Are you ok to travel home after Ascending Aortic repair surgery (fly or drive)?

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HopefulHeart

Well-known member
Joined
May 28, 2013
Messages
97
Location
Charlotte, NC
Hi everyone, I will eventually need surgery to repair my ascending aortic aneurysm (currently at 4.2 to 4.3 cm) and possibly also my BAV if they decide to just repair both at the same time. I live in Charlotte, NC but I'm planning on traveling to Cleveland, OH to the Cleveland Clinic to have the surgery done. Scared to death of the surgery but think I'd feel safest at Cleveland Clinic. Cleveland is about 6-8 hour drive from Charlotte or about a 2 hour flight. Would I be able to fly home or be driven home after the surgery? Or are you so sick and in so much pain that travel is not possible?? What was your experience? Hope you had a good one.
 
As I see it, a 2 hour flight can take all day. By the time you commute to the airport, check in, wait for your flight, (hopefully with no delays), land, commute home. It will wind up taking almost as long as the drive anyway. I would guess as long as you have a comfortable vehicle that's not a bumpy ride, that would be my choice. I was told I wasn't allowed to ride in the front seat because of airbags. So you could relax in the back seat, pop a pain pill, and just zone out and maybe even fall asleep. Either choice will be a bit uncomfortable from my experience. But the flight however short, sound like more of a process to me that might be a lot of up and down and moving around. The car ride you just get in and sit for the duration.
 
HopefulHeart;n859472 said:
Hi everyone, I will eventually need surgery to repair my ascending aortic aneurysm (currently at 4.2 to 4.3 cm) and possibly also my BAV if they decide to just repair both at the same time.

I would discuss the option of replacing the ascending and BAV with a one piece prosthesis in more detail prior to surgery. I agree that driving might be the way to go, a lot depends on how you feel after the surgery. I'm assuming you'd have some time in the hospital post surgery so they can monitor you?
 
I am considering the Cleveland Clinic as well, but I'm a bit further away in Las Vegas. That's probably a 4.5 hour flight or a 30 hour drive. More realistically for me, I'd probably be considering the flight versus a 6 hour drive to my parents' house about an hour south of Indy. My dad suggested we do that and stay there for at least a week or so to see how I'm feeling, but the hardest part of going to Indiana for me is that my girlfriend will need to fly back to Vegas earlier for work. I'm not sure I'll want her so far away for so long.

I have not talked to Cleveland Clinic extensively about traveling because I feel like enough people travel there from decent distances, it is just a little detail I'll need to figure out. I did ask them how many trips total I would need to make out there, and they told me probably only one. They said regardless of what tests I have had done, they will want to redo all of them before surgery, so they would want me out there 3-5 days before surgery. I could then meet with the surgeon after the tests, have surgery, and then stick around a few days before flying home.

I also had a phone call with a guy yesterday that had his bicuspid aortic valve repaired by Dr. Svensson around May of 2015. He lives in San Francisco. He told me he made one trip to Cleveland, had all the tests, was in the hospital for about 5 days total, stayed in Cleveland for 5 additional days, saw a cardiologist, and then flew home. He said the flight definitely was not pleasant, but he made it. He'd do it again to get to Cleveland if he had to, and when he talked to the Cleveland Clinic, he said a nurse pretty much laid out everything for him about what he would need to do, thereby leaving nothing for him to really do except make the arrangements following their guidelines and go through with the plan.

He also noted that he did fly home first class with his wife, and he was comfortable enough that the timeline was certain that he booked his return flight before surgery. As others have said on this forum, he also said the airline was helpful at the airport.

Finally, I recall someone else on this forum saying they had about a 4 hour drive home after surgery. I think they said they stopped to walk about once every hour and made it without too much difficulty.
 
Your body is going to go through A LOT. That much travelling, in my opinion, will be extremely taxing but probably doable as long as you understand youre going to be wasted when you get home.
 
They filled me a prescription for pain meds before I even left the hospital. Do they do that for everyone? I couldn't handle a car ride without a pill those first few couple of weeks!
 
My wife drove me home 6 days after my valve and aneurysm repair. It wasn't bad at all but my surgery was in Philadelphia and we live in the suburbs about a 40 minute drive from the hospital. I was also given pain meds before I left the hospital. If I was going to fly I think I would pay the extra for first class.
 
I had an hour and a half drive. It was fine. Just used my heart pillow and sat in back seat. 6 days post op.
 
I Live in Mid-TN, and flew to the Cleveland Clinic for my surgery. I didn't have any issues with the flight home after surgery.
However, My surgery was extremely complex, and was in the hospital for 3 weeks.
After they released me, they asked that my wife and I remain in Cleveland for a few days, then check back with them prior to the day of my flight.

Hope this helps,

Rob
 
I flew back from Stanford (CA) to Seattle after my surgery. My wife made arrangements for 2 things that would have helped. She arranged for a wheelchair pretty much from the door of the airport to the door of the plane. That made a long, possibly uncomfortable walk around an airport unnecessary. She also booked a first class ticket for me. The extra room and comfort first class afforded was nice and made the flight easier and sometimes the difference in price for first class isn't allot.

Having said that, I was in the hospital for longer than we thought and ended up flying home 2 1/2 months after my surgery. Since part of my hospital stay involved a couple of weeks of inpatient physical therapy to figure the whole walking thing out again, the wheelchair was nice. Any though my sternum had had awhile to heal prior to the flight, the first class ticket made it more comfortable.

Chris
 
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