Can I drive to my out-of-town surgery destination?

Many SurgeryShopper.com clients would rather drive in their own personal vehicle or a rented car rather than fly to and from their surgery destination. The first order of business is to ask your surgeon what they think about the drive. Be prepared to answer your surgeon’s questions regarding distance, make and model of the vehicle, who will drive, the terrain you’ll cross and how many stops you plan to make along the route.

For routing assistance and stops along the way, SurgeryShopper.com concierge travel coordinators are fully-trained on U.S. road travel route planning in the context of pre-and post-surgical travel planning. They can supply maps, hotel reservations, hotel discounts, restaurant discounts, and other assistance you’ll need to get you to your surgery and back.

Maria Todd, our internal advisor who leads SurgeryShopper’s concierge services team explained, “We train our travel concierge team members to choose routes that have ample gas, food, and lodging along routes where emergency services and hospitals or urgent care centers are available.” While SurgeryShopper.com trains concierge travel team members to take into consideration the make and model of the vehicle, if pets are going to come along for the ride and other personal preferences, medical travel planning requires a few extra considerations so that avoidable risks are also mitigated. These risks include the risk for blood clots (deep venous thrombosis/DVT) that could develop from sitting for long periods that could break off and travel to the lungs or brain and cause pain, shortness of breath and even death.

You may not be able to drive if you will require pain medications, muscle relaxants or be distracted by pain and weakness after surgery.  The time of year and the weather and road conditions you may encounter are another consideration.”