what to take to the hospital - a checklist

W. Carter;n857636 said:

The most important thing is some underwear and pj bottoms so your butt isn't hangin' out in that stupid backwards gown.

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Front or back I didn't care who saw what. Underwear would have been a PITA to deal with thinking of it now. I just kep a second hospital gown to put on like a robe when I went for a walk.

almost_hectic;n857638 said:

Front or back I didn't care who saw what. Underwear would have been a PITA to deal with thinking of it now. I just kep a second hospital gown to put on like a robe when I went for a walk.

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Good ole Uncle Sam is one of the last hospitals that still issues good ole fashion pj's upon request.

I had bad bleeding issues too so I would have needed a couple dozen clean pair to change every time they needed to clean up all the blood.

Maybe heating pad, cordless tens machine, front open shirt to go with, ginger tea, peanut butter crackers.

Gia said:

Maybe heating pad, cordless tens machine, front open shirt to go with, ginger tea, peanut butter crackers.

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Ginger needs some care with warfarin.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6594244/

Noted!

ncarrlson had it mostly right when music player was in the list.

When I was in the hospital, I brought my phone. I had at least one account for streaming video on my phone.
I brought earbuds (although wired headphones will also work).

One of the most important things I brought with me was a long charging cable, and a pretty large rechargeable battery. This thing plugs into a USB port and can maintain a charge for many hours.

I tried to keep my phone at full charge.

One thing that the nurses probably don't know about is there's usually an empty USB port on the computer in the room. With a long enough cord, you can plug your phone, or charger, into the port and keep your phone fully charged.

Watching what YOU want to see, or listening to audio that YOU WANT TO HEAR helps you pass the time. If you have music or video that you want to enjoy in the room, put it on your phone. That way, you'll have it when you want it.

I highly recommend bringing a sleep mask. I'm glad I brought one as the room I was in was right off the front desk and they always had a bunch of lights on 24/7, and so much of that went through the glass door and windows to my room and otherwise made going to, or staying, asleep difficult for me.

Definitely bring earplugs as others have said. I didn't need them for my heart surgery (mitral valve repair) as I had my own room afterward, but earlier in my life I had an appendectomy at 10:00pm and spent one night in the hospital sharing a room with a guy who watched MeTv at volume ten the whole entire night. I had my wireless earbuds with me and luckily they were charged enough to play music into my ears to lessen the impact of hearing "My Three Sons" episodes, but it was brutal! The nurses even told him his TV volume was totally fine and to not even worry about me because I had earbuds that I could use.

I also brought a pack of wet toilet wipes. I have one of those fancy washlet toilet seats at home and whenever I am forced to use toilet paper at a restaurant or when I go to work I feel like I've gone back in time. Even if I didn't have a washlet, I would recommend bringing something anyways as hospitals tend to bulk up on super thin toilet paper.

Obviously bring some portable device already with downloaded podcasts or audio books on it. I had great WiFi in the hospital I was in, but that's not always the case. When I'd had my appendectomy at a hospital that was across the street from where I had my heart surgery the WiFi sucked. I used up a lot of data in the time I was there and it was the first day of my monthly cycle so I had to basically be in Airplane Mode for much of the rest of that billing cycle.

I brought a cordless foil razor I had so I wouldn't get an itchy beard while I was there.

This is something I did beforehand rather than what I brought, but my hair is pretty oily and tends to get real crappy rather fast if I don't wash it regularly, so the day before my surgery I cut my hair really short as I knew I'd be attached to lots of tubes and wires and not able to take a shower for a few days. I basically had a military hairdo for men. It felt better than having longer hair that would get oily.

I would suggest loose clothing for the trip home. I didn't anticipate being full of fluid at all never mind a week post-surgery. I had to have my husband bring me a different pair of shoes and my clothing was a little snug. Might not be a big deal for everyone but we had over a two-hour drive to get home. I brought a cross word puzzle book and my iPad which helped pass the time.

hensylee said:

ok, this is just a suggestion. Why not start a checklist just for things to take to the hospital and then when someone asks, all we have to do is refer them to this thread?

1. loose clothes to wear home

2. loose sleep bra, loose exercise bra for buxom beauties (nurses in hospital told me to get some)

3. slippers

4. toiletries - toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, comb/brush, lipstick (for ladies only )

5. shortie pj bottoms or underwear to cover your particular self when you 'walk the halls', as walking is demanded by staff. You shoulda seen all those bare bottoms when we walked. Nobody much cared about our behinds, including us. We were trying too hard to stand up straight.

next?

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I'm going in for my second aortic valve, and this time a mitral valve as well. I'm taking my chest bear buddy again

No time to read all posts sorry if mentioned: long extension cord for electrical outlets to charge cell, and tablet (i.e. iPad).I was surprised you could use cell phones in ICU. When I took care of aging father same hospital network had banned them 4 years earlier. So it was days into hospital stay before the topic came up with a nurse. You may get moved to a chair from bed and you never know about electrical outlet placement so s long extension is advisable.

