Getting Ready

[JudithD23]

Well all day I've been busy packing, taking care of the house and our three dogs, getting ready for a very early morning drive down to Stanford. Preop is four to six hours and then we'll just check into a hotel, probably for a sleepless night, and then we have to be at Stanford at 5am.

I've gone over all the posts on the presurgery forum and I've compiled my list of things to take. And I'll be staying at a hotel for the duration, so I'm packing all sorts of stuff.

If anyone has a must take, please let me know.

Judith

 

[Nancy]

Make sure you have some headache medication, and bring Imodium. I needed that! A neckroll pillow is a good thing, as is a small lap blanket and a sweater to put on. When I am nervous, I get cold. Bring breath mints, nerves give you dry mouth. Also some hard candies or something like that. Bring wet hand wipes. Bring Purell hand sanitizer. Hospitals are filthy places (many people don't know that). Bring some small change for vending machines, bring something to do while you are waiting.

Make some sort of stickman signs for your husband so when you first see him and he can't talk, you can point and have him nod at the drawing and what it means. Things like "you made it!", "I love you", "are you in pain?", etc.

Bring comfortable shoes.

Best wishes.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Earplugs sounded like a good idea (for sleeping post-op).

Also a prescription for an anti-anxiety drug for the night(s) before.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Phyllis]

A cell phone if you have one and email addresses of friends and loved ones. Many hospitals have computers available to family in the waiting room- Brigham did. You will be fine and greatly relieved when this is all over. After the surgeon called me in the waiting room to tell me that it was over and Dick had done fine and I could see him in an hour, I burst into tears - tears of relief. Godspeed and we'll be waiting to hear.