what to take to the hospital - a checklist

Valve Replacement Forums

Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
W. Carter;n857636 said:
The most important thing is some underwear and pj bottoms so your butt isn't hangin' out in that stupid backwards gown. :)

Front or back I didn't care who saw what. Underwear would have been a PITA to deal with thinking of it now. I just kep a second hospital gown to put on like a robe when I went for a walk.
 
almost_hectic;n857638 said:
Front or back I didn't care who saw what. Underwear would have been a PITA to deal with thinking of it now. I just kep a second hospital gown to put on like a robe when I went for a walk.
Good ole Uncle Sam is one of the last hospitals that still issues good ole fashion pj's upon request.
 
I had bad bleeding issues too so I would have needed a couple dozen clean pair to change every time they needed to clean up all the blood.
 
Maybe heating pad, cordless tens machine, front open shirt to go with, ginger tea, peanut butter crackers.
 
ncarrlson had it mostly right when music player was in the list.

When I was in the hospital, I brought my phone. I had at least one account for streaming video on my phone.
I brought earbuds (although wired headphones will also work).

One of the most important things I brought with me was a long charging cable, and a pretty large rechargeable battery. This thing plugs into a USB port and can maintain a charge for many hours.

I tried to keep my phone at full charge.

One thing that the nurses probably don't know about is there's usually an empty USB port on the computer in the room. With a long enough cord, you can plug your phone, or charger, into the port and keep your phone fully charged.

Watching what YOU want to see, or listening to audio that YOU WANT TO HEAR helps you pass the time. If you have music or video that you want to enjoy in the room, put it on your phone. That way, you'll have it when you want it.
 
I highly recommend bringing a sleep mask. I'm glad I brought one as the room I was in was right off the front desk and they always had a bunch of lights on 24/7, and so much of that went through the glass door and windows to my room and otherwise made going to, or staying, asleep difficult for me.

Definitely bring earplugs as others have said. I didn't need them for my heart surgery (mitral valve repair) as I had my own room afterward, but earlier in my life I had an appendectomy at 10:00pm and spent one night in the hospital sharing a room with a guy who watched MeTv at volume ten the whole entire night. I had my wireless earbuds with me and luckily they were charged enough to play music into my ears to lessen the impact of hearing "My Three Sons" episodes, but it was brutal! The nurses even told him his TV volume was totally fine and to not even worry about me because I had earbuds that I could use.

I also brought a pack of wet toilet wipes. I have one of those fancy washlet toilet seats at home and whenever I am forced to use toilet paper at a restaurant or when I go to work I feel like I've gone back in time. Even if I didn't have a washlet, I would recommend bringing something anyways as hospitals tend to bulk up on super thin toilet paper.

Obviously bring some portable device already with downloaded podcasts or audio books on it. I had great WiFi in the hospital I was in, but that's not always the case. When I'd had my appendectomy at a hospital that was across the street from where I had my heart surgery the WiFi sucked. I used up a lot of data in the time I was there and it was the first day of my monthly cycle so I had to basically be in Airplane Mode for much of the rest of that billing cycle.

I brought a cordless foil razor I had so I wouldn't get an itchy beard while I was there.

This is something I did beforehand rather than what I brought, but my hair is pretty oily and tends to get real crappy rather fast if I don't wash it regularly, so the day before my surgery I cut my hair really short as I knew I'd be attached to lots of tubes and wires and not able to take a shower for a few days. I basically had a military hairdo for men. It felt better than having longer hair that would get oily.
 
I would suggest loose clothing for the trip home. I didn't anticipate being full of fluid at all never mind a week post-surgery. I had to have my husband bring me a different pair of shoes and my clothing was a little snug. Might not be a big deal for everyone but we had over a two-hour drive to get home. I brought a cross word puzzle book and my iPad which helped pass the time.
 
ok, this is just a suggestion. Why not start a checklist just for things to take to the hospital and then when someone asks, all we have to do is refer them to this thread?

1. loose clothes to wear home

2. loose sleep bra, loose exercise bra for buxom beauties (nurses in hospital told me to get some)

3. slippers

4. toiletries - toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, comb/brush, lipstick (for ladies only :p )

5. shortie pj bottoms or underwear to cover your particular self when you 'walk the halls', as walking is demanded by staff. You shoulda seen all those bare bottoms when we walked. Nobody much cared about our behinds, including us. We were trying too hard to stand up straight.

next?
I'm going in for my second aortic valve, and this time a mitral valve as well. I'm taking my chest bear buddy again
 
No time to read all posts sorry if mentioned: long extension cord for electrical outlets to charge cell, and tablet (i.e. iPad).I was surprised you could use cell phones in ICU. When I took care of aging father same hospital network had banned them 4 years earlier. So it was days into hospital stay before the topic came up with a nurse. You may get moved to a chair from bed and you never know about electrical outlet placement so s long extension is advisable.

Also wet wipes are valuable. They provided thick wipes but they were cumbersome. You cannot flush either so better to have the finer thinner wipes available. I also made sure I had a file with every password and account for all payments and insurances, etc. in case I needed to contacts to take care of anything vitally important.
 
Last edited:
I’ll add your own pillow, some favorite snacks bc unfortunately food is typically not the best and you might not even have an appetite, I wore my slippers jome
Bc my feet were still swollen. Also, the best thing I had was a light shawl to put over
My gown. It was perfect for walks.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top