Totally starting to panic!

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R

ruth

Surgery is set for 1/9. Spoke to the Cardio who scheduled me to come to the hospital for check in 1/8 at 7am! So early! I'm in shock. They will do cardiac cath and then mitral valve replacement the next morning at 5am (do these Dr.'s never sleep?).

Now this is getting just a bit toooo real and I'm starting to panic. I don't even like hospitals. I mean, what am I supposed to do all day between the cath and the surgery the next day, worry? Bring my laptop and try to hack into a wireless network to go online? Read a book (yeah, right, I can't concentrate when worried...)? Chill out to some tunes on the old iPod? AAAACCCCCKKKK!!!

Like, am I supposed to pack a toothbrush, an overnight bag? How does this work? The only (2) times I've ever been in a hospital I've been quite busy being in labor and afterwards had a new baby to cuddle with. This sucks! I so totally don't [[DO!]] want to do this. EEEaaakkkk!!

I really, really, really, can't stand this waiting. Just cut me open now if that's what you have to do but I just can't wrap my head around the preparation stuff. I'm a list maker, I've got a list called "surgery" in iPrioritize.com, scares the %$# out of me every time I look at it. I bought a 'cough pillow' am shopping for a wedge pillow for my bed, darn it I just can't believe I'm going to be incapacitated in a week and a half!

I swear the nicest thing that I ever had happen in a hospital was after baby #1 when some lady (the pink shirts or something like that) came by and gave me a nail file. I'd broken just about every nail the day before in labor, I was in heaven just having that file to bring me back to what began to feel like normal.

What did you all bring to the hospital with you for distraction/comfort/etc?
 
Hi Ruth,

I haven't had my surgery yet so I can only imagine how stressful it must all be. Just wanted to say that I will be thinking of you and praying for you over the next few days. Hang in there - it will all be over soon and you'll be back on here assuring those of us in the waiting room that it is achievable and manageable!!! Take care of yourself - Jeanne
 
Ruth.......

There are lists here of things people have brought with them to the hospital.

In my case, I arrived on an emergency basis in an ambulance with no personal articles..

My DH brought me my hairbrush, lip balm, slippers, a pen and paper and reading glasses some number of days later. At some point the hospital gave me a toothbrush and toothpaste. That is all I had the whole 9-10 days I was in the hospital, and truthfully, that was all I needed or wanted.

I had no use for books as I couldn't concentrate. After my surgery both in CCIC and in CCU, I slept, I watched a little tv, and I walked when permitted.....I was on oxygen the whole time I was in MGH. I hardly ate and really only wanted to see just my DH. I didn't want much company as it exhausted me. A few people very dear to me visited very briefly.

Others have said they welcomed having their Ipods. I didn't want anything like that.

I feel your angst and am very sorry you are struggling so in dealing with this. It seems I will be facing a second OHS before long and understand your anxiety. Try to keep busy doing things you really enjoy; being with people you love to make this time precious for you. Make these days before your surgery special in little ways that are meaningful for you.

I know others will help with a practical list of things to bring. Perhaps others found a need for these things. If (when) I have my second OHS, I probably will pack a small bag with these things just in case I find I want them.

Hang out here when you need to vent. We all understand and will help in any way we are able.

Good luck.
 
Thank you for the kind replies :) Aussiemember, I really, really hope to be assuring you warmly from the other side.

JKM, Reading glasses.... oh no! Shoot. I wear extended wear contacts, sleep with them, wore them thru both labors, they aren't going to let me wear them in surgery are they? Oh great, wake up in ICU intibated and blind? I should have gone for the ole zap the eyes with a laser routine.... I'm adding disposible contacts to my list as I type, thanks!!
 
hi ruth --

hi ruth --

sorry you are so anxious. having done something like this once before, i am tempted to tell you its a "piece of cake", but last i said that to someone, things didnt go that well. you may want to check out my website where i talk about treating anxiety, which is my specialty (drjosephbrown.com). private message me and i'll give you the username and password for the patients page, which has lots of fun anxiety management tools. i too am going for surgery, on 1/3, but i dont have a list!!! what do you have on yours???? a wedge pillow -- great idea!!! coulda used one last time -- what have you found so far shopping for one? as for glasses, do you have a pair of good old fashioned eyeglasses? putting in any contacts in the recovery room is probably pretty unlikely. -- joe
 
Stuff to take in...well i took next to nothing.

