Mastectomy June 25th, when can I drive?

brend

So far I've had no complications at all. I still have the pain ball medicine going in my chest, which it looks like may be empty now, and won't get the drain out till July 9th. I'd never heard of the pain ball thingie, but its really neat. I've been in very little to no pain at all. I do not have to remember to take a pill either, or keep up with what time I took the last pill. Do I have to wait till I get the drain out before driving? My instructions said nothing at all about when I can start driving again.

I live alone,don't have children, so this is important to me.

tangandchris

You should contact your doctor, I was told that as long as I was on pain killers I couldn't drive.

Artista928

I have yet to be scheduled for bilat mxs. Does the drain feel "gross" to you? I'm having trouble imaging leaving the hospital with it in. Glad you have minimal pain. Seems to be not par for the course from what I've been reading.

SummerAngel

I was told that I could drive when I was no longer on narcotic pain killers and when my range of motion allowed me to move well without pain. I drove for the first time a little over two weeks post-surgery, but it was just a couple of miles and I really don't think it was very safe. At the beginning of the fourth week post-op I started to feel safe behind the wheel.

alizbeth

I agree that you cannot drive until you are off pain medication; however, I have never heard of the pain ball, so don't really know what that is.  I was completely off prescription pain medication about 5 days post-mastectomy.  I drove about 10 days post-mastectomy, but a full two weeks probably would have been better advised.  I remember the only issue I really had was not having full range of motion in my upper body, making it hard to rotate to check blind spots when I changed lanes. 

Kathy044

I only had a lumpectomy and alnd but I was told that I should not drive for the first few days ( 3 or 4 ?) due to the possibility of severe damage to the surgical site from the steering wheel or airbag if involved in even a minor traffic accident. My husband was told the same thing following surgery for another cancer.

I only had one drain and it kept doing it's thing for 23 days but that didn't interfere with taking short shopping trips by car.

Kathy

grammakathy

I had the pain ball thingy for my second surgery that was done by my PS to remove the non-cancerous breast and place TEs.  It was wonderful!  It took about a week to deflate and delivered the pain medicine right to the inner incision.  I wished my BS had used it for my first surgery.

jcfree

Had pre-op apt. yesterday and was told no driving as long as the drains were in. My surgery is next Tuesday.

SoCalGrl

I loved the pain ball thingie too!I won't drive until my drains are out. For me that's been the most painful part of my surgery and I don't feel like I have good range of motion because of them.