I have a question for any guys who have traveled to a different state/country for their top surgery.  How long did you stay there?  Like how long before, and how long after your surgery?  I am not very close to being able to get mine any time soon, but I am trying to figure things out like possible total costs for the surgery/lodging/travel etc.  Thanks

I recently had top surgery with Dr. Garramone in Florida and I live in Michigan.  My friend and I stayed in Florida for 2 days prior to pre-op and left on the day of my post op (total of 8 days)plus 2 days on each direction for driving down.  The one main advantage to driving was saving money on renting a car but I could bring a lot of stuff with including a reclining lawn chair which I slept in the entire week after surgery since it was too uncomfortable to sleep in a bed, especially since I'm used to sleeping on my side.

I went to Dr. Garramone in FL for my surgery from Ohio. I flew with Southwest and my tickets were really cheap (just thought i'd throw that in there lol). I personally wanted to enjoy Florida a little bit so I got there June 8th, had surgery on the 11th, post-op was on the 17th, and I left the 22nd. By the time i flew back I felt awesome and had no problems with anything. I did have to have someone carry my bags though. One of my buddies had surgery the same day i did, and he flew back to Minn. the same day of his post-op and he said everything went really well for him. So if you dont have the extra money and need to fly back right away then thats hould be fine. If you do have the extra money, then stay and enjoy the weather for a couple days.

I'll be going to garramone in February and I'm getting there 2 days before my surgery date and then leaving the day of my post op appointment. We are driving from PA.

Thanks guys.  I didn't realize that many people would actually drive from that far versus flying.  How many people did you go with?  Cause if you only go with one other person, then would they have to do all the driving on the way back?  I am looking at probably going to Garramone, and I am from NJ, so I am actually in a similar boat as Carson.  How much driving do you have to do a day to get down there in a couple days?  And thanks for the suggestion of Southwest, I had forgotten about them! 

About how much did it cost in total?  Like with either plane tickets/gas and hotel and that kinda stuff. 

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to figure out as much as I can so that when I have the money I can have a lot of things figured out already.  Thanks again!

I stayed within my state, but it was far enough (400 miles) that I flew up and took a train (Amtrak) back, and had lodging in the area. I was able to fly up the day before my surgery, in the morning, since my surgeon (Dr. Brownstein) wanted to meet with me that afternoon for a pre-surgical examination. I stayed for a total of 9 days after that, leaving on the morning after my stitches/drains were removed.

I'd say my travel expenses and lodging cost me about $1000 total. I had two friends staying with me and we shared the cost of a nice and reasonably priced hotel suite.

I don't know the exact cost my parents are paying for everything. We are staying in a hotel using out Disney vacationclub points. If you leave early each day you can get there in 2 days if you drive about 11 hours a day. I am going with my mom and sister but my mom is the only person who can drive so it is doable.

When I had my surgery, I had just my one friend come with me.  We live in michigan so it was a 24 hour drive that we spread over 2.5 days.  She had to do all the driving on the way home which took the same amount of time.  I bought a couple travel pillows to prop up my arms which worked well since it hurt to have them down by my sides.

Approximate cost was about $1500 but we did some sightseeing and bar hopping in the few days prior to my surgery.  Cost will also be affected by when you go, I just got back on Oct 21, which is the off-season so the hotel rates were half of what they are in Dec-March.

We also got a hotel room that had a microwave and a fridge, so we could have meals not out, which is really nice the first couple days after surgery.  Soup, crackers and chicken salad sandwiches tasted really good. 

Other things we brought/bought that worked out nice:
Heating pad-if you get an aching back from sitting or laying down goofy
Baby wipes-You can't shower until the doc takes off the bandages, so these work really well for sponge baths
Plastic silverware & Bendy straws-I couldn't reach my mouth even just eating chicken nuggets so a plastic fork was a lifesaver

Good luck guys!  Dr. Garramon is awesome!