Tips to prepare for going away for an extended time

[smurfy2015]

Hi

I will be going away for several months possibly over the next few months and wondered if anyone has any tips they would like to share with me.

I will be away for at least 3 months or it could be up to 5/6 months. I don't have an exact date yet.

I have bought hand luggage to suit the airline I will be flying with. I don't intend taking hold luggage as I won't be able to manage it.

A friend is flying with me to my destination and she will fly back a day later. I am not taking luggage cos I need to bring wheelchair/crutches and can't manage everything.

Everything else I need will be shipped via a courier service to arrive the day after I do. I will have laundry facilities available to me

When I am ready to return home, a friend will fly to come and meet me and main luggage will be couriered home OR alternate option is another friend will hire out a motorhome and come and collect me which means don't need to courier luggage as it can all go in it. I would be paying for the hire and the ferry.

I have organised a rota of people to come in and out of the house to keep things right and to keep the cat fed/watered/scooped and played with.

My post will be redirected to a friends house. She has agreed to open things and read to me down skype calls. She will also be getting a spare card for my bank account (there will be a limit on it) as she will be maintaining bills, electric top-ups, putting out the bins for the first couple of weeks, checking answering machine for any messages,

So as not to drip feed its a hospital admission via the NHS in a different country to where I live so not a holiday (I wish).

That's why I don't have an exact date, as I am waiting on the phone call to say a bed is coming up with up to a weeks notice as someone is coming to the end of their treatment.

Any tips would be appreciated or thoughts on what to bring. I have a quantity of nightwear and loungewear and hopefully will be able to leave the ward occasionally and go into the city centre.

I have posted vaguely about this before and I am leaving the details on this vague as I don't want to out myself. I know you will all understand.

Thanks in advance for any advice

I wish you well for your medical treatment.
Two things come to my mind immediately:
Security lighting at home,
And home building/contents insurance to be checked as they usually have a 30 day maximum period of non- occupancy.

@cheekaa Yes, I have security lighting that will be going up but also have invested in the tv simulator lights. I would put up sensor lights front and back but because of the exact position of the house, it would mean that everytime a car passes it would set them off and to put at the back or the side would illuminate the backyard of the house behind me, which wouldn't go down well with my neighbours.

Alexa on echo dot will be set to play my favourite music station (and the cat) and when Tv is on, Alexa will be set to random dog barking. Friends, as they are in and out with the cat on a rota, will put it on and off by voice command.

Friends daughter (her and her partner) plan to stay here (so they can have some couples/sexy time, as they both live with their parents) about 2 weeks of each month so it doesn't invalidate my insurance.

Thank you for your well wishes - much appreciated

Anyone any other thoughts they can add, all ideas welcome.

I'd take a Kindle with 3G capability or buy one if you don't have one. The country you're in may not have any books available in English and you know better than I do how much empty time there is in hospitals. I work in Italy all year round apart from the summer holidays and mine has been an absolute life saver, especially the daily/weekly/monthly deals as 99p for 2-5 hours entertainment is a steal. I'd also consider taking one or two very small, portable personal things. I have a little cube that flattens out to travel, with pictures of my GF and myself on every face. I also take a different memento of her each year - this year it's a soft toy duck that she won at a funfair we went to over the summer. Last year it was a small pot plant she gave to me. If you have one or two similar items it can really help with loneliness.

Best of luck!

Thanks, @Sethis

Was thinking of an android tablet potentially but is a kindle fire better?

I don't want to put much money out at this time as I need to keep some aside for flights/travel/overnight in a hotel which I will get some of it refunded by the health trust.

I also need to bulk buy cat food (dry and wet) and she only will eat certain brands (gourmet mon petit sachets /gourmet soup / Purina one) litter (will only use certain brands), treats as my cat will be looked after by a rota of neighbours and friends. (approx need to leave her 100 days worth of food as trying to organise deliveries to others can be a nightmare for various reasons)

The city has free city centre wifi which hospital is central to but no wifi available on the ward.

