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So I am prepping for my robotic VSG on December 14th. Mentally I’m good so far. But I will be alone due to Covid, and will be spending the afternoon into the next afternoon at the hospital with out my rather large family. So I was wondering what you all brought with you. Things you brought to kill time, things to make recovery easier or things you had really wished you had brought with you but didn’t. I didn’t look to see if this had been posted before, but I am interested in knowing what you might suggest I bring and not forget to bring.

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Loose comfy clothes and head set

Key is to Walk Walk Walk the halls get moving

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I'm not sure you will need to bring much. You will sleep a lot after the surgery from anesthesia. I brought books and was too tired to read them.

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a phone charger and loose clothes.....walk walk walk to get rid of the post op gas and go home! piece of low carb cake!

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I brought my phone and laptop to kill time, but ended up sleeping pretty much my entire hospital stay! It was quite heavenly actually! I'd wake up, sip a little something, then fall right back to sleep!

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You won't get to change into pajamas because they'll have you hooked up to IVs and monitors, so just stay in the ugly hospital gown. Chapstick and lotion. Phone and charger. You'll be nauseous and not want to do anything but walk the first 24 hours.

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Shorts (so your arse isn't hanging out while walking) and something to entertain yourself (tablet/phone/book) and that's pretty much all you'll need. Wear something comfortable in the day of surgery and wear it back home.

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I brought a whole bunch of stuff that didn’t even make it out if the overnight bag.

The things I did use were:

  • Crocs (for walking the halls)
  • Biotene spray (for my sore, dry throat)
  • Lip balm
  • Small pillow (to hold against my stomach on the ride home: bumps on the road, ouch!)

If I wasn’t walking the halls, I was basically just sleeping.

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Pajama bottoms, iPad, phone, lip balm, and a charger with a long cord was all I used. I think I brought biotene spray, but ended up not needing it as I was immediately allowed ice chips. 😊

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I brought my iPad to occupy myself. I mainly played mindless games and surfed the web. Also watched TV. Most of your time and attention will be taken up by sipping fluids (way more difficult right after surgery than it sounds) and walking around, but I liked having something to do to take my mind off of stuff for a few minutes at a time.

Comfortable pants and underwear are a must for walking around since the hospital gown doesn’t have great coverage below the waist. I wore Crocs to the hospital with the intention of wearing them to walk around, but I was given grippy socks in the hospital and I just wore those. My hands get dry, so I brought some lotion. I also brought some Water Enhancer (Mio), which helped with drinking Water. Other than that, I didn’t really need much. I was only there one night and I wore home the clothes in which I arrived.

I brought Listerine breath strips and used a lot of them, but I don’t recommend this because I ended up with oral thrush, which is a fungal infection in the mouth that can be caused by excessive mouthwash (or breath strip) use that kills off the good bacteria.

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All this is good info. Thanks! I would hv bought my charger, phone, tablet to play my games. & walk! My knees gives me prblms but w the weight going w the surgery... I can't wait to walk more. EXCITED!!

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I slept most of the time, so some of the stuff I brought I never used. I did use my phone, though - and bring a charger. You can just wear whatever you wore to the hospital home - so make sure it's big, comfy stuff that you'll be able to get on easily.

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I packed a huge bag. The only things I used were my chapstick, toothbrush, hair tie, and phone cord. I did also shower at the hospital before they took my drain out so I used my mini shampoo/ soap/ conditioner.

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