What to bring to the hospital..!!

Here are my blogs about the day of surgery, and the hospital stay (3 days total.. including day I had surgery) if anyone is interested. (:

http://ourfightnow.blogspot.com/2011/08/surgery-day.html

http://ourfightnow.blogspot.com/2011/09/hospital-stay.html

Now, on to the post....

When I went, i didn't pack obsessively or anything the day before.. I used (almost) everything I brought. and didn't really need anything that wasn't provided. So to put your mind at ease, here's a list of what the hospital had already provided for me.. (check with whatever hospital you're having surgery at.. because it may be different there..!)

• Toothbrush.
• Toothpaste.
• Blankets.
• Pillows.
• Soap.
• Towels to shower with if needed (I didn't until I got home..)
• Aquaphor (a vaseline type product.. it was a freaking life saver.. my lips got so dry. It definatley helped. a ton.)
• Drinks (you can't really eat in the hospital.. lol.)
• Medications (if needed.. i was swallowing pills while still in the hospital. But I didn't bring any of mine with me.. They had them on file and brought them to me from the pharmacy or whatever, there.
• Internet access.
• They gave me a word-search book to do pre-op while i was waiting.. i still have it.. haha.
• And a gown. they also had socks with grips on the bottom, and like.. sleep pants available. I spent most of my time in a gown, and sleep shorts that i brought from home, though.

So I didn't bring any of that (other than one towel to wash my face with that i never ended up using.) But what I did bring was..:

• The clothes I was wearing at the time.. (Grey cotton Shorts, bra/underwear, tank top, and a cardigan, and flip flops.)
• My laptop & Charger.
• My Ipod & Charger.
• My cell phone & charger.
• a notebook and pen (and a few sharpies.. i love drawing with them.. no clue why.)
• my meter to test my blood sugar.
• some hair elastics/ties and a headband.
• a retainer for my nose piercing (a plastic clear thing you put through it.. they have them for every piercing possible.. i didn't want to risk mine closing up during surgery and my anesthesiologist allowed me to keep the plastic retainer in..
• My nose stud.. to put back in when i woke up..
• Insurance cards and stuff like that.
• chapstick
• deoderant
• face wash (acne wash..)
• perfume/body spray/mist stuff.
• hair brush.
• eyeliner and mascara.
• differin (Rx acne medication)
• wallet
• a pair of pajama shorts, change of underwear, and 2 tank tops.
• (I bought a hospital t-shirt while i was there.. more of a reminder type thing. but i ended up wearing it on the way home.)
• and headphones.

I'm pretty sure I used all of it except one of the tanktops that i brought.. (It was the mid-end of August.. it was pretty hot.. and I was actually sunburnt at the time too.. They were the only thing that made sense untill i was freezing my ass off in the hospital.. haha.)

Oh. and I did manage to fit all of that into one black backpack that I used to use for school. I think my mom brought more than me in more bags.. and she was only there half the time I was.. (Thankfully.. she honestly REALLY got on my nerves.. She's a nurse.. trying to play nurse/doctor lady on me.. I was a bitch to her when I was drugged up.. It was crazy.)

So yeah.. Maybe those lists helped you figure out what you need to bring to the hospital to have surgery.. Keep in mind it all also depends on how long you're staying.. I stayed a total of 3 days.. I went in around 5am friday. went into surgery around 7:45am friday. then I left about 1pm on Sunday. Some people stay longer, others stay less.. (although all the nurses and doctors seemed surprized i was ready to leave on the 3rd day.. They were planning on me staying one more day at least.)

Alrighty then. I think that's about it. Have a great day. (:

-Ashley
ashleyellen1637@aol.com
www.twitter.com/ashleyohara_ (don't forget the underscore.. for some reason it wont let me add it into the url)
www.facebook.com/justashley1637

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