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What's In Your Hospital Bag?



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My cell phone charger, right before my surgery I bought a 10 foot one at Staples, Tomkitten teased me about it but it was very valuable. Also if they tell you to bring your C-Pap do it. But learn from my error, I didn't check,to see it was complete. My model wasn't the same as their house ones. Since I was 50 miles from,home,and had no one to,bring me the part missing, I had to wear 02 the entire Post-Surgery time, because it would have been difficult to drag it up and down the hall, I was room-bound, good thing,I DID NOT have gas to expel, I think OSU must pump it back,out at surgery conclusion.👈😝👉

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Phone, charger and toothbrush. Don’t bother bringing a lot of stuff.

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Guess it depends on how long you anticipate your stay being. Some people are outpatient and leave the same day, others like me stay 2 nights. I took my own toothbrush and toothpaste, chapstick, hairbrush and deodorant. I wore the same comfy outfit I wore into the hospital with the exception of fresh underwear. Some people recommend bringing your own socks to walk in but hospital floors are gross - surgeons and other staff walk right out of the operating rooms up to the nursing floors to round on their patients. I wore the ones they gave me and threw them away when I left.

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You won't need much. I didn't end up needing pajamas. I did use chapstick, toothbrush, toothpaste, and hand lotion.

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Stuff that I took that I needed: phone charger, chapstick, slippers, toothbrush & toothpaste, book to read, all my RXs (at the hospital's direction), extra socks, hair brush

Stuff that I took that I didn't need: pjs, face scrub & lotion (was too bagged to worry about it), shampoo/conditioner/body wash

What I wish I had: a cardigan

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I’d recommend a fan for white noise and your own pillow. Hospital pillows are awful.

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6 hours ago, Kmama5 said:

I’d recommend a fan for white noise and your own pillow. Hospital pillows are awful.

I am so glad I brought my own pillow as well it made everything so much more tolerable!

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Love the fan idea! I also want to bring my laptop in case I’m up and feel like watching Netflix.
I don’t imagine I’ll wast to shower in the hospital but a clean pair of underwear sounds good too.

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Depends on how rumpled and dirty you feel after surgery. Me, I could certainly wait until I got home, but everybody differs. Some surgeon's say don't get your incisions set but others feel it is fine. Certainly no tub baths or swimming, too much chance of impure Water leading to infections, but showers, just clean water flowing over, washing everything clean.
Hospital pillows, mfft, I think they may be 1st cousins to the sandbags used to position you so you don't roll off onto the floor. Yeah maybe they could do their business on a Flat surface, but surgeons are very protective of their own backs getting out of alignment. We only have one surgery but they do many in a day!

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    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
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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!
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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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