Standard vehicle ok for 4 hour drive home after surgery?

[AtlantaHipster]

Hello, everyone!

I hope you are all doing well this weekend and enjoying all the college football, if you are a fellow fan. (Roll Tide Roll!)
I thank all of you for providing and contributing to such an informative website. Although this is my first time posting, I have gathered many pearls of wisdom. I will be having my right hip resurfaced on Monday afternoon (less than 48 hours away) in Columbia, S.C. In keeping with the website lingo, I will then become a "Gross Hippy." :) 

We will have a 4 hour drive to get home on the day following surgery, provided there are no complications. My husband's car is a mid-size 4 door luxury vehicle. I would not be able to lie down in the back seat, and the seats up front do not recline back all the way. Should we rent something roomier?

I have the polar ice machine and crutches purchased through Dr Gross' office. I already have 2 canes. I have ordered a Duro-Med Deluxe Reach Assist Kit and a zero-gravity recliner from Amazon dot com. We have 2 large recliners in our house, but I thought it might be beneficial to have something we could carry from room to room. Do I need anything else? My mind is going crazy thinking of things I "must have" in order to be prepared! I am normally OCD but this has taken it to an insane level! heh

If you have been affected by Sandy, my heart and prayers go out to you. I hope you and your loved ones get all the help you need to recover from this tragic storm.

Thank you so much in advance!

Gina, soon to join the ranks of Gross Hippy!   8)

[hernanu]

Congrats and welcome Gina!

You have a great surgeon and sounds like you've got everything pretty well set. I'd only add to remember to stop and walk a bit on the way home. I went in a sedan for about an hour and a half, I'm sure others have traveled close to the same length as you.

I'd just relax now, sounds like you've taken good steps and are ready to go.

[obxpelican]

Mid sized vehicle is perfect, we did Columbia to Pittsburgh, PA in a Hyundai Elantra without any trouble at all.

You do not need to lie down, you will be able to enjoy the ride, however you might swell up some and that is normal.  Pack some ice for the trip home or use the hand pump that comes with the polar care machine.

If you swell up after arriving home ice and elevate you will be fine. 

Take a deep breath you will be fine, over 4 years ago I went through it and now my left hip is starting to give me some twinges and I am not the least worried.


Chuck

Hello, everyone!

I hope you are all doing well this weekend and enjoying all the college football, if you are a fellow fan. (Roll Tide Roll!)
I thank all of you for providing and contributing to such an informative website. Although this is my first time posting, I have gathered many pearls of wisdom. I will be having my right hip resurfaced on Monday afternoon (less than 48 hours away) in Columbia, S.C. In keeping with the website lingo, I will then become a "Gross Hippy." :)

We will have a 4 hour drive to get home on the day following surgery, provided there are no complications. My husband's car is a mid-size 4 door luxury vehicle. I would not be able to lie down in the back seat, and the seats up front do not recline back all the way. Should we rent something roomier?

I have the polar ice machine and crutches purchased through Dr Gross' office. I already have 2 canes. I have ordered a Duro-Med Deluxe Reach Assist Kit and a zero-gravity recliner from Amazon dot com. We have 2 large recliners in our house, but I thought it might be beneficial to have something we could carry from room to room. Do I need anything else? My mind is going crazy thinking of things I "must have" in order to be prepared! I am normally OCD but this has taken it to an insane level! heh

If you have been affected by Sandy, my heart and prayers go out to you. I hope you and your loved ones get all the help you need to recover from this tragic storm.

Thank you so much in advance!

Gina, soon to join the ranks of Gross Hippy!   8)

[Dee Dee]

Gina,
Sounds like you are ready. I bought a car inverter to plug in the ice machine while driving home. I had an 8 hr drive the Friday after surgery on Wednesday and made it home in a hyandai sonata with no problem. I did swell a little in my feet. Do your ankle pumps and take some breaks to get out and stretch.

Pack a little hospital kit with mints, chap stick and  a note pad to keep track of times for pain Meds. I had a little trouble getting relief due to a shift change and a slow responding nurse.  Be firm and dont let the pain get ahead of you.

BTW I live in Alabama and enjoy our state's football legacy. 

[AtlantaHipster]

Thanks... sounds like you all have confidence in me, and seeing as how you've been through it, that makes me feel better! 

Thanks for the welcome, hernanu. I got Dr Gross' name from this web site, so my great surgeon is yet one more thing I can attribute to SurfaceHippy!

Chuck, my hubby grew up in Pittsburgh, by the way... :) I hope those twinges are only your hip doing it's last bits of healing.

Dee Dee, I'm not familiar with ankle pumps, but will they acquaint me with all this at the hospital? And, what sort of car inverter does the polar ice machine use? Can I purchase one at Walmart or Radio Shack? How bout that Crimson Tide, eh? I watched the LSU game and thought I was going to have a heart attack during that last quarter!