Have been told can bring a wifi mobile dongle, I plan on buying a PAYGO type dongle with as much data as possible as don't want to get into a contract as where I live only gets a good signal from a couple of networks (mainly O2, Vodaphone and sometimes Gif Gaff) but its not reliable the gif gaff one so when I'm back I don't want to still be paying for something I cant use. The other 2 dont have fully dependable BB in this area either as the networks start roaming and go onto RoI networks so confusing the system.

If it becomes an extended stay then I will be able to get someone to top up the mobile dongle for me as needed if I'm out of credit.

As it will be useless to me when home so no contract, I live v close to the border with RoI and so am watching carefully re what happens with roaming charges and leaving the EU.

I am planning of bringing a laptop as can then access all copies of my notes for questions as / when they come up as I have it all uploaded to google drive under a different email account than my usual.

I also have someone filling a hard drive with music, films, tv series and audio books so will have it? I have 2 kindles they are the original type and are linked to different accounts so have different books on each, but I tend to not download directly onto them but add the ebook to the app on the laptop and then synch with kindles.

I'm in Northern Ireland so crossing to England is technically a different country to me as it involves flight/ferry/coach depends on if fit to fly or not.

Am making of a photo album at the minute of me, cat, friends, family and partner so I have all their support to look at. They have all given me words of encouragement in the form of "open this when.." type letters. I have those already and have with the photo album. I haven't peeked at them but have been tempted too.

Also am putting money aside to cover my bills while I am away, I need to keep electric running so lights can go on and off and have music/tv to help keep the cat entertained. Heat will be put on and off, depending on if it's cold or snowy or wet, so a couple of hours a day at least to keep house right and cat warm. Also will still be paying for landline/broadband as not worth getting disconnected to have to pay the reconnection fee in at least 3 months again.

So trying to spend the least money possible due to all this so if laptop / android tablet will do the job instead of buying a kindle that might be good.

Does anyone have any advice re wifi mobile dongles with tons of data to allow streaming but is contract free. I don't even mind having to buy the dongle outright first and then just pay for data.

When I was in hospital (albeit only for a week) I really appreciated a large refillable water bottle so could fill up at the water machines. I know this is a tiny thing compared to all your doing but made my life easier!

You can download the kindle app onto a tablet of any sort and read books.
What about audiobooks? Could be useful distraction too. You might be able to get some on a tablet for free via your local library. Mine uses an app called Libby.

Take layers and a winter coat and lots of socks. It could go from warmish to very cold and back to warmish while you're there. Layers mean you can wear the same clothes all the time, just more or less of them. Also a nice top and lipstick so you have something to wear if there is a birthday or Christmas.

A data package where you can use your phone as a wifi hotspot might work out cheaper than a you'll probably get through lots of data out of boredom in hospital.

Housewise: outside taps off incase it freezes while you're away and frost setting on the radiators.

@kshaw good thinking, I use the 1ltr Hydrant drinking system normally anyhow, I attach it to the side of my bed and drink from the tube. I also have the 500ml one for my wheelchair. Ive already got a spare of each bottle to pack with courier stuff and 5 spare drinking tubes. All I need to do when I get over there is get a load of dilute / cordials as hospital water generally tastes horrible to me.

@TheHatOfDoom will check out the local library and see, it would be handy to let it read to me,

@AHedgeWouldBeAnImprovement, have plenty of stuff will work as layers and plan on wearing a warm jacket which I can slip off easily if needed on the plane, I've bought a few new packs of socks (about 30), have mesh laundry bags to wash them in, trying to find a nice pair of easy on boots but haven't found them yet.

Will go shopping when I over there and before being admitted, to stock up on toiletries and stuff like that, that I cant send over ahead of me. Flight restrictions aagh.

However thanks to my very high BP there is a chance I may not be able to fly so it will involve a very long bus/ferry journey. GP has booked a 24-hour monitor so hopefully will be able to clear me to fly and will add onto my meds if needed.

Will the frost setting on the radiators still let some heat come on? when someone clicks it at the panel or its set for an hour on and off during the day - sorry, I'm clueless on this

"A data package where you can use your phone as a wifi hotspot might work out cheaper than as you'll probably get through lots of data out of boredom in hospital."

