Traveling Post Op

[Jellis424]

Hi, I am posting from my husband's account, Justin, 32 years old. He had an aortic valve replacement and aortic aneurysm repair on Wednesday 5/24 at the Cleveland Clinic. As of right now, he is progressing very well physically. The main reason for my post today is to get some input on flying after surgery. He has never been nervous about flying, but has mentioned several times since surgery about being nervous about it post op. He even had a bad dream about it last night. He has not been able to express what it is specifically he is nervous about. We will be returning home to Tennessee within the next few days. I was hoping that some of you who have been through this experience could share some input with me that I might be able to share with him to ease his mind. I have noticed lots of anxiety and emotions the last couple of days, which is not typical for him, but totally understandable after all he has been through this week. From what I understand this is completely normal. I just want to be able to support him the best I can, and I thought who better to ask than those of you who have lived it. Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[jcgtok17]

Jellis, It sounds like Justin is doing very well as this early stage! A very emotional time, but being back home should help immensely.

I had AVR on May 1st and was cleared by my cardiac team in Japan for international travel on July 4th for an extended trip to Canada (7 weeks total). Some of my meds had to be tweaked to accommodate and they wrote letters for me to provide in Canada should I experience any untoward symptoms. I was so keen to travel I offered to fly back to Tokyo mid-trip for blood tests, but thankfully they did not think that was required.

My biggest worry will be the typically unclean air on planes and I plan to wear a mask to better filter the air (very common in Asia, less so in North America). I also plan to wear compression socks to aid in blood flow to my lower legs (again as a precaution, a good idea for everyone I think).

Safe travels! JCG