I took enough to brush teeth etc but nothing more.

I had my wife bring in basic toiletries and shorts/shirt twin sets the day after surgery...there really is no point going in with a suitcase.

I'll say what the others wouldn't and say it wasn't really that bad..honest...i have two photos from the day after surgery and i look great appart from the tubes.

I can honestly say that the two days in ICU were the worst due to the uncomfortable bed and sleep problems but from day 3 on the ward i was feeling better and felt 100% better each day from then on in...by day 7 i felt 'normal' although i wasn't really in comparison to how i feel now.

Just go in, sit and watch the crappy tv and sleep as much as you can. I had no family with me prior to surgery by my choice...i didn't want the tears as i was wheeled off down the corridor.

The wedge (or v shaped pillow) is without doubt the best thing you could take...i got one on day 4 or 5 and it saved me.

Best of luck....
 
Ruth, I was reading/laughing about your laptop,When Justin had his surgery we weren't sure what kind of connections they would have at the hospital, so took wires both for computer jacks (not proper name I am sure lol) and phone jacks, We have Cable at home, so before we go to the hospital we sign up for one of the free dial up accounts, (like the aol ones they are always sending) luckily that worked fine since to use the laptop in his room, we just unplugged the phone and used that and our free dial up account. Just remember to cancel it when you get home.Lyn
 
hey, jbrown, here's my list as of this moment:
book to read
contacts, glasses
nail file
toothbrush/paste
dulcolax
tenormin/effexor
ipod, charger, headphones
clie, charger
phone, charger
sweater
cough pillow
gum
hand cream/shea butter

I'm a techno nerd freeze cat scandinavian who has totally dry skin all the time. That pretty much sums up my list.

Magic8, thanks, I got the wedge pillow & dulcolax ideas from lurking on your threads and experience, thanks for sharing! :)

I'm currently coveting the "Read and Relax 2-in-One Bed Pillow" at overstock.com. There are 7 inch and 10/12 inch varieties of these and the higher ones look better to me. I was hoping to avoid the recliner routine if possible, I'm in love with my bed and my heated mattress pad. I really want to be able to hop right back in after I get home and if a wedge pillow will help that then I'll be thrilled.
 
How the different countries differ!

I took about 10 nightgowns, lots of pairs of knickers, a robe, slippers, several skirts, t-shirts, 'sensible' shoes, books, body lotion, make-up, shampoo and in fact full range of toiletries, and all the medication I was taking at that time.

After the first few days I dressed in 'normal' clothes (minus a bra) and went for walks outside in the gardens (hence the shoes). I needed so many nightgowns as I was there for 11 days, as planned.
 
Slippers, ROBE, and Pajama Bottoms come to mind.
Maybe some soft warm socks that are NOT too tight.

I usually end up wearing 2 hospital gowns, one forward, one backwards to 'cover' when in hospital.

A knit cap could be useful if your room is too cool.
Also helps with 'hospital hair'...

Ruth, I HEAR YOU! I am scheduled for my 3rd OHS the week after you and I DON'T WANNA GO !
WAIT a minute, I've got SO MUCH TO DO before...

'AL Capshaw'
 
I know a lot of people say they didn't care but I always want my own bedclothes when I am in the hospital so I always pack gowns and robe. I have "hospital nightgowns" which are sleeveless and low cut (without being trashy;) :D ) because they help with avoiding pressure on incisions and make IV lines easy to deal with. The robe I have has short sleeves that are very roomy.