That would be a contract prob, I can't get a contract as I have a bad credit mark against me after I moved out of a house in early 2007 and apparently in early 2010 I "bought" a set of saucepans and a pair of curtains.

I got a letter from a debt collection agency in 2011 to give me 30 days to pay it. I queried what it was about as it was for almost 3 grand at that stage. I didn't buy the saucepans but someone took credit out in my name so the most expensive saucepans and curtains ever. The total of the 2 things originally was less than £100.

My phone is a Samsung J5 which is constantly running out of space/battery so wouldn't like me using it as a wifi hotspot, I don't want to change it at this point as (touch wood) I haven't killed it, because I drop so many things, last year by the start of June, I had killed 4 mobiles, 2 tablets and 2 laptops.

I fall asleep suddenly while I'm on them as well and then turn over. I drop them from my hands and one mobile drowned in a bowl of cornflakes so I buy cheap as the turnover rate is generally high.

I have a tablet which is in for repair at the moment,

"Someone filling a hard drive with music, films, tv series and audiobooks" - this is to take some of the pressure off my data usage.

I also am separating my DVD collection into 2 small disc holders which can then be posted over and back with the next set to send ready to go. I will have about 40 max at any time. This is also to take pressure off as well. Last year I took the cases off all my DVDs and put into disc carry cases. There was nearly 2000 altogether.

Good thinking re nice top and lipstick - will pack one, does anyone know off hand what the regs are for lipstick and flying? I will have a look to see anyhow.

Thanks for all your help everybody and keep it coming, I know it might sound like I'm knocking ideas down but I really appreciate the only one that isn't an option is probably a contract data package on a phone as the phone wouldn't cope and I probably wouldnt get a contract.

Have you thought about wheelchair stuff?
Like how you’ll deal with repairs etc.
Assuming you got your chair from NHS wheelchair services, I’d ask their maintenance people to service it before you go. And possibly get details of equivalent where you’ll be if still in UK.
Alternatively, if you own your chair and have a problem area on it, details of spares etc if too much to take with you (one of my chairs had a footplate bolt that broke almost monthly so I use to carry a replacement bolt when travelling)

Tech-wise:

• I used a wifi dongle last year from work and it gave many many headaches involving going over data allowances, the provider not issuing warnings... blah blah blah. It's put me off them.

• If you're remaining in the EU then you shouldn't have to deal with roaming charges at least until March when Brexit hits crunch time, and hopefully not even then. I would suggest maximising your data allowance on your phone contract and using it as a wifi hotspot over a dongle, but it depends on your provider and you'd need to do a price comparison per gigabyte to find out which the cheaper option is. You can leave your phone plugged into the wall for power while you're using it like this, so battery life becomes less of an issue.

Do you know how much time, proportionately, you'll be spending on-ward vs somewhere with wi-fi access? I ask because if you're downloading media that you can view later, you can of course download it in a wifi zone and then watch/listen to it when you're back on the ward. Obviously this doesn't help with streaming.

If you have two original kindles then I'd choose one, and download everything you possibly can onto it before you go, take it with you, and download onto it while you're there. Simply because I don't like reading books on backlit screens when I'm in bed.

Regarding dropping electronic devices and breaking things: I have very little experience with wheelchairs etc, so I'm not sure how practical it is, and I don't know what your bed arrangement is, but if you google "Laptop security cable" then you might be able to pick one up for about a tenner or fifteen quid. They lock into a slot in your laptop in order to prevent thieves from stealing demo models, but I imagine might also be useful as a just-in-case option to safeguard against dropping it, if the cable is shorter than the distance to the floor. You could fall asleep and in the morning it would just be swinging harmlessly a few inches in the air. This was just off the top of my head, no idea if it's practical for you.

Ultimately your internet solution will depend on your planned usage. If you're going to stream a lot of video and download media files, this will take a lot of data allowance. If you're just planning to message, email, sometimes skype call and download documents you shouldn't need much data at all.

Apologes for the delay in answering this has been a rough few days.

