I am flying to San Diego on Sunday, Dec. 9, then having a consultation with Dr. Launer on Monday, Dec. 10. If all goes well, I will have surgery for a k-pouch on Tuesday, Dec. 11. One of my millions of questions is does anyone know a good hotel to stay in that is right by the Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla? And what is the time frame usually? For example, will I most likely be in the hospital for 10 days, then at a hotel for a week, then go home after a final doctor visit? I need to try to find a good hotel very close by because I will be by myself. (I will be there for my birthday and Christmas. Yuck.) If anyone knows anything about the area, let me know. Thanks!

Try this..
The Cleveland Clinic has a department that helps patients with this very issue. Call Scripps and see if they have one for their patients. Sometimes the hotel will offer a patient rate, but sometimes the AAA rate is better if you are a member.

Also check the Scripps website
http://www.scripps.org/Locations.asp?ID=1035

If all else fails..ask Dr. Launer's office.

Thank you very much for the excellent ideas!

Jayne
I flew there 2 years ago. Surgery in hospital took 4 days but you have to stay there one week then he sees you again to release you home. I was there 11 days. Luckily for us my nephew had a condo I stayed at. My car rental alone cost $600.00. La Jolla where the hospital is the most expensive real estate in California. Try Temecula. It is hotel row near sea world. Be sure to pick a reputable hotel. We tried beds in several cheap ones and I could never have slept on the cheap beds. The traffic in the area is the worst I have ever seen! When go off the plane at the airport the car renal places are very far away. We had no reservation and because of that we were offered no car. Get one. I don't remember seeing a single hotel within miles of Scripps. Dr. Launer's office has a list of recommended accomodations. Good Luck At least every part is tax deductible. Keep all your receipts. Request a private room because you will be in the bathroom alot. Be aggressive about it after your first night. His office is within walking distance of hospital. But Don't assume he's going to do surgery the next day. Be certain. We had to fly home and come back 2 weeks later. You are going to need a wheel chair assistance to the plane on your way home. They are very accomodating with this
Bye, Jeanne in Placerville, CA.
Make sure he observes your incision if you are taped up. He did not observe mine and I had an infection when I got home. 2nd office visit after surgery.

Travel lodge will always provid a good bed. Forget Motel 6 he bed sheets were not changed.

I am going to be by myself in La Jolla because my husband is staying home with our children. So instead of renting a car, I was planning to get a taxi from the airport to my hotel and then from my hotel to Dr. Launer's office the next day. Is that a feasible plan? My sister who lives in LA will be coming the day of surgery but she can't spend the night. So after I am discharged to wait recuperate the week until my post-op appointment with Dr. Launer, I was planning to stay at my hotel. Maybe I should go to my sister's house in LA instead but it's a 3 hour drive. I wish they could just keep me in the hospital the whole time.

Jayne,
Being 3 hrs away is not advisable. Chris ended up back in the ER 6 hrs after discharge. Not that you will have a problem but better to be safe than sorry. I don't think it is wise to stay alone in the hotel either. If there is anyone who can stay with you that would be the time, Anyone, niece, nephew, cousin, sister's friend.

Now would be the best time to offer a girlfriend and all expenses stay with you over there!
Please do not stay alone...if for nothing else your morale will be better, you will feel safer and well, yes, less lonely.
The girlfriend network is usually the best if you have one or 2 good friends...let them relay or if worse comes to worse...organize for a privite duty nurse to come in and see you every day for the first few that you are out..
Driving is out of the question post op...putting presuure on the abdomen and the stress on the site is not a good thing either...
If worse comes to worse ask the doctor's assistant for the names of other patients with a Kock pouch in the area and ask if one or more of them can come to visit you....
Good luck....I see my doctor today for a (I hope) final visit before I fly home...I could not have done it without my best friend at my side....
Sharon