How many days of rest before overseas travel back home

[JoeMan]

Hi, I'm sure this has been covered before but I couldn't find it in the search. 

I'm traveling out to Porto Portugal from the US on Jan 8th, landing January 9th. Covid test on Jan 10th, then surgery on 11th and 12th with Dr Ferreira. I'm currently scheduled for return flight on Jan 16th at 6am. This is basically 3.5 days after surgery. After reading some posts, I'm under the impression that swelling just sets in on day 3 which has me worried.

I also didn't want to look ridiculous (not that i expected to be completely healed) or be bleeding on a plane seat as I feel that is unsanitary. 

Would it be worth staying longer, as I believe I can easily extend my stay 1 or 2 more days with minimal cost. I'm just concerned with 20 hrs of travel so soon afterwards. Does anyone have input or experience on this? 

Of course there's nothing like your own bed after something like this. Maybe I'm over-thinking this too, as this is becoming a reality.

 

Thanks!

[JDEE0]

Personal choice, really. 

I incidentally also had my HT in Porto and also travelled home 3 days after (well, not even really as I went in the morning on Saturday after having surgery on the Thursday). What I can tell you from my personal experience is that it's good to rest up for a few days, but it gets old fast being stuck in a hotel room in a foreign country when you really just want to get back home. 

That said, I only had to fly back to the UK which is a 2 hour flight instead of 20, so a lot less hassle and stress. However, I had a bit of a nightmare and long story short wasn't allowed onto my flight as I somehow lost my passenger locator form and was unable to fill one out in time last minute on my laptop due to the airport wifi playing up at the worst possible time. As a result, I had to book another one 3 hours later to London (flights to my city were only once a day due to covid, and I missed that), then catch a bus for an hour to a train station and hop on a train for 2 hours to get back up North. All in all, I left my hotel at about 8am in the morning and didn't get back home until about 10pm that evening, so it turned into a 14 hour trip for me in the end and it was fine; not too far off your 20 hour travel time, although mine wasn't spent all in the air/on the plane.

I just wore a loose fitting cap myself, again, was fine. I was told not to wear one until day 5 or something, but I had no issues as I was just careful putting it on and off and it never even touched any of the grafts the whole time it was on.

Don't know how much any of that helps, but that's my insight!

 

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by JDEE0

[JoeMan]

Appreciate the input. Did you notice swelling on day 3? Mind me asking who did your surgery? 

[JDEE0]

2 minutes ago, JoeMan said:

Appreciate the input. Did you notice swelling on day 3? Mind me asking who did your surgery? 

I had mine with Dr. Bruno Pinto, you can check my thread on my profile if you're interested in taking a look.

Yeah, I think my swelling really began on the second day, but it wasn't noticeable really as I had a cap on, it only really became super visible on maybe day 4 when it sunk into my eyebrows and past my eyes. I recall the second night being the worst as the swelling wasn't comfortable when it was right in the top of my forehead/around the temples and I felt groggy and had a bit of a headache. After this it was ok really though and I started feeling pretty much fine by day 3-4 even though I looked more swollen.

[AlexMeister21]

Would you be wearing a cap while traveling? You could always wear sunglasses to cover up the swelling. I've had two surgeries and swelling took place for me on day three both times. The first time, the swelling was pretty bad to the point where my eyes were almost shut, and it went away on day 6-7. The second time, the swelling wasn't too bad and went away around the evening of day 4. This was because I made sure to sleep upright after surgery so the anesthesia fluid wouldn't build up as much in my face. After my first surgery, I slept on my back. I don't think you would have to worry about bleeding by day 3.

The most important thing, in my opinion, is making sure that the grafts are anchored before putting on headgear for extended periods of time. If you have a loose hat, you should be fine, but answers seem to vary regarding wearing hats after transplants.

[Curious25]

Personally I would (and did) stay abroad longer for my overseas surgery. Mainly because I wanted total peace of mind that the grafts were past their 'anchored in' point, and secondly, for the reasons you mentioned, with regards to swelling and scabbing. 

At the day 10 mark, its usually quite a both safe and aesthetic time to be out and about again. Scabbing should have all pretty much gone, and grafts are more or less safe as houses at this point. Waiting 10 days may seem excessive, but it worked well for myself. 

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by Curious25

[HappyMan2021]

Don't travel as long as you can. A few extra boring days in a hotel is well worth the peace of mind of knowing your grafts are secured. Grafts can conceivably be knocked out up to Day 10. 

There are real stories on this forum of guys bumping their head in a taxi or airplane and losing a few grafts.

I think awhile back Melvin the Moderator mentioned he lost some grafts bumping his head in a cab after surgery. 

Edited January 2, 2022 by SadMan2021

[JoeMan]

Appreciate it, I'm going to look into adding a few extra days I guess. 

[JoeMan]

I changed it and got lucky getting 1st class for a really good deal. I'll now travel on my 6th day after surgery. I can't stay 10 days so this should be enough. 

[Fue3361]

3 I feel is perfect.  No more oozing from donor area, scabs are pretty firmly set, and you feel good.