@TheHatOfDoom

Its actually had a service in August I think it was but have to bring wheelchair manual for airport anyhow. The hospital ward I am heading to is a specialist unit, there is an OT and physio on the main team and so I should be able to get it sorted if any problems arise pretty fast. There is also a large physio dept and full OT department.
But Il check out with OT here next week. Was thinking of attaching a rucksack to it to carry the footrests and the headrest.

Its an manual as OT wont prescribe a powerchair until I have moved house as the new house will be fully adapted, however due to the NI assembly being in hiatus since January 2017 and so no government funding isn’t coming thru to do the adaptions so I can move so I am in a house where on the days I need the wheelchair I am stuck in bedroom as cant get any further safely.

The carers aren’t allowed to even help me with a shower as there is no space in bathroom (unless take out the toilet and sink lol) but even at that it would be tight. They did put a ramp at the back of this house, however the path around the side of the house is narrower than the wheelchair and while I can get up the ramp to the back door, I have to be able to stand and fold chair up to take it thru door and it wont go thru back hallway so has to be taken thru to living room where I am stuck again until I have energy to fold up and take to front hallway, and then to bed. The front door has a step of 6in high coming into the house and the path directly out onto the area in front of house, is a short steep incline so in short, I need to be able to lift and manhandle the chair to be able to use it here which if I could do all that, I wouldn’t need it. (facepalm)

My consultants recommend a powerchair but as cant access house safely with it or move around inside its not an option right now so although my limit of self propelling is less than 30m (its pathehic) cos Ive wrecked my shoulders before I needed the wheelchair, I was on crutches for 3 years and they need a lot of repair but Im a very high risk to operate on for several reasons and so they are holding off until ive moved and got the powerchair so Im not damaging them further. In the same way, I need ops on both wrists for carpel tunnel.

@Sethis

The thing re roaming for me, I live very close to the border with RoI, Brexit is going to have effects for me whatever happens. I could be away for 3 months or up to 5/6 months so potentially if I go away the first week of November so first Monday is the 5th November and the longest possible stay which counting it as 6 months, so that takes me up to 5th May 2019 or counting at 3 months takes me to 5th February so I am right back into whatever effect it is going to have or I could miss it altogether. I just don’t know at this time. I will have about a weeks notice of when the bed is available so will have to be ready.

Neither kindles have backlights so no problems regarding that, I have a little clip book light that I can put on/off as needed. Its single rooms with profiling beds.

Thank you, I had never heard of laptop locks so I have just bought one, I have a hospital profiling bed at home, I keep it on lowest level generally but use the back and leg rests a lot. I attach pictures of the type of bed and also the bumpers on the sides so the bars aren’t an option to attach things around as they are covered by the bumpers.

Its a great suggestion which I appreciate.
(Reminder for myself to attach pics)

“If you're just planning to message, email, sometimes skype call and download documents” Thats my plan and the reason I am getting a hard drive loaded up or me. I am also downloading my playlists from youtube onto the hard drive on my laptop.

The documents downloading is copies of all my medical notes from the past couple of years which have been printed for me which I am uploading to google drive on a different email address that will be only used for that so I can take down what is needed and send to ward admin as and when needed as for the quantity and amount of details and the fact that the hospital is likely to have a different system so cant share and access my notes via there system even if transferred to them.

“Do you know how much time, proportionately, you'll be spending on-ward vs somewhere with wi-fi access? I ask because if you're downloading media that you can view later, you can of course download it in a wifi zone and then watch/listen to it when you're back on the ward. Obviously this doesn't help with streaming.”

The ward will probably be my main area I would guess at least 95% of the time, the other 5% would be trips to the onsite cafes / shops”

There is a Costa, fruit and veg stall, food court and convenience stores across the whole hospital, it will depend how I am doing treatment wise as definitely expect the first few weeks to be very rough after travelling as I am 99% housebound and about 75% of that is bedbound. I am hoping to make it out into the city centre a couple of times but that depends on various factors.

I think the city centre has general wifi coverage but cant do any private stuff on it for obvious reasons.

Thank you both for these tips and suggestions, they are much appreciated

No worries Smurfy, send me another @Sethis if there's anything else I can help out with.

