Hospital stay: what should I take with me?

[katie09/21/2016 137]

Apologies if this has already been covered (I'm sure it has) but I am trying to figure out exactly what I should take with me to the hospital?

I'm getting gastric sleeve surgery on 21st September 2016.

Would love to hear what pre-op and especially post-op people pack/packed in their bags? Was there anything you packed but didn't really need? Is there anything you wished you had with you but didn't think to take?

Looking forward to getting some ideas!

Edited September 9, 2016 by katie09/21/2016

[gina171 626]

Very exciting time for you!

It's easy to overpack, here's what I actually used:

A few pairs of clean underwear

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Deodorant

Facial cleanser/wipes

Gas X strips

Lip balm

Phone plus charger

iPad plus charger

Looong charging cord

Feminine hygiene supplies (a lot of us get our periods very unexpectedly due to the stress of surgery)

And I wore the same outfit home that I arrived in, since I arrived at 7:30am in the morning and it was only worn about an hour!

Everything else I brought I wound up lugging home, unused.

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[katie09/21/2016 137]

I was thinking I would just wear the same clothes home. Did the gas x strips help?

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[Leather'nLace 187]

I was only in the hospital overnight and I WAY overpacked. Lol. I slept so much and when I wasn't sleeping I was walking. I broke the record for consecutive laps around the nurses station. 124 laps! The only thing I used out of my bag was my iPad. I binged watched episodes of Frasier while drifting in and out of sleep. My advice...pack minimally. Oh, bring your own night gown. I did and I was so happy and comfortable.

Good luck with your surgery!

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[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

@@katie09/21/2016

Basically nothing. A pillow for the ride home, but I would leave that in the car and not take it in the hospital to get hospital germs.

Lip Balm

Cell Phone and charger

Kindle (if you have one or a book)

If you have a skin care regime you use, bring your facial cleanser/toner/moisturizer.

That is it. They give you everything. They charge enough use the stuff they supply

I was in my clothes all of an hour before I had to take them off as soon as getting to the hospital, and I wore them home. I had to take a shower with antiseptic soap, and not wear any lotion or deodorant before surgery. I was about the hospital about 28 hours total.

Edited September 9, 2016 by OutsideMatchInside

[katie09/21/2016 137]

Very exciting time for you!

It's easy to overpack, here's what I actually used:

A few pairs of clean underwear

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Deodorant

Facial cleanser/wipes

Gas X strips

Lip balm

Phone plus charger

iPad plus charger

Looong charging cord

Feminine hygiene supplies (a lot of us get our periods very unexpectedly due to the stress of surgery)

And I wore the same outfit home that I arrived in, since I arrived at 7:30am in the morning and it was only worn about an hour!

Everything else I brought I wound up lugging home, unused.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Thank you

It's probably a silly question, but how long after you woke up from surgery were you allowed to change into your own clothes/nightgown? I'm not really thrilled at the thought of having to walk around in a hospital gown with the backside exposed!

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[katie09/21/2016 137]

Oh wow I quoted the wrong person I'm sorry! This no food liquid diet has my brain fried....

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[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

They need access to you at all times. I don't know why someone would want to wear their own clothes and have them ruined.

They have large gowns for bari patients and they gave me 2 at the hospital, one to wear as a gown and another to wear as a robe.

If something goes wrong and they need to take you back into surgery they are going to cut your personal gown off of you.

[Leather'nLace 187]

I wore my own nightgown and had no issues. If they had needed to cut it off me...meh...its just a nightgown. I was much happier being in my own cottony, soft gown then the scratchy, awkward hospital gown.

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[katie09/21/2016 137]

It didn't even cross my mind that I would be taken back into surgery - yikes! I was thinking a bit too optimistically.

My surgeon has talked a lot about having to walk around after surgery, I just didn't want to do that trying to wrestle a hospital gown closed, but an extra one would solve that.

Do people often have to get taken back in to surgery?

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[Bufflehead 6,358]

I second the thought of just wear hospital gowns. Wear a second one facing backwards and you won't flash anyone. You may have IV poles, drain tubes and bulbs, and/or catheters trailing around you and attached to your body. Your own nightclothes are not designed to accommodate all that, hospital gowns are. Plus, you can have blood and IV Fluid etc leaking out, do you want to deal with that or let the hospital laundry cope with it? I voted for hospital laundry.

One thing I will mention -- if you are more comfortable wearing a bra, bring one that is a cotton "leisure" type bra that fastens in front and has no underwire. Many surgeons will leave you with an incision right at the bra line, and underwire or even stiff fabric pressing on it can be excruciating.

Good luck!

[KristenLe 5,979]

It didn't even cross my mind that I would be taken back into surgery - yikes! I was thinking a bit too optimistically.

My surgeon has talked a lot about having to walk around after surgery, I just didn't want to do that trying to wrestle a hospital gown closed, but an extra one would solve that.

Do people often have to get taken back in to surgery?

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It's rare that you'd have to be taken back into surgery. The gown is helpful though because of the IVs, monitors, etc. - they snap so you can change them without removing your IV. A nightgown isn't going to take up too much space so bring it in case you feel like changing.

[gina171 626]

My hospital told us ahead of time that their gowns overlapped in back for privacy, so I didn't bring a nightgown. Glad I used their gown, bc I bled a little from an incision and I could quickly swap out to a fresh new gown with my IV in....you can't do that with your own nightgown!

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[Pescador 1,374]

Eight hours in the hospital, I needed Nothing except ID.

[The Candidate 3,215]

The heart of a lion and the patience of a saint. ????