set me back this week. I'm so tired this week and sore. I know you've read this elswhere because everyone is always reminded you of it but here it is again. "It takes a year to totally recover" I believe it, I feel great until I over do and then I feel bad.
Maybe if you explained about your surgery they wouldn't charge you extra.

I haven't gone through my surgery yet so can't comment on that, however being an owner at Disney Vacation Club, I go down there alot, and have been to Universal - those are mostly thrill rides, and you'll experience alot of g-forces...just something to keep in mind. If you do Universal, I'd probably sit out the majority of the rides at Islands of Adventure, at the very least!

Just a thought.

Thanks for the responses.

I'm not much of a ride person, so I'll be the photographer! I guess I could always rent one of those scooter things.

Just kidding! I could just see my dh now. My kids would be on my lap! I'll just take it easy. I can heal just as well in sunny Fla. as I can in cold NY.

Something to look forward to after all of this.

Liz

Unless it's an emergency, or a reason why you have to have the exploratory surgery as soon as possible, can you postpone it til after your trip? And I'm sure you're going to hate hearing this again, but everyone heals differently, so my experience doesn't mean you'll feel like I did, but if you wind up with a hyst you have to understand that the exhaustion can be overwhelming, and just getting your energy back takes time. You can feel terrific one day, then back to no energy the next.

I had a TAH/BSO. At 5 weeks I went to a trade show with DH. We drove for 3 hours to get there, then spent a couple of hours at the show. We stayed in a hotel that night and back to the show for a few more hours the next day. Then the 3 hour drive home.

I was ok the first day, the next morning I had swelly belly big time, and I kept looking for places to sit down cause I was so tired. I had to ride home with my pants unzipped cause of the swelly belly. I was totally exhausted when I got home and I slept the next two days.

Best wishes with your decision!

The reason for the laparotomy is an 11cm. cyst on my ovary which has to be removed.(along with the ovary). Depending on the results, it may become a TAH/BSO. I suffer from abnormally heavy bleeding and am anemic, so I will discuss having the hyst anyway, but I hope to save my right ovary.

I wish I could do all of this sooner, but a gyn/onc will assist my DR and trying to get it sooner than one month is impossible.

I had 2 c-sections and recovered very quickly with the 2nd one. I was 10 years younger then, which I'm sure made a big difference.

Perhaps I will call the airline and the resort tomorrow and try to postpone the whole thing. Now I wish that I bought travel insurance! I think if you buy it right away after booking, you are covered for pre-existing conditions.


Who knew?

Thanks for the advice,
Liz

I couldn't have done it. I probably couldn't do it now at 8 weeks

I can't say for the TAH, but back in '99 we had non-refundable tickets for Mexico. Two weeks and three days before that happened, I had an appendectomy with the full four inch horizontal incision for a suspected rupture. I spent four days in the hospital. I told the doctor about our trip when he removed my sutures two days before we were scheduled to leave. Two of the things I wanted to do was go deep sea fishing, and horseback riding. He nixed everything but sitting on the beach.

Well, I ignored his advice. I didn't have very much trouble with the flight down, and sitting on the beach was easy too. We went deep sea fishing for tuna. That even worked out because the tuna I caught was just as helpful as could be and swam right toward the boat. It would probably have jumped in too if it could! The horseback riding was a disaster! I've only been riding a few times, and have never had a horse with a horrible gait like this one. I don't know if they gave it to me on purpose because I asked for an easy one! I had saddle sores and had to pop pain pills for days afterwards!

Anyway, the problem with going on vacation after surgery is that you don't want to miss out on the fun and you do things you probably shouldn't. If you are careful and listen to the doctor's orders you may be fine! If you are the type of person who is going to do it no matter what, maybe you should think twice.