Aviation medical question

[cjsmith]

Any aviation medical examiners reading this? Thursday morning I go in for laparoscopy, at sea level. I understand this will inflate my abdomen with CO2, pockets of which may remain afterwards to be gradually reabsorbed by the body. How soon can I safely and sanely be a passenger in an unpressurized light plane? How soon a pilot-in-command?

Comments

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

i'd have never in a million years thought to ask this question! if you don't get an answer here, i'd call the anesthesiologist and/or prior to thursday to ask.

going into my last surgery, i had last-minute issues for both the surgeon and the anesthesiologist that needed to be addressed before they started doping me up, so i told EVERY SINGLE PERSON i saw that i needed to speak to each of them, and got all but 1 issue handled before the happy juice started flowing.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Or I could call any random AME, I expect. Or search the AOPA web page. Or, hell, I could just wait. (We have a dance in Sacramento and really, we could perfectly well drive.)

To get a private pilot license I had to answer questions about how soon after diving it is okay to fly. Divers can get the bends by going up in an aircraft too soon. So it wasn't much of a stretch to think of this. Hmm, gases in my belly, expanding... gee, sounds unpleasant, I think I'll pass.