Also wet wipes are valuable. They provided thick wipes but they were cumbersome. You cannot flush either so better to have the finer thinner wipes available. I also made sure I had a file with every password and account for all payments and insurances, etc. in case I needed to contacts to take care of anything vitally important.

I’ll add your own pillow, some favorite snacks bc unfortunately food is typically not the best and you might not even have an appetite, I wore my slippers jome
Bc my feet were still swollen. Also, the best thing I had was a light shawl to put over
My gown. It was perfect for walks.

I made a consolidated synopsis of all the pages into a list if it helps others, some repeats in here but here it goes:


I highly recommend bringing a sleep mask.

earplugs. Hospital may have. wireless earbuds with me and luckily they were charged enough to play music

I also brought a pack of wet toilet wipes.

cordless foil razor I had so I wouldn't get an itchy beard while I was there.

before surgery- cut hair really short or women put hair back

Before surgery - Cut all nails

I would suggest loose clothing if a long trip home, even shoes/slippers. Fluid retention.

I brought a crossword puzzle book, sudoku ext and iPad which helped pass the time.

I’ll add your own large pillow(s), dark cases to differentiate;

I wore my slippers home, my feet were still swollen.

I brought earbuds (although wired headphones will also work).

hospital bra, comfortable bras, feminine products

long charging cable, and a pretty large rechargeable battery. Large usb cod.

PJs, bottoms at least, so no butt hanging out if you cae

Hug bear in case you sneeze or laugh, hospital may provide

Laptop for Facetime, videos, charging cables

Prunes/dried fruit/snacks

Bit of cash

Boxers/undies

Socks

Chapstick

Lotion and usual trip/vacation toiletries

Books, games- on phone or real ones

Hand fan if you get hot

Paperwork – living will, insurance card, power of attorney

Big tshirts, can cut V’s in tshirts

Button up shirts, easier to get on

Enough meds to make it home if a long drive, before check out

Dry shampoo

Magic marker to label body parts (ha! I’m going to. Bell for when tubes removed too)

Candy, food treats for nurses

flip flops to leave next to bed (we called these poo flops when in Japan, they stay outside the bathroom)

Some thoughts, based on hospitalizations the last couple years (and, again, some may be repeaters):

A powerpack - I brought, I think a 10,000 mw (whatever the units were) power supply with me. If I couldn't get my phone charged in the room, I could still do it with the powerpack. I could also use the powerpack to charge my tablet.

Although the people in the room usually don't know it, there's often an extra USB port on their terminals, behind the monitor. With a long USB cord, you can charge your powerpack and maybe your phone (depending on the type of charging adapter your phone uses). Lightning cables for iPad and iPhone can be a bit of a challenge - unless you're already using a fully charged powerpack.

My last time in the hospital, I was able to watch streaming TV on my iPhone 11. The picture was large enough to be watchable, and what I watched was mostly better than what was available in the hospital room.

The next time I'm in the hospital (not for a while, I hope), I'll be bringing a Fire Tablet - I'll probably bring a 10", although an 8" will also work. The tablet will primarily be for streaming or watching content. It uses USB-C, so charging shouldn't be an issue.

Why a Fire tablet instead of an iPad? Simple. The Fire Tablet has an SD slot -- you can record videos, audio, booksk, and other stuff onto the SD card, insert it into the Fire Tablet, and have a LOT of content that you can enjoy - if you're in any mood to enjoy it. The tablet also has Wi-Fi, so you can stream from services that you've got subscriptions for (or free ones like Pluto). Wired headphones make the best use of electricity - I still used my Bluetooth earphones.

I sent my list to a friend who just heart surgery within the year. His thoughts were he was in such a haze doing any puzzle or reading was completely out. Maybe some music that would relax him. He said snacks were also good, he said he wasn't hungry, but it was just poor hospital food.
"I would have killed for a brownie".

Actually, after my valve was implanted, I wanted to read. I brought a few books.

Back then, the stay in the hospital was longer than it is today.

When I was allowed to have food brought in, I had a barbeque beef sandwich - one of my favorites. The hospital was close enough to Tommy's (famous for chiliburgers) that I probably could have asked my wife to get me one of them.

If there was Internet. If there was WiFi. If there were tablets and cell phones, and if I could stream (or even have books on a tablet or phone), my options would have been much greater. Hell, I may have brought some porn and let the people monitoring my heart rate freak out.

Thanks Protimenow, glad I'm not in until next week, that ending made me laugh quite a bit.

*looking back over this thread, it started in 2005 and things like "bring your iPod!" are pretty amusing.

Reflecting on this after 19 years the only additional suggestion I have is an adult coloring book and a large set of markers. My brain and attention was pretty messed up and nodding off was a real issue. I couldn't concentrate on reading so I wish I could have just doodled.