The 50 minute drive home from the hospital was the worst part of my whole tummy tuck so far. What would you have packed for the car?

Discharged after one night, home by lunchtime, and honestly the car journey was worse than anything that has happened since. Fifty minutes, every speed bump felt like a personal attack, and the seatbelt sat exactly across the incision no matter what I did with it. I was holding a folded cardigan against my stomach like a shield and still counting down the streets.

Getting in and out of the car was its own event. Nobody had shown me a technique so I did it wrong twice before working out I should sit down first and swing my legs in after, rather than climbing in leg first like a normal person.

For anyone still on the waiting side: what would you have had in the car if you could do it again? And is there a legitimate way to deal with the seatbelt, because I have another journey next week for my drain check and I am already dreading it.

A cushion. Not a folded cardigan, an actual firm cushion between you and the belt, and the belt still done up properly over it. I had a small memory foam one and it did more for that journey than the painkillers did. Also recline the seat a bit so you are not sitting at a right angle, that helped my back enormously.

The sit-then-swing method is the one, and it is also how you get out, in reverse and very slowly. Someone showed me on the ward and I have used it for every car for six weeks after.

Things I would put in the car: cushion, water with a straw so you are not tipping your head back, a sick bag because anaesthetic plus motion is a combination, and your discharge paperwork in the front rather than the boot. Mine was in the boot and we needed it at the door of the pharmacy. Also tell your driver to take the boring route, not the fast one. Speed bumps are the enemy, dual carriageways are your friend.

tt_in_march said:

the seatbelt sat exactly across the incision no matter what I did with it

Cushion under the belt, and if you can, sit in the back on the opposite side so the diagonal part of the belt crosses away from where the drains come out. That is where mine were and I did not think about it until the first bump.

My drive home was about half an hour and I remember precisely two things about it: the cushion my sister had thought to bring, and the fact that I cried when we pulled onto the drive, mostly with relief. It is a genuinely hard hour and it is not a sign that anything has gone wrong. You are being moved about in a way nothing else in that first week moves you.

Everything above matches my notes. Cushion under the belt, belt still worn properly, recline the seat, sit down and swing your legs in, boring route, paperwork within reach. I would add: go to the loo before you leave the hospital, and if you are more than an hour from home, plan a stop where you can stand up for two minutes, because sitting still for long stretches is not what you want in the first days either. The whole arrival-home stretch is in week one of tummy tuck recovery, and the kit list is in what to buy before a tummy tuck.

For the drain check next week, same setup, and take the cushion with you rather than assuming there will be one in the car.

Drain check journey done with a proper cushion and the seat reclined and it was a completely different experience. Not pleasant, but not the ordeal the first one was. Whoever invented speed bumps owes the post-surgical population an apology.