I also washed my hair well and shaved my legs/underarms the night before as those are important issues for me.

I never had a recliner for any of my OHS but I did have wedge pillows. I found I still needed a couple regular pillows to "fill in the gaps" but the wedge pillow was a Godsend. I also had problems pushing myself up to get out of bed so, for the last OHS, my SO fastened a rope to the bottom of the bed and I was able to pull myself up without too much pain. For some reason pulling worked better than pushing. Had a little explaining to do when my mom came to visit and saw the rope attached to the bed tho.;) :D ;)

Important things to have at the hospital:

Glasses - could not deal with contacts but I wanted my glasses the minute I woke up.
Toothbrush
Deodorant
Hand/body lotion
Vitamins if you take them as doctors never seem to "prescribe" those
Bottled water - if you are fussy about tap water as I am
Socks

Those are the important basics. Anything you think will comfort you should be brought. Even if you never use them, you will know they are there.
 
Ruth, I so understand your angst, particularly about the contacts. Please excuse this if it's a bit of a hi-jack, but:

Why can one not wear extended wear contact lenses? I understand that the regular kind would get dry and yucky and stick to one's eyes and have the potential for causing all sorts of problems. But I wear my contacts for weeks at a time--asleep, awake, also through two labors, doesn't matter, no problems. Where's the compassion for the extremely near-sighted?
 
The plain fact is that there is absolutely nothing of yours that you will actually require in the hospital. They have gowns, "feeties," and virtually any base requirements that you would encounter. Bring your prescriptions, and in your case, regular glasses if you have them. And loose clothes to go home in. The rest is really quite optional.

Be careful not to get that hand cream on your wound, or on the operational area that you will have painted with brown soap the night before the surgery. In fact, I would not use it the day before at all.

I was kept occupied by a constant flow of medical assistants coming to me with essentially all the same questions on numerous forms that couldn't have been different by more than one question each. I actually considered changing my answers after the first three or four, just to make it interesting, but I was afraid they'd mix me up as two different people.

Ordering meals when you're not hungry yet takes up time, and trying to decipher what it is that they actually sent you for lunch or dinner is also somewhat entertaining.

In the evening, RWJUH allowed my little dog to visit, which I thought was very cool. The dog was mostly uncomfortable with the whole idea (especially since a bath had to precede the visit), but was reasonably happy to see me She didn't understand why I chose to remain there when she left, and I wasn't sure I could answer that, either.

One of the really nice things that can happen in the hospital, if you let it, is that you can stop being the one responsible for your well-being. Let the surgeon and the hospital staff take the load for a couple of days. It's a very liberating feeling.

It will go more quickly than you expect. You really won't have that much time to get bored.

After the operation, the quest to sleep will be a major entertainment factor. Every two hours during the night, someone approaches with a cuff to check your blood pressure. A portable x-ray team shows up like SWAT at your bedside at unannounced times. Hut-hut-hut, they have you raised up, hut-hut, a film pack is under you, hut-hut-hut and they've x-rayed you again to ensure that nothing untoward was left inside, more hut-huts and they've pulled out the film pack, and then with various huts and grunts, the parade proceeds down the ward into the distance.

And there will be weighings. Many weighings. One morning at 04:00, I heard the unmistakable screech of unlubricated portable scale wheels grinding into my room. I turned one baleful eye on the perpetrator and said, "It's four in the morning. I'm not being weighed now. You need to wait until there is natural sunlight in my window." The aide fled. Perhaps there were tears. I'll never know. Hopefully, she saw the error of her weighs.

I never got a good night's sleep in the hospital. I was able to teach one night worker how to use the blood pressure cuff, though. He came in at 02:00, threw the automatic BP cuff over my elbow, and tried to get a reading. Petrified that they would see the impossible results on his report and rush in to revive me with needles and electrical paddles, I came fully awake and grabbed him before he could leave. Then I explained to him where the cuff had to be, how the arm should be positioned, and how the tube had to be lined up with the inside of the elbow.