Are you travelling to England for treatment? I'm sure local Mumsnetters in your area wouldn't mind going shopping for you and dropping some bits in if you needed?

@HashTagLil Yes, I am. Its one of the top 20 cities in the UK.

I would hate to put people out but might check and see if could get some bits delivered like kinda like a grocery shop and go and collect it in the main body of the hospital but suppose I have to wait and see on that one but plan on going shopping with the friend before I go to the hospital and am actually admitted.

Sounds like you have lovely friends OP and I'm sure any issues that crop up they will be more than happy to deal with.

• Cat insurance (in case of any problems when you're away)? Definitely leave vet and microchip details.
• Ask if the hospital has a book/DVD loan service. Might not, but some do, especially for longer stay patients.
• The at-bed TV service might not be too awfully priced and if you're on the ward 95% of the time, then it could be worth paying for. It usually includes movies as well as regular TV.
• I would worry about you getting lonely, the chaplaincy service might well be a place to start for a regular visitor, you don't need to have a faith. Maybe PALs might offer a befriending service too. Just a thought if you need a natter.
• You might also be able to get post on the ward too, have a chat with the receptionist. Could be nice to get some letters from home, or have the odd item delivered.
• Once you're out and about, check if you can use the canteen. Some are staff only but lots are accessible to anyone. If they're out of the way, they can be a good place to go that isn't too busy (unlike a heaving Costa) and the meal choices might make a change from the ward (when I was in, it was the same meals every week!), plus it's usually a fair price.

I'd get to know the ward receptionist and they might let you know if the main hospital reception would take a parcel (e.g. Amazon Pantry delivery), which you could pop down and collect. The ward receptionist might be okay with you putting their extension number down for example, so they can ring up when it arrives. If you're in a while, it's worth getting to know the key people and a little chat with the ward and main reception desk, might make it loads easier to get the occasional delivery in.

If the hospital has a Boots within it, you can order online and get the order delivered to your local store (which included our hospital Boots), not sure what they have on their website, but you might be able to get more toiletries etc that way. I did my Christmas shopping that way and popped into the hospital to collect on the weekend rather than the stress of going into town

Giff Gaff and I think Tesco now do a cancel at any time sim only deal. That might give you a cheap data option, that you can cancel if you don't need it or you don't get a decent signal.

Il reply properly when the problem on MN with return keys is fixed as everything would come out as one paragraph - Thanks

The cat is booked to go for boosters next week, already neutered and microchipped and will deffo leave money for excess payment (just in case), her insurance details and vet details. Il be leaving 3 months wet and dry food here for her, and about 8 bags of litter and I've worked out about 15 bags of treats as she will be treated heavy for a while as she will miss me. Have been wearing various tops when I'm sweaty and rubbing myself all over them and then treble ziplock bagging them so she can have them when I'm away and they will “stink” of me.

I'm guessing at this point that there isn't a book/DVD library loan service as the hospital has 2 levels of wifi, free standard access for browsing and emailing and the higher level for streaming video and music at a cost, however, the wing of the hospital isnt near the rest of the wards so is somehow not covered by the wifi and so have been advised can make own arrangements

The ward has a communal living room which is where the TV is located, there are no bedside tv systems as adequate rest is one of the main parts of treatment. TVs in bedrooms are seen to disrupt the quality of sleep which is a fundamental part of the process.

Re being lonely, I quite like my own company but there will be others on the ward and a full team from various disciplines. I roughly follow a particular faith although I was brought up in a different one so I would be happy to link in with chaplains from either and also if there is a befriending service via PALs I would probably link in with it too. On the same vein, I might ask if the hospital has a league of friends as sometimes they do visits as well so I will check.

Letters from home are unlikely as the chances of any of them sitting down and writing would be slim but everyone would be happy to email or skype call with me. I had to ask / remind / cajole to get them to do the "open this when" envelopes as I know I will appreciate them a lot and most of them TBH are "open if you are thinking of quitting", they are all behind me and supportive treatment wise, its physical rehabilitation, intensive therapy, dealing with emotional stuff previously undealt with and other therapies as needed but a holistic approach to all.

