RVing after surgery

[2legs]

I am probably jumping the gun on this but here goes. I got a motorhome last year and we got to use it for a couple of months last summer. We had planned on being gone all summer and this happened. So I am going to get AVR on Aug 7th. How soon after would it be wise to wait till, that I would be fairly safe in going to the other side of the state for 2 or 3 weeks. It is about 300 miles from here. I could avoid lifting but I would need to be able to drive. There is plenty of good cardiac care available in western Washington but it wouldn't be my doctor. I don't know maybe I should just scratch this year for the motorhome but I would like to at least go over for a couple weeks and stay with my wifes mother but how long would it be safe to be away from your own doctor by 300 miles, if we took the car.
Now after reading about A Fib it makes me more nervous. I think I should stop reading about problems after AVR it gets me upset.

 

[Madsometimes]

I was told to wait 6 weeks after surgery before driving, which is the standard protocol here in the UK.

I know some posters in the US were cleared for driving a lot sooner than that. Are you planning on doing all the driving on your 300 mile trip? It seems quite a lot to me. I don't think there's a problem with taking a holiday post OHS, but it should be a restful one.

 

[offwego]

I did a lot of research on this (driving) and got a lot of information that was not true. First the issue of driving is not related to anything to do with insurance companies.

I was cleared for driving two weeks after surgery. I know many who are told to wait longer. The real issue, at least according to my doctor was the use of painkillers and driving, not so much related to anything else. Yet of course in the event there is an accident, no one would want to take an airbag to the chest soon after surgery.

I had two open heart surgeries. The first was minimally invasive and second traditional approach. WIth the minimall invasive it was more painful for some reason and bothered me for much longer.

Even though I was told it was ok to drive within 2 weeks (of course everyone is different), I would not have driven long distances or to much time behind the wheel. I drove maybe 1/2 hour to an hour maximum and really took it easy.

To drive an RV with lots of hours and distance, I wouldn't do that so soon...In your case I would wait longer and of course it depends how you are doing...probably 3-4 weeks minimum for more than an hour or two behind the wheel. for a 300 miles drive, I wasn't ready mentally for at least 6 weeks..

It so depends on your comfort moving your body to see into mirrors, backing up, etc. and more importantly how you are feeling in general.