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Packing for the Hospital



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I was told to bring nothing with me to the hospital except my ID. I wore a pair of work-out pants with a draw string waistband, a loose fitting pull-over sweater, a comfortable sports bra, and slip on shoes. Your belly will be swollen after the surgery, so make sure you have loose fitting pants to wear. With the exception of my work-out pants, none of my pants fit me for about 4 weeks. Even my "fat" pants were too tight in the waist from the post-op swelling.

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I would recommend chapstick (mouth gets dry), toothbrush and toothpaste (same reason), flip flops, and something easy to get in and out of. They give you booties for your feet. Don't wear any jewelry or makeup. Oh, and my nurse put the IV in my wrist area, tell them you want it on top of the hand. You use your hands a lot getting in and out of bed and it hurt more being in the wrist and bending.

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I suggest sugar free candies to suck on, you will have a dry throat after. Your hair prob. won't be looking so hot...I wore home a hat. There was no way i would even attempt a bra, so luckily I had worn a shirt/jacket that would cover me well. I even wore my schearling slippers to the hospital.

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I wore yoga pants sweat shirt and flats..No make up or lotion..I pack a change of under wear and jogging bra and something to pull my hair back chap stick and cough drops and a bath robe which helps because those open gown dont fit so well

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OK, I can ask this here because obviously none of us are Victoria Secret model thin:

Where are you finding loose fitting sport bras? I wear a 40DD bra and bought the same sized sports bra and it's just as tight :)

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I wear a :) 44 HH so I opting to take a mans (what the kids call) wife beater t-shirt. you know the kind with no sleeves. I'm also wondering about the flight home do I need a pillow for the flight? How uncomfortable is it? I have a ten hour flight time in total with plane changes, layovers and such.

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OK, I can ask this here because obviously none of us are Victoria Secret model thin:

Where are you finding loose fitting sport bras? I wear a 40DD bra and bought the same sized sports bra and it's just as tight :)

I buy my bras from www.herroom.com. I absolutely love Lunaire's sport bra: http://www.herroom.com/Lunaire-Coolmax-Underwire-Sports-Bra,Lun001-11111,4.html

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I wore sweats in, but for wearing home (same day) I brought one of those knit dresses that have the empire waist. I call them "house dresses" but I see ladies wearing them to work. There are little ties at the waist that tie in back. Surely someone knows what they're really called. :) Anyway - didn't want to risk a waistband, so I just brought one of those dresses and some "Crocs" (ugly but comfortable) so I could just slip in and out of them. hair went in a ponytail with a headband to hold back the short pieces.

I didn't need a pillow on the drive home but the bumps in the road did hurt - but just uncomfortable, not great pain. What hurt was using the muscles, so sitting down, standing up, walking, going up stairs, sneezing, coughing, etc. Whomever had the 10 hour jounrey - I don't know how long post-op your flights are, but if they're within the first 3 days, I'd recommend making sure you have wheelchairs booked or shuttles. Especially if you have a gate change.

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I brought my bowling ball and my "Ab-Blaster" exercise video. But as it turns out I didn't use either one.

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Well, I went to Walmart and bought SEVERAL sportbras (thank you Walmart). I could't find any shorts like I wanted - I have some old Lands End shorts that are PERFECT but I've outgrown them and they no longer sell them. Nothing in the women's department.

But AHA! The men's department :) Stretchy shorts and big t-shirts for less than $6 each. Some of the sports bras are like "shelf bras", i.e. not much support. I figured with a big T - no one can really tell.

If you see a short fat chick walking around TJ next week looking like she bought her clothes in the men's department of Walmart, that'll be me :)

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I brought my bowling ball and my "Ab-Blaster" exercise video. But as it turns out I didn't use either one.

*scratching off bowling ball and exercise tape from packing list*

How about a pie? I wonder if they'll let me bring a pie......

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Marjon9 & Furellie, how funny.

I don't plan on wearing a bra home. I'm a 42 DD and if someone has a problem with the fact that I am "free balling", I hope to be to hopped up on meds to give a crap.

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Marjon9 & Furellie, how funny.

I don't plan on wearing a bra home. I'm a 42 DD and if someone has a problem with the fact that I am "free balling", I hope to be to hopped up on meds to give a crap.

That's funny. I'm a 38DDD and the first thing I asked the nurse after I woke up was if she could help me get my bra back on. I can't stand to be without it. The boobs are too heavy and it gets painful if I don't have the support of the bra. And in the hospital bed, because I was laying on my back, the boobs had flopped over on top of my upper arms and the weight of them was making my arms numb. It was also painful when I sat up because the left boob was sagging enough that it was resting on one of the incisions. If you don't wear a bra, you may need to hold the left one up the ride home to keep it off your incision.

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    • LeighaTR

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    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

      2. Doughgurl

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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