I'm not keen on Costa anyhow but it could be good to get off the ward.

I am planning on making some drastic dietary changes while I am there with the help of a dietician (I have asked to do it anyhow) as I want to try eating less crap and a more nutritious diet but have been recommended by one of the other consultants I have seen that a dairy/ GF / sugar free diet may help one of my other conditions.

Due to current circumstances, I haven't been able to do a changeover and so I hope that while I'm in hospital, I will have the support to do it and work out the practicalities for when I am home again.

My local hospital has the exact same food choices sheet for lunch and tea with one difference, at tea time chips are on the menu. But there is a huge range to choose from and has the symbols after each choice to tell you what it is suitable for -it also has puree diets on the same sheet

I've contacted the ward and someone will phone me for a further chat this week as they know I am scared stiff about coming to the journey I need to take (travel-wise, personal journeys physically and mentally) but its a chance that won't come along again so I need to take it even though its scaring me shitless.

No Boots store in the hospital but I think if I can get an ASDA/ Tesco delivery – I can probably get most of the toiletries (mainly shower gels as I can use half a bottle easily in one shower) and put them in a large rucksack and take back to the ward on back of the wheelchair

@PurpleCrazyHorse Thanks for all that

It might seem like I am knocking some bits straight down, I don’t intend to, I am trying to sort as much as I can in advance but somethings just don’t work for me and I don’t mean to sound unappreciative as I do really appreciate all your combined help

Many heads are better than one

Wow op you are amazingly organised!! Just wanted to wish you well for the op and the future! You sound an amazing person tbh!
I hope you get to meet some interesting people on the journey you are beginning and that the end results are worth everything you wil be going through to get there.
I am sure many other mners will raise a toast also to your good fortune ..

Well done OP for finding all that stuff out. Praying you have a smooth journey and that you get all you need in hospital. Very best of luck

@Aprilshowersnowastorm Thank you, Im trying to sort as much out as possible.

@PurpleCrazyHorse - Thanks

I do like to be organised. I already have christmas / birthday presents sorted and wrapped with a list for myself of what each person is getting (thats done up till the end of March) .

I have written all cards I need to do between now and May just to be on the safe side. They are stamped and in a file folder by month.

Have got some of the cardboard postal boxes / padded envelopes which I need to gather stamps for with the name of the ward so that any things I need to deal with myself from the post (there might be a few) can be forwarded easily by friend

I also am currently working on my version of a "Lifebook" which will be safe, just in case, someone needed to sort my affairs out. if things dont go the way I need them but everything should go well and I get to grips with a new chapter of my life.

Lifebook - may be useful to others
www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/housing-options/home-safety/lifebook/

Cat got her reprieve from the vet on Tuesday past as I ended up in the local hospital on Friday evening and got home late last night.

So she is now booked in for next week for her boosters as I wouldn't ask any friends to go with her alone as she can be quite a handful and usually tries to bite the v-e-t (she has scratched them badly twice) and is very hard to handle, they are experienced but she is a challenge even for them.

I go with her as I can manhandle her and if she scratches me that's not so bad, she has bitten me in the v-e-t-s before as a result of him scruffing her to give an injection and she jumped straight onto me complete with v-e-t still holding her scruff and clawed my front to bits. Why does she always seem to get her claws around my nipple (ouch) Even if I cut them before we go, she still manages it.

I'm in the bad books today as from her point of view I abandoned her and went off with paramedics and she didn't have constant company and was looked after by the neighbours and friends on a temporary rota they organised quickly among those who will be doing it when I am away. She was fed, watered, litter scooped and changed, and ate tons of treats. She was let in and out so wasn't treated that badly. Alexa played the radio to her loads. (but shame on me cos I abandoned her, from her point of view, if she could reach the phone she would prob call Catline)

I'm rebooking the appointments etc that I had booked for this week for myself and am exhausted today after a very rough few days physically

Coming back to this thread, the hospital bed is on hold temporary de to complications and also I need to go thru investigations here first for something else