Hi all,
I hope you are all doing well! Anything exciting happening for you at the moment?
I thought I would do something a little different and talk a bit more about what to pack ready for surgery and what I found helped me the most during my recovery period (which is a year-long).
Before the surgery, as you all probably know, you go for a preoperative assessment; this is where you can meet your anaesthetist, nurses, and surgeon looking after you. They may discuss the surgery with you and what medication you will be on during and after surgery. It’s an excellent opportunity for yourself and your family to ask any questions you may have or any worries you need to discuss. Pre-ops are usually around a month to a few weeks before your actual surgery as they need all the up to date data, like blood tests, height, weight etc. All of this is nothing to worry about, and if anything, it’s more comforting as again, like I said, you can discuss everything and have questions answered.
Moving onto packing for your stay in hospital after having surgery
Packing wise you need to take quite a bit to ensure that all bases are covered. For females, the surgery can bring on a period even if you aren’t due around that time; the trauma to the body can bring on an early period, so bear that in mind and pack for all possibilities. Everything else, though, I would suggest super baggy clothing as it’s hard to move your arms above your head for the first few times, so baggy clothing, shorts, as it’s pretty hot in hospital and mine, was in the summer during a heatwave, so shorts were a good choice. Baby wipes, as you aren’t able to shower for a while afterwards, unfortunately, so baby wipes can help keep you fresh, everyday toiletries like toothbrush etc. Dry shampoo was a lifesaver also; having new or fresh-looking hair always makes you feel better, I think. Slippers to walk around in but make sure they fit nicely as you don’t want to be slipping over or anything that would hurt! Extra underwear is a must just in case of any accidents or anything, but don’t be embarrassed if you do; nurses deal with it all the time, and it’s all normal.
Recovery period
I was only in the hospital for a week after surgery; then, I was allowed to be discharged. I was sent home with the medication I was on in the hospital to help with the pain and discomfort. (I won’t lie; it was painful, but it goes pretty quickly) The journey home was scary!! My hospital was around 1 hour 30 minutes away from where I live, and because I live in Devon, the roads here are all mainly quite bendy; I believe in the end, I was cornered in the car with around six pillows to hold me up! I tell you what pillows will be your best friend during all of this, get as many as you can; I recommend a pillow that pregnant women use, I guess a pregnancy pillow? It’s a V shape, but that was amazing as you can position it around your back comfortably and everything. We stopped a couple of times from getting out and stretch during the car journey as I wasn’t used to sitting down for too long as I found it hurt more as I started to cease up.
Once I was home, I had a garden chair to sit up straight on as I found our sofa was a bit too low for soft for me to be able to sit in at first, so that could also be a good suggestion/idea to think about as a backup plan in case your sofa is also too low like mine. Other than that, again sleeping, it was hard to get in and out of bed, but you soon adapt and find your ways, have regular medication to help, and you should be fine. Again pillows! Take them everywhere; I even took mine into spoons with me when out for lunch, hahaha. Try and walk daily, not too much as you’ll get tired quickly but every day keeps pushing yourself; otherwise, I found I struggled as all I wanted to do was go out and enjoy the sun, I don’t like sitting around too much, I get bored quite quickly so walks were the best thing for me!
I can’t think of anything else too important to say, so if you have any questions, then feel free to ask, and I’ll try and help as much as I can. All I seriously recommend is that you drink your laxatives!! The medication they put you on bloats your stomach and makes it quite uncomfortable, so try and drink them to help go to the toilet to relieve stomach pain. Again you should then have an eight week or so checkup with your surgeon to ensure all is well, then after that a few months till you are fully recovered at a year post-op.
Best of luck with everything, and stay calm; you will be fine! There is lots of support out there, too, and I’m always here if you need to talk to someone.
Stay safe!
Katie. Xx
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