Tips for Hospital Trips!

Only 1 full day left before I finally get my feeding tube. I have had no bad news from the hospital saying it's been cancelled or anything to suggest that it won't finally go ahead.  I have been packing my bag and thought it might be useful to post a list of essential hospital packing.

I won't go through the usual stuff like toiletries and nightwear, we all know that...but here are a few extra things that may help.

MP3 player
Laptop (and mobile dongle!!)
Warm blanket (so you can have a little piece of home with you!)
Scissors (always handy!)
Surgical tape (for those pesky tubes and cannulas)
DAY Clothes (so you can feel a bit less intimidated when the Dr comes round, plus it helps you feel human again! But be sensible and choose easy loose clothing)
Lip balm
Hair clips/Alice band (you never know how long it will be before you can wash your hair!!!!)
Sweets (For the nurses, they will come and talk to you more lol)
Cotton buds
Perfume... but don't take your favourite one, it will forever remind you of hospitals after!

If you are on an NG or NJ tube:

Soda water (to clear blockages, they never have any on the ward)
Throat lozenges (it always takes a day or so for your throat to settle into a new tube)

Quite a list I know but if you do it right you can fit all that into one medium rucksack which will fit into most hospital lockers....and oooh Don't forget your toothbrush lol!




Comments

  1. misspiggy4 September 2011 at 16:31

    Good luck, hope it all goes well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ziggyramone5 September 2011 at 05:24

    Can I also suggest perfume? Hospital wards, especially gastroenterology tend to stink a bit and it's amazing how much more attractive you feel with a squirt of nice fragrance. Don't take your favourite though or you may end up associating it with your hospital stay! Wishing you all the best for tomorrow honey. xxx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ziggyramone5 September 2011 at 05:27

    Also, I know this sounds really vain but I take a small mounted mirror with me and some cotton buds to clean around the tube - you can do this in bed rather than cart your feed pump and pole all the way to the bathroom! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Minx5 September 2011 at 12:06

    Hey guys!

    Both great tips to add to the list thanks Ziggy! I also take the second best perfume after making that mistake lol

    Thanks misspiggy, thats so sweet! I'll be back before you know it xxx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Greenie9 December 2011 at 10:31

    I like to take my own pillow and a few furry friends
    Greenie
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Minx9 December 2011 at 12:15

    Yes, it's great to have something to cuddle!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jax4 January 2012 at 16:39

    I have one of those pillow pets, so it doubles as a pillow and the option of cuddling it if you're not brave enough to take a teddy bear;-) It is hard going into hospital though so it's good to have your things with you. Mirror is a good one too, when I was in for a while, the thing I missed which I hadn't thought of was tweezers or a razor. Very annoying. Here we're not allowed laptops:(( infact some wards are even stuff about iPhone..even if you protest it's only for music and to use with headphones! My pillowpet is my number 1 though xx

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Hi please post comments below, I love to hear from my readers so don't be shy X

Popular posts from this blog

Gastroparesis, EDS & the Final Piece of the Jigsaw Part #3 / Cranio-cervical Instability!

Image
I know I left Part 2 somewhat in the middle of the consultation, so I'll try and start where I left off and see where it goes. Obviously there are inevitably going to be more "parts" to this series the deeper we go, so bear with me I WILL get it all down on here eventually. To sum up the last post in a few words, the diagnostic term for my neck issues is, Cranio-Cervical Instability. Naturally our next question was, "What can we do about it and what does it mean for the future?" This is where I struggle to explain. When it comes to brain/spinal surgery the decision process is not so cut and dry! So, the only way to actually fix the instability in my head and neck and prevent any further neurological damage would be to fuse my skull and top two vertebrae together using metal rods (permanently immobilising my skull C1 & C2) and remove the excess tissue that is causing the brainstem compression. Obviously this is a very risky procedure and not one...
Read more

Gastroparesis the Truth

What is it really like to live with a  debilitating condition that may never go away? In the beginning, its all about survival, just trying to get through the endless testing, trying to find the answer to your problems. It is such a difficult time that you barely notice the months slipping by that you will never get back. You spend most of your time trying to find a treatment that will help, looking for that illusive piece of the jigsaw that has been missing your entire life. You don't stop to think, what if? It doesn't even register on the radar…there must be something, someone else might know more, maybe I can work it out myself?  So you loose yourself in finding the answer, switch off from what's happening and focus on the one shred of hope that you have. All the time, tick tock, tick tock, the months go by. Finally you find someone who cares, a special dr or nurse who takes the time to listen and it changes everything….for a while. It gives you comfort, new...
Read more

Gastroparesis, EDS, & the final piece of the jigsaw #Part 2

Image
Click here for #Part 1 Most of you will already know through my blog, I'm not keen on surgeons ( to put it mildly ) so that key moment when I first meet a new one always feels like a very tense and anxious exchange. Years of plodding through the various health systems has unfortunately made me very cynical so it takes a lot to win me over these days. ... However,  Dr G had a very open and friendly manner about him which was instantly reassuring, we felt like equals from the offset so any tension we had felt beforehand quickly disappeared. He managed to hit my top two priorities on the head in pretty much the first sentence! He explained that he had been very interested in my unusual presentation and was keen to understand more , which is always difficult through email conversation. (not exactly a demanding list but surprisingly hard to find, especially among the surgical fraternity!) Prior to the appointment I had submitted a series of questionnaires including; a CCI quest...
Read more