What Do I Need For The Hospital And For The First Week At Home?

[swmorris 0]

I bought more than I actually ended up using' date=' so I'll just post what I used (and what I think would have been useful).

Hospital:

Gas-X strips

Biotene mouth spray (They let me have ice chips so it wasn't a big problem - but I know others swear by it and I tried it a couple of times and it worked ok)

Comfy slippers w/grips

Loose pants to wear home

Tank top

Loose underwear

Flip flops to wear home

Cell phone charger

Medications they didn't supply (mood stabilizer)

Glasses/Glasses case

I brought a ton more. Magazines, my iPod, etc. I was passed out almost all day when I wasn't up walking. I didn't use any of that stuff. I over packed, no doubt about it.

First week:

sugar free Jello

broth (Except vegetable which tastes like old boiled carrots to me)

Protein powder - a few varieties but I have almost 100% stuck with Eas whey Protein Powder in vanilla since it mixes well with everything and goes down easy

Isopure zero carb (15g Protein in 8oz)

Creamy Soups (to strain)

sugar free popsicles

Silk

Skim Milk

Fage 0% Yogurt

That was most of my diet the first week.

Second week I added to the above: (was allowed to move to puree)

Cottage cheese

Refried Beans - Didn't enjoy these so much, tried adding cheese, still didn't like them

fruit to make smoothies

Stuff to make chili - was REALLY good pureed, used ground turkey

Boneless skinless chicken breast - made some good pureed chicken salad and probably would have enjoyed tuna too

Cream of Wheat - healthy grain

I would advise making stuff ahead of time and pureeing and freezing it. I did not feel up to cooking much. I often ate the same stuff over and over.

As far as things around the house go I used:

Gas-X strips again

Vitamins (Multivitamin - Centrum chewables and Vitamin B12 Sublingual)

Make sure you have enough pillows - I often need extra to kind of lay under my stomach when I'm sleeping on my side

Moved cups down to a lower shelf so I could easily reach them

Made sure the dog food containers were light enough that I could move them easily

Children's Tylenol liquid

Children's Benadryl liquid

Those are all that I really used. I had a huge list with more stuff, but a lot of things I didn't use at all.[/quote']

[jd13 25]

i also took an extension cord for my phone charger so it would reach the bed. there are not alot of plug in the room that where close. Even the nurses thought that was a good idea! And a pillow to hold against ur tummy for when u cough and the car ride home, helps with the bumps in the road!

[swmorris 0]

My surgery was on sept 12 th. the only thing I would add to the list would be socks and tennis shoes. My dr was insistent on walking as much as possible. I spent two nights and walked in my hospital socks ( w treads) on hard tile floor. My incisions are sore but my calves are killing me from walking with no support! It hurts to walk even today which is 4 days post op.