What would you recommend taking to hospital for short stay?

[PARunnerGirl]

My Dad is in his 70s and has a minimum three night stay post op coming up. He’ll take some books and his tablet with some shows and music downloaded, but I wonder if anyone has also had a hospital stay and wished they had brought something? Any recommendations much appreciated for my lovely Dad

Playing cards
Puzzle book - crosswords, sudoku etc...
Light refreshments like cordial, fruit or biscuits, and his favourite tea bags!
Eye mask
Ear plugs
Coins for small purchases
A card for him to give as a thank you to his medical team.

A fan and/or that aerosol water stuff. Hospitals are often crazily hot.

Chargers for any of his devices.

And yes to earplugs.

Lipsalve, are usually really drying
Snacks, the food was horrible when I was in

A small plastic bag containing extra sugar/salt sachets and small sachets of ketchup/brown sauce etc.
Best of luck to your dad xx

Light day clothing, slippers, wash kit, towel, hand held fan, ear plugs, eye sleep mask, light dressing gown and pj's. Reading book, tablet, ear phones, sweets, squash, pen and paper.

These are such good and useful suggestions! Thank you to all. Fingers crossed the stay goes quickly for him and the recovery is speedy

Thermal cup, keeps hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold for longer.

A magazine or newspaper is often better than a book in the early stages of recovery - shorter articles require less concentration if you’re a bit groggy/tired.

Hope all goes well for him.

Wireless headphones

As little as possible as almost no storage and you have to be able to carry your own bag around.

My mum had a 4 night stay last week and things she appreciated were cordial, wetwipes, biscuits, ear plugs, handheld fan. Good idea to pack loose clothing and as they like to get you up and dressed as soon as is feasible.

Nice smelling shower gel, hand sanitising wipes and wet wipes.

My friend was in hospital recently and asked me to bring in warm socks and a scarf (she used it as a blanket when the room was hot). Also zip lock bags but I have no idea why she wanted them.

Like the suggestions here. Ziplock bag may be handy if you use bar soap and don’t have anywhere for it on last day.

Long charger lead for the tablet.

Pencil case containing pens, pencils, small sellotape, small notepad

Wet wipes, antibac gel, breath mints/gum (can help with saliva production as well as freshening up), soft tissues, cotton buds, lip salve/small Vaseline pot.

Wee concentrated squash like this:

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/282138636?sccmp=ppccGHS+-+Grocery+-+NewewPX+%7C+Shopping+GSC+%7C+All+ProductssNew:+F%26D:+Drinks:+DrinksksPRODUCTTGROUP282138636*&dsrl=1116019&dssrl=1116322&dsrl=1116019&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI59Dl7pS14wIVRLDtCh0O7A-zEAQYASABEgJ0jvDD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Fuck that's a long link!

Biscuits, hard boiled sweets/butterscotch (appetising and easy to dip into to keep blood sugar up)

Cooling spray definitely.

Cheap "disposable" slippers especially if he's likely to get body fluids on them. Preferably in a dark colour.

Lightweight dressing gown. If he normally wears t-shirt style pyjama tops get him button through ones if he's likely to have drips, monitors etc also short sleeved is best.

Earplugs (silicon are best) and eye mask - it can be murder getting peace on a ward!

Wet wipes and lip salve.
Maybe, also, food/snacks. My sister had a stay in hospital a year or so ago and quite a few people had their relatives take in sandwiches, one family took in a plated roast dinner.
The hospital food wasn't great.

This is so touching. Thank you so much for all the thoughtful replies to help make my Dad’s stay as bearable as possible!

Really big plastic box, cake sized or bigger, for all this small stuff everyone else has suggested.

patient tables covered in stuff with NO ROOM FOR THEIR LUNCH TRAY are the absolute bane of my life

Yy to longer charger.
Credit card for telly?
Please no small things that he would be devastated to lose if wrapped up in bedding e.g. teddy
No towel or facecloth, nowhere to dry them and hospital will provide
Snack stuff

Puzzle books, colouring books if that's his thing. Does he have a mobile phone?