There's lots to do. It's an adventure...

For now, I suggest you go somewhere for the weekend, preferably somewhere that you find beautiful. Not a vacation trip for the kids. You wind up doing everything for their amusement. One for you and hubby. It will help you center and find some peace before you go in.

Best wishes,
 
Hi......

Hi......

*Hi Ruth....I can understand how worrying this all must be for you...can I suggest reading Bob H's post a few times...its soo funny.. Very best Wishes and prayers coming to you.
.Jacqui.

**Hey Bob H......great post....hysterical...lol :cool:
 
Starting to panic? Excellent!! You are normal!!

Like you, I am fair, dry, had only labors as hospital experiences (3 for me....well, 4..... a failed induction with my 3rd who was then eventually 3 weeks late and 10.4 # but finally came on her own :eek: Probably good that they don't let women wait that long anymore! )

Believe me when I say that the nurses in ICU are actually nicer than the nurses in labor and delivery (and hopefully you got treated like a queen there, too!!) Where else can you get instant ice chip delivery, lip balm gently caressing your drugged/dried lips, a full, warm sponge bath? That's all I remember of ICU. Drugs are wonderful if you tell them that you want them ahead of time. I remember nothing bad about ICU!

Your list sounds good. I brought a photo of my children in a cardboard frame thingy. I was going tissue and I took a little rubber cow to thank (sorry, I'm abit odd that way). I brought extra pillows; cheap and squishy in case I didn't want to bring them back home. I found that I liked smushing them in at odd places for support. It's tough to get in and out of bed without using your arms. You get used to it, but it is tough until you figure out how to do it. The squishy pillows helped.

I brought some of my husband's boxer shorts to wear under the backless nighties provided by the hospital. They were perfect.

I brought my iPod with tons of classical and soft jazz and some good old rock 'n'roll. THAT thing kept me sane. There was no decent TV when I was awake, only network and then ....only infommercials. A deck of cards was good for me....I loved playing solitaire......hadn't done that since I was a child. Better than computer games, I think. Something about handling the cards, physically making them fit on the bed table, etc. Just helped eat up the time. I brought knitting with me to the angiogram as I had to lie flat for 6 hours afterwards. That was pleasant enough...with the iPod.

There are lots of little things (like the nail file) that the hospital staff will be willing to do for you if they aren't awfully busy. Some shifts are just busier than others, some nurses are just nicer than the others. Don't be afraid to ask them as they are usually there to help you feel better! When you find one who is particularly nice, use them for everything!!!

And just remember, it is a lot like labor. It is only going to last a specified amount of time......the amount of which you will not know until it is over. There will be a beginning and and end to the hospital stay...put that into perspective with the rest of your waking hours of life, and it really isn't such a huge portion of time. It is quite manageable. And when you leave in the wheelchair, you won't have a bundle of joy in your lap, but you will have a mended heart which will not keep you up at night, or demand to be fed or changed......it will just tick and tick and tick and be there for you. It's all good!!!!

Hang in there. Keep posting! We've all been there and we know exactly what you are feeling. We'll all be with you!!

:D Marguerite
 
Bob H. - ROTFLMAO - I am litterally teary-eyed with laughter over your account. I'm sure you're really quite right, and it's impressive how you can see the humor in all the little things. Thank you.

I remember after having babies that they would bring baby in at 2 am for feeding, then an hour later wake me to see if I was getting a good rest :eek: then an hour later time to feed, then.... I had to go home to get some rest, at least my newborn only woke me up twice a night!

PJMom you're right, I've worn extended wear contacts for 1-2 weeks at a time since they were invented in the early 1980's. I'm sure they would make it thru surgery just fine but I doubt they'll let me keep 'em in, if they will I want them. I'll let you know. Now if I can just *find* my glasses.....

