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Packing for the hospital?



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I'm starting to think about what I need to bring. Last night at my meeting, most of them said don't bring much.

My list has:

slippers (my hospital has theses for patients too)

toothbrush/toothpaste

chapstick

hairbrush

comfy clothes for the car ride home

insurance card and other paperwork

$$$ to pay the deductible before surgery

My band friends said that's about it. What do you think you'll pack?

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small pillow to hold against your stomach if you cough and to put between you and the seatbelt on the ride home. any meds you take daily, Vitamins, things to do since you will not be able to sleep that first night! They wake you up every 15 -30 minutes to check your vitals i am bringing my laptop with some movies.

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For what reasons do you have to stay at a hospital overnight? My surgery is an outpatient. Does the insur require it? Or if you have certain health conditions??

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Everyone having lap band at my hospital stays overnight. They like to make sure the pain is okay and they start the walking a few times the first day. The second day is when I'll drink the dye so they can check that the fluids are working accordingly. Once that is checked, then I'll be discharged, probably by 11 a.m. or so.

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Mine was outpatient, BUT... My sweet 12 year old niece gave me her favorite dolly of all time, that she was given the day she was born to keep me company when I went for surgery. I held onto that dolly (Sally) until they were ready to wheel me back to the OR, and then DH held onto her until I woke up. It was very sweet, and no one else has ever had even temporary custody of Sally, so that was very special to me, and gave me much comfort.

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My red thongs were the first thing I put in the bag. Just kidding! :thumbup:

Travelgirl - how sweet of your niece!

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I'm having surgery on Friday and I'm also planning to bring my mp3 player. I know they won't let me rest during the night because the standing orders are to walk every 2 hours and do deep breaths every hour. But I figure I can nap with my music in between. It will help drown out some of the noise. I downloaded a bunch of nice, relaxing music. I'm also bringing sucrets losenges for the sore throat. Someone told me that if you really load up on Water the day before surgery, that it helps with the dry mouth. We'll see. I'm going to try it tomorrow.

Good luck to all the april avengers!

Kim

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I'm having surgery on Friday and I'm also planning to bring my mp3 player. I know they won't let me rest during the night because the standing orders are to walk every 2 hours and do deep breaths every hour. But I figure I can nap with my music in between. It will help drown out some of the noise. I downloaded a bunch of nice, relaxing music. I'm also bringing sucrets losenges for the sore throat. Someone told me that if you really load up on Water the day before surgery, that it helps with the dry mouth. We'll see. I'm going to try it tomorrow.

Good luck to all the april avengers!

Kim

Before you pop a lozenge of any kind after surgery, ASK first, they may not want you to do that, just in case you accidentally swallow it. :thumbup: That would be an awful thing to get stuck. Maybe get some throat spray instead, or the melt away strips.

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Hmm, what to bring? I like the laptop idea and the mp3 idea, I never would have thought of those.

Besides the usual toiletries, I think my own pjs and robe and slippers even though the hospital has their own ugly ones, crossword puzzles, word finds, notebook and pen and my meds.

I too have to be overnight. At least it'll be a nice (?) break from my kids.

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I packed a crap load of stuff, from meds, clothes, to games, books, etc.

And all I did when I came out of it, I needed a pad, my underwear, and I was good to go. I never got anything else out of my bag, the virginia tech shootings happened that day so I was transfixed on the tv. I was there approx. 36 hours.. Pulled on a summer dress and flip flops on the way out the door.

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      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.
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