Hosptial Stay List of MUST HAVES?

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slightlysilly

slightlysilly

Joined
Feb 10, 2011
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I was looking for a thread on this, and I couldn't find one, and if there is one that I'm missing, please post it for me in the reply thread.

I'm trying to make my hospital as comfortable and fun as I can... what are some of the MUST HAVE things I need for my hospital stay? (It is supposed to be 3-4 days, but I'm reading that it may be longer than that) It's laproscopic abdominal surgery (probably like most of us have).

What did you feel you needed at the hospital that were lifesavers for you? Things that you wish you had with you looking back?

Thanks in advance!
 
DustyKat said:
There is a wiki entry and some old threads you may be interested at looking at Maura:

http://www.crohnsforum.com/wiki/Hospital-stay-what-to-take-non-urgent-help

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=18214

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=47819

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=42611

Hope that helps!

Dusty. :)
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Thank you so much Dusty, I was looking for something like this, and I rooted around the surgery board, and I couldn't find anything... Thanks so much!
 
Must Haves IMO: crocs- to walk in hospital, socks, portable fan for calming noise and temp, feathered pillow from home, underwear, cozy pajamas, glasses, phone/charger, reading material, vitamins. I'm sure I am missing more, but a good start!
PS PLEASE tell me how you knew drug induced lupus? I go for my 3rd loading dose soon. My joints have been aching since 2 weeks after 2nd dose. My GI ran blood tests, but all results were normal. I wonder if you just had pains with Remicade too? I also have celiac, too. Would appreciate the info. Thanks!
 
hair ties, hair clips to keep your hair from getting tangled. A good brush/comb & dry shampoo. Shower shoes. Hand wipes. Button front nighties. Slippers to walk, walk, walk in (walk a lot!) Cozy robe to put over you. Movies in whatever form. Sleep mask / eye cover. A bar of chocolate for when you can eat to get the ick taste out of your mouth. All the phone numbers you might want/need.

best to you
 
music to listen to, movies to watch, a fan (especially if you get hot easily), your own toiletries, (i.e. shampoo and body wash, toothpaste, etc.) Sometimes the ones the hospital give you don't smell as good as yours.

Good luck with your surgery! :)
 
Noise cancelling headphones or earplugs. Hospitals can be so noisy, especially at night. I usually bring a book, but never end up reading it. One time I had so much pain meds that, when I was trying to read, all of the letters started moving and it seemed like the words were in a foreign language, lol. I hope your surgery goes well, I'll be thinking of you!
 
iriechic said:
Must Haves IMO: crocs- to walk in hospital, socks, portable fan for calming noise and temp, feathered pillow from home, underwear, cozy pajamas, glasses, phone/charger, reading material, vitamins. I'm sure I am missing more, but a good start!
PS PLEASE tell me how you knew drug induced lupus? I go for my 3rd loading dose soon. My joints have been aching since 2 weeks after 2nd dose. My GI ran blood tests, but all results were normal. I wonder if you just had pains with Remicade too? I also have celiac, too. Would appreciate the info. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Thank you for your answer. I am on my kindle at the moment and would like to give you a more detailed answer when I am on my work computer. In the meantime, please see my blog www.gimpycolon.WordPress.com for a glimpse into the lupus and how it came to be. I'm free of it now, so there is hope! More tomorrow!
 
I'm also having surgery in a couple of weeks with an expected 4 day hospital stay... I can't stand it! I can't stand the boredom most of all. And the discomfort. For some reason because I know I'm stuck there and can't leave and I'm so uncomfortable, my mind loses all ability to focus on anything (I used to find the same thing on long air flights). I'm taking books but not sure if I'll be able to read them.

Other things:

Baby wipes (because you won't always want to get out of bed to wash your hands)

Your own food and drink! (Avoid hospital food at all costs)

Phone (because the hospital will charge you a fortune to use their bedside phones). They tell you not to bring valuables in because you can't be sure you'll always have your belongings with you - sometimes you might be taken away from your bed for a test or something and you have to leave your things on the ward. I'm taking a very cheap old mobile phone in with me, that I won't care if it gets stolen, and leaving my nice BlackBerry at home. :)

A fan (hospitals are always too hot)

Pain killers I'm taking my own supply in case they don't give me enough

Sleeping pills Hospitals are noisy at night, and boring during the day. I plan to be awake as little as possible.