Socks! I'm adding socks to my list! Yeah and PJ's with bottoms for whatever shread of my dignity is left when the X-Ray SWAT team makes their attack under cover of night. :p

Robe - good idea! Hat - nope, I'm one of those lucky people who wake up with good looking hair :cool: It's long & straight and never seems to fuss, easily makes it a few days and probably could go a week if it had to it's so dry, that's about the *only* thing I figure I won't have to worry about.

You all are the BEST!! Thank you for the wonderful input, I'm feeling better already!!! :D
 
Ruth,

Good luck. I understand the anxiety. I think you'll use your glasses more than contacts in the hospital (I didn't take my contacts eventhough I never wear my glasses at home).

I think you will spend most of your day after your cath being aggravated at trying to lie still for six hours (unless they use the colloid plug). Family to talk to (as much as you are able depending on sedation levels) was helpful for me.

I Chose to wear the hospital suppied footies (they were functional and I didn't get hospital floor funk on any of my stuff) and gym shorts under the gown (as soon as I got out of ICU on day 2) - just so I didn't feel like I was blowing in the breeze all the time.

I used a hospital supplied toothbrush the first time then my wife brought my sonicare. I'm not picky on soap or shampoo so I used theirs.

For me 1 day in ICU, 1 day in a room (with gym shorts and footies), and home on the 3rd day. My philosophy was that I wan't planning on spending much time there so I wasn't going to bring many personal effects.

My wife did get lucky and hack into an unsecured wireless LAN eventhough there wasn't official patient wireless connections supplied by the hospital.

Yeah - don't plan on sleeping without the aid of Ambien (which I did request my second night since I was directly across from the noisiest place in the hospital - the nurses station).

Besides BP, temp, pills, weight, general check in (which are never coordinated at one visit) it was constant patient alarms, phones, nurses talking and laughing, the hispanic genteman in the next room yelling all night. Sleep in the hospital is acquired in short segments throughout a 24 hour period not in a 6 - 8 hour stint at night.

I need dark and quiet to sleep and both were missing in the hospital.

Good luck,
David
 
As a postscript, speaking of sleeping through the night... on second thought I might actually get a better night's sleep in the hospital than I did last night.

Being a mom means I wake up at the slightest sound in the house thinking "OH, I better go get the baby". Now, in this case the "baby" is a Junior in High school, male weighing 140 lbs muscular basketball player who wears size 13 shoes. He's on winter break and up prowling for food and catching a movie at midnight. Still, I wake up with a start, "I have to get the baby" not thinking clearly of course that a) there isn't a 'baby' any more or b) if someone had to face an intruder to the premisis it would be my DH or the "baby" and not me who would be winded by the time I walked across the bedroom.

Alas, winter break will end soon and the family will return to our normal sleep cycle....
 
Hi Ruth,

This last week before surgery is the WORRY WEEK. My mind seemed so blank right after my surgery, since I didn't have all my obsessive thoughts going on anymore! You should start to feel the calm resolve once you get into the hopital..the Versed for your cath. will be welcome as well:) .

Whatever you pack for your hopital stay, you won't be needing until you are out of ICU and into your room. They gave all my clothes that I wore into the hospital to my husband to take with him. Once I was transferred to my room, he brought my bag with all the things I NEVER used. I put another gown on over my backside "flasher" gown, and used it as a robe. I also used the provided rubber based socks. It's nice to get up and throw everything away as you get dressed to go home.

They WILL come in and weigh you in the middle of the night, and the portable X-rays become so common, that I could sleep through them. Your Drs. will usually come in right when you have finally fallen deeply asleep, wake you up, and ask how you are feeling. An hour later you will remember everything you wanted to ask them!

The hospital stay goes amazingly fast I thought. I was always sort of dazed from the Percoset, and there is constantly someone coming into your room. Anytime you look comfortable, they want you up and walking.

You're going to do just fine. At my age, I found the big bonus of THIS hopital stay, was NOT having a infant to get up and care for. You can go home and be as selfish as you want!
 
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