Thank you all so much for the advice and warm welcome. I feel very fortunate to have found this community! :)

[Jason0411]

My journey home was nearly 5 hours. I was advised to stop every hour to stand up and do few few steps before starting up again.

[phillwad]

Agree with most of what has been said except -

                Go Bucks Go (that is The Ohio State University for people not in the US)

Try and get out and walk a bit, take your time - smile and enjoy the improvements.

[obxpelican]

I bet you have a great husband, hope he's still a Stilllllerrrr fan for sure.

Foot pumps are when you push your foot forward and backward pivoting on your ankle joint, this will keep you from getting a blood clot.  And as others have mentioned, get out every so often and move around it's good for you.

What I did was to heavily medicate for the first part of the trip then after the meds wore off I actually drove for several hours up to the Northern edge of West Va. 

BTW, my left hip is the hip that has had no body work on it.

I have a record of my recovery here: http://surfacehippy.info/hiptalk/hip-resurfacing-topics/easy-difficult-recoveries/msg6307/#msg6307



Chuck

Thanks... sounds like you all have confidence in me, and seeing as how you've been through it, that makes me feel better!

Thanks for the welcome, hernanu. I got Dr Gross' name from this web site, so my great surgeon is yet one more thing I can attribute to SurfaceHippy!

Chuck, my hubby grew up in Pittsburgh, by the way... :) I hope those twinges are only your hip doing it's last bits of healing.

Dee Dee, I'm not familiar with ankle pumps, but will they acquaint me with all this at the hospital? And, what sort of car inverter does the polar ice machine use? Can I purchase one at Walmart or Radio Shack? How bout that Crimson Tide, eh? I watched the LSU game and thought I was going to have a heart attack during that last quarter!

Thank you all so much for the advice and warm welcome. I feel very fortunate to have found this community! :)

[Dee Dee]

Roll Tide- intense game with LSU
The car inverter is available at wal-mart or lowes.
They will teach you your exercises at the hospital. Ankle pumps are important because dr gross does not use the spec ail support socks/hose. Thankfully!

The only other thing i should tell you about being a Gross hippy is the special dressing. It is great because you can take a shower with it even while at the hospital. But it is weird when time to take it off. It stings pulling it off and leaves little bits on your skin that just have to fall off from normal skin "shedding" or slough off. But the bits do eventually come off.  No one prepared me for that.

If you have questions about anything when you get home don't hesitate to call or email Nancy the nurse. She is great to answer all my little worries and checks with Lee and Dr. Gross

[obxpelican]

Most importantly, don't worry about anything Dr. Gross and his staff are top notch and have things down to a science.


Chuck

[lyn]

I flew from columbia  to albuquerque and really  had no problem, a bit of swelling, but other than that no issue. I dont think you need to have a larger vehicle. Good luck. He is a grear doctor. Lyn

[imgetinold]

Late to the party.  I'm guessing you're either just out of surgery......in surgery......or about to be surgerized.

You can find a decent position in any vehicle.  I found it easier to get into and out of our van (rather than a car), but that the adjustability of the car's seats were WAY better, and I found a better position once in.  Not that it matters now.

Hope everything goes great for you.  I am a fellow Atlanta-area hipster, by the way.  Suwanee/Sugar Hill area.

- Andy

[Spanielsal]

Good luck Gina, the only things I found useful that you haven't mentioned were the raised loo sets and the grabbers. My home loo seat is 16" off the floor, my knee is at 19" and I used a 4" raised seat for about 2 months.  I also found the armrest support frame around the loo useful.  Not sure if those things are issued in the US.

Good luck for the op! I'm sure you'll be fine. 

Thinking of all of those affected by sandy and watching your elections with interest. 

Sal

[Jagcanes]

Atlanta,  looks like you and I joined the club on the same day.  I am 4 days post-op, went 2 hours south to Melbourne Florida to see Dr. Sands.   By now I am sure you ave made the trip home and hopefully found the only complication was swelling.

Being home has been the best part of my recovery so far.  Not a lot of pain (good drugs) just sore and tight.

I hope all went well and maybe we can keep tabs on each other's recovery.

[lycraman]

I had a three hour car journey home without any problems and I was in a Volkswagon Polo! It was touch getting in and out but the only thing I would recommend is to take a pillow from the bed to sit on. It gives you a nice soft seat and raises your scar above the shaped part of the car bucket seat.  In fact I still sit on the pillow in my car and it is now 9 weeks post op.

[Arrojo]

You might want to stop once or twice during the drive to get out and walk with crutches.  Sitting for 4 hours straight, without getting up, is not a good idea.  I took a train home 2 days after my surgery, and got up and crutch-walked briefly every half hour or so.