People Visitors are the best part of the day, and it's good to have willing friends/relatives to bring you things, carry your bags around and bring them to the ward (because here at least you don't know where your bed on a ward will be until after the surgery is finished, and they wheel you there before you're awake - you need someone to follow you with your things), and to speak to nurses on your behalf when you need things like more pain meds (I get really confused after surgery - as does everyone, the drugs screw your mind up - and can't always make myself clear to nurses, but my family can usually work out what I'm rambling about).
 
Essieluv said:
Noise cancelling headphones or earplugs. Hospitals can be so noisy, especially at night. I usually bring a book, but never end up reading it. One time I had so much pain meds that, when I was trying to read, all of the letters started moving and it seemed like the words were in a foreign language, lol. I hope your surgery goes well, I'll be thinking of you!
Click to expand...

Me too! Also the morphine pump would make me hallucinate bugs crawling and flying around the room.:rof:

I suggest a combination lock. My hospital had locker type cupboards for us to store our belongings in. When I went into surgery all of my valuables went into my locker and on went my lock!:ycool:
 
spingirl said:
Are you really bringing pain meds? I'd be worried I would OD!
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Yep. I won't OD. If they give me lots, I won't take the ones I'm bringing with me. If they don't give me any, mine are there as a back up. One time I had major surgery, it ran hours over the time it was supposed to take, and by the time I'd come round from the anaesthetic it was night time and my surgeon had gone home. No one had left any instructions for the nurses advising what pain meds I could be given. Because it was night, she had to call an on-call doctor to authorise my pain meds. The on-call doctor had a hundred or so emergencies going on on other wards. So having just had a total colectomy and a pelvic surgery known for its painfulness both at the same time, I was left with no pain meds at all for hours until the doctor got there. Don't fancy going through that again!
 
Wow! You poor thing. So I guess better to have early in the week surgery too. Keeping this in mind. That just sounds cruel.
 
iriechic said:
Must Haves IMO: crocs- to walk in hospital, socks, portable fan for calming noise and temp, feathered pillow from home, underwear, cozy pajamas, glasses, phone/charger, reading material, vitamins. I'm sure I am missing more, but a good start!
PS PLEASE tell me how you knew drug induced lupus? I go for my 3rd loading dose soon. My joints have been aching since 2 weeks after 2nd dose. My GI ran blood tests, but all results were normal. I wonder if you just had pains with Remicade too? I also have celiac, too. Would appreciate the info. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Ok, so I started on Remicade in December of 2010, and ended up in remission. In July of 2012, I started having joint pain. Like the kind of pain you have when you go to the gym after not going for a long time. But in every joint in my body. It wouldn't hurt if I lay COMPLETELY STILL. I found that it would be relieved by having a Remicade infusion. I called my GI in August and told him about it. He moved my Remicade appts closer together. It started happening again. I would be ok for a week or two after the infusion and then it would start again. My GI decided to send me to a Rheumatologist who ordered tests to see if I had med induced Lupus erythematosus. It turns out I had it. I was switched to Humira and the joint pain went away but all the crohn's disease symptoms came back, which is why I am having surgery. If you have any more questions, please let me know!!! Hope that helped you!
 
Slippers, computer, cell phone, magazines and books, comfortable clothing, snacks if you're able to eat after surgery.
 
As the person who ends up staying the hospital with the patient I really like having my own flashlight. This way if the patient wants the lights out for sleeping I can stay awake and read. I also saw a recommendation to carry a whistle in case you get parked in hallway somewhere and have an emergency. Don't forget to check the nurse call button each time you go to a different room.
 
iriechic said:
Must Haves IMO: crocs- to walk in hospital, socks, portable fan for calming noise and temp, feathered pillow from home, underwear, cozy pajamas, glasses, phone/charger, reading material, vitamins. I'm sure I am missing more, but a good start!
PS PLEASE tell me how you knew drug induced lupus? I go for my 3rd loading dose soon. My joints have been aching since 2 weeks after 2nd dose. My GI ran blood tests, but all results were normal. I wonder if you just had pains with Remicade too? I also have celiac, too. Would appreciate the info. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I had a horrible reaction to Remikade. It literally made me into a quadraplegic and I was in the hospital for 10 days as my body recovered. Very very painful and was on morphine. I totally feel for you and sorry you have to go through this.
 

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