Hospital stay ideas

[Covidwoes]

Hi everyone, a family member of mine (who I am close to) is having a hysterectomy soon. I want to give her a bag of goodies to take into hospital, as she'll be in for a few nights afterwards. It's a big surgery, so I'm wondering what would be nice for her to have while she's in there, particularly as visiting is very restricted due to Covid. I don't live nearby, so have to post it. Any ideas? Thank you!

Pjs and slippers - nothing nicer than some decent pjs to wear after an operation. Slippers are handy for walking around in the hospital.

Adult colouring in and pencils - to starve off boredom. Add a few magazines or puzzle book.

She’ll probably want a night dress rather than PJs, especially if her scar is going to be quite low, and she’ll probably already have that sorted. Really cosy bed socks are a must!
A travel mug and peppermint tea
Puzzle/quiz book
Cleansing wipes
Magazines
Sleeping mask
Ear plugs

Hello
I had a hysterectomy exactly a week ago. I’m now at home recovering after two nights in hospital. Pre the op my husband kindly bought me some nice pyjamas and I’m yet to wear them as anything with a waist band isn’t comfortable right now and in hospital a nightdress is more comfy and allows catheter to be used to. I will look forward to wearing the pjs soon once my tummy swelling has reduced and the incisions are less sore.

Things I’ve found really useful -
A lap table (fold out legs) to eat at in bed or the sofa and watch iPad on £14 Amazon
Lip balm friend gave me lips were v dry in hospital
Good quality probiotics to help me with antibiotics side effects
A nightie I bought a size up from M&S is lovely came with a scrunchie too only about £14 very comfy
I also bought some stretchy animal print dungarees (I think the brand was blue vanilla?) that have been a godsend as even leggings and joggers felt sore only £28 have lived in them this week
A onesie would be good too!
I didn’t read one magazine or book in hospital my attention span was quite short at the time
I also had big knickers but the top of them rubbed my incision in my tummy button so I switched to really low cut bikini briefs instead and they sit under all my incisions (I was lucky not to have one in my bikini line though.
Windeze for after I think helped
Definitely maintain the stool softeners after the op I neglected to for couple of days big mistake :0
My husband also bought me a nice dressing gown which has been worn lots and very comfy (black bamboo one from next so not too hot in hospital)

Hope that helps?!

Some kind of sleep earphones (eg Sleepphones) and white noise machine or app. Hospitals are horribly noisy at night just when she'll need to get decent sleep.

An Audible membership and nice soft earphones you can lie on. I found audiobooks a godsend when in hospital. Not only drowns out the insane amount of noise but also entertaining and relaxing.

Oh yes and definitely a good quality large eye mask I bought a fab one on Amazon for under £10 silky material and a comfy thick band at the back invaluable

Extra long charging cables - plugs may well not be in convenient places

Magazines or books you can just dip in and out of (concentration span can be shot for a while post operatively). Puzzle magazines, with pens/pencils (ones with a rubber at the end)

Flip flops / slides which can survive getting wet

All purpose body/hand cream - the heating can be very drying to skin. Not too strongly scented

Check that she has some kind of device to watch tv/movies. I was in for a week a couple of months ago and they'd taken the TVs out of all the wards, I'm sure they used to have the little ones at every bed that you could buy a card for but they were all gone.

I was knackered and really didn't have the brain power/focus for puzzle magazines or reading so just had Netflix and prime playing random box sets whenever I was awake.

Other than that:

• nightie, she'll be asked to wear the DVT stockings if she's in for several days and will have wounds and possibly drains/catheter so a nice soft jersey nightie will be more practical.
• easy to slip on slippers/flip flops that don't require bending to get them on
• good conditioner and shampoo. You have to wash all over, including hair every other day using this special antiseptic wash and it's horrible on your hair.
• lip balm, hand cream, moisturiser
• some fruity/sour sweets

If you can give her the gift just before she goes in then some long lasting fruit like satsumas and apples. The only thing resembling fruit anywhere on the menu was juice at breakfast and I'm not convinced it was actually from an apple at any point and fruit sponge/crumble. On the ward of 6 women I was on, all 6 were constipated and on meds for it, and I'm convinced it was due to the complete lack of any fruit or fresh veg. A typical day of food was: toast and cereal for breakfast with a small cup of juice, cheese, egg or corned beef sandwich for lunch, curry and rice or sausage and mash for dinner with sponge pudding.

Mint or mint and fennel tea bags.
Cheap flip flops to wear in the shower.
Wet wipes.
Pillow spray.
Scrunchies if she’s got long hair.
Evian spray for a quick refreshing spray.

These are all so helpful! Thanks so much everyone. @SE23Mum all the best for your recovery. Hope you're doing ok! Your reply is really helpful, thank you.

She really should take as little as possible into hospital. My experience this summer was that lockers have disappeared and you live out of your bag and everyone on the ward wore the gowns of which there was ample supply. A change of surgical stockings might be a good idea - you wear them for a long time

No problem glad to help. I haven’t really posted on MN before but pre the op it really helped to read peoples experiences etc so felt it might help to add mine. I’d also second the long charge lead for phone also an essential. I checked the stretchy dungarees-jumpsuit thing is Blue Vanilla via Next severs types on there and like I say a god send!

I think everyone else has you mostly covered but I just wanted to add prune juice and a thermal mug for keeping drinks cold.
You can get yoga headphones on Amazon that can be worn lying down to listen to music, podcasts etc
Useful for sleeping on a noisy ward and at home if she will need to be resting for a while when she gets out.