Slippers!  And hoping your surgery is a success!

OHHH DAMN...chapstick...good one. I remember my lips being sooooo chapped.THANKS

Cholorseptic spray for the back of my throat (I cough myself silly post op from the respiratior...nothing worse that coughing post op!)

Tums (ditto, post op heartburn...Takes the nurses a week to get the ok from the surgeon!)

Warm, fuzzy socks, my favorite pillow, wipes for my face & neck or a spray bottle of evian water to cool me down (air freshner or those little sample bottles of perfume)...

Good luck!

Sharon

I like to take clothes that make me "look ready to go home!"  Example, I always have sweat-type pants and the minute I have less tubes/wires on me I immediately put on a short-wide sleeved shirt!  

 Best wishes on the surgery!  

Hi PouchoMarx,

Take all of the above plus your favorite toothbrush and toothpaste, plus something to read.  I was pretty out of it the first 3 days and looked a mess(I was in the hosp. 5 nights) with the pain meds, which is why I didn't tell anyone about my surgery until I got home.  Also make sure all your insurance ducks are in a row with your doctor/hospital.  I got the surprise of my life when US Anesthesia sent me a bill for $3045, and that was after Aetna paid "their" part.  As it turned out, Presby Hosp. of Dallas contracts an "out of network" anesthesiology group, mentioned above, and they can charge you and your insurance company what the heck they want.  I am in the midst of an appeal, and since then the state of Texas has passed a law that will help patients enlist help from the Tx. Dept. of Insurance to negotiate lower bills from hospital-based doctors who are not "in network."  My J-pouch surgery was 4-8-15, and I filed my appeal 5-21-15.  I haven't received the bottom line yet, but have received info. from those who are on my side on the appeal.

Ask for some body lotion/moisturizer while you are in the hospital.  They gave me a tube of Sween 24, and it's wonderful.  I have since ordered a big tube from the Sween Store!  Good luck and best wishes!

Connie

a place to lockup your laptop and phone..

Must have- earplugs!

I brought a small table fan. I get hot and sweat when I heal so it helped a lot. All the other suggestions here are spot on. Good luck!

Books or an e-reader. Also, bring flip-flops or hard soled slippers (but ones you can slip on and off easily, because for me, bending down to try to put on my slippers was painful in the initial days after surgery) A bathrobe or oversized sweatshirt is a good idea too. During one of my surgeries (second one, I was in for 13 days because I obstructed post-op, of course), I was stuck on a ward with 2 other patients and I ended up spending a lot of sitting on the benches in the hallways since one patient's family was coming and going at all hours, which I found quite distracting (I should mention that for whatever reason, I find that the anesthetic makes me sensitive to sound for a few days after surgery). There was a sitting area and window at the end of the hall, and I spent a lot of time there. It was chilly, so the robe came in very handy!

I just saw another suggestion for ear plugs - yes those would have come in handy too!

Spooky is right about the flip flops...I always wear them in the shower at the hospital...after having picked up athlete's foot during one stay and plantar's warts during another I no longer go into shower stalls barefoot (one more problem that I do not need to deal with post op)...that includes at hotels...

I find that the cheap croc's knock-offs that you can pick up at the dollar stores work really well because they don't slip when you are on wet floors.

Sharon