Help me plan for a long hospital stay

[LongHospitalStay]

My husband will be going into hospital on Monday and will likely be in for six months or more.

Please help me decide what’s good to pack.

He will be wearing day clothes for the first while - we’ve been told joggers and t shirts with easy access for monitors and IVs will be good.

He’s not a big reader, but doesn’t want to sit and watch tv all day.

help!!

Get him a library membership and download their app Bookload or Libby. He can listen to audio books for free and get magazines on there. Puzzle books.

Look up musicozy Bluetooth sleep headband on amazon. Perfect for the night times as they're designed to use for sleeping and the eye mask element will be helpful as well. Can play white noise or audio books or anything on them.

Nice hand and foot cream and fluffy socks. Echoing the idea of subscriptions like Kindle Unlimited, Netflix or Spotify so he's got plenty of choice for entertainment

A single quilt and his own pillows honestly these were what got me through my long stay when I was adult napped. Can’t help with entertainment as I was just binge watching all the crap on Netflix on the iPad xx

Notepad / diary and some pens? Even if it’s just to keep notes of conversations or to make To Do lists for when he gets out?

Prepare yourself mentally. After 6 months of peace and quiet, tidiness, no breaking wind, no dirty laundry left on the floor or unwanted sexual advances you’re going to need nerves of steel when he comes back.

Sorry couldn’t resist, I hope he’s going to be okay (unless he’s abusive in any way).

This made me laugh - thank you!

OK, some practicalities, set up two WhatsApp group, one for close family and friends and one for others, this way you will only have to set up updates once and you can control what information is shared. Try to set up a spreadsheet for visitors, talk to your husband and the ward about what sort of timeframes you are looking at for visiting and tell people no more than X mins as DH cannot cope and is too polite to tell you... there will be times when he is too exhausted for anyone. Set up a wish list during the first week of what he needs that week... that way he does not get inundated with grapes and nominate a number of audio books for his Kindle, people like to be able to do practical things to support you both. Wet wipes, juice cartons (you may have to stab the straws in as they can be swines to get into) which must be left within arms reach, snackage are essential. And finally, on my list of to dos, if your friends offer to have the kids for a sleepover say yes, and then have a night for you (not visiting, but a soaky bath, a glass of wine, an early night or a late one), because if you do not take the time to look after yourself no one else will and you @LongHospitalStay are the lynch pin.

Now,on the positive side, a very good friend of mine had her double transplant (heart and lungs) just over 15 years ago, bit hairy at the start, but she is still here, has watched her daughter progress through school and is still doing well.

Duvets pillows and bedding, sign for door saying no visitors unless medical.

He’ll probably feel like shit afterwards anyway so will be sleeping/dosing anyway.

Is this an NHS hospital?

@LatteLady Now,on the positive side, a very good friend of mine had her double transplant (heart and lungs) just over 15 years ago

unless complications…. Would have very likely spent no more than 6 weeks in hospital.

I can’t fathom a half a year hospital stay and what it could be for!

One of these bottles. When I was in hospital for a long stay this enabled me to have access to water whilst lying down without bothering staff. Because it was so big it didn’t need refilling that often as well.

Hope all goes well.

@Coffeesmell Try waiting for a heart to become available when you are not able to stay at home...

I came here to say the same. He’s likely to be woke up through the night and can be difficult to get back to sleep, these are so comfy.

I think go with enough to get him from admission to your first visit and then he’ll have a better idea of what he needs/wants.

is grown up lego an something he would do ?

My only extra suggestion is an easy puzzle book, I got a mixed one with sudokus, crosswords, battleships etc for my week stay and it was great by myself or to do crosswords with someone else

My husband found he couldn’t get comfortable in the hospital bed but I bought him a V pillow and that made all the difference. Headphones on a soft headband as it’s so noisy in hospital at night - the staff don’t even try to be quiet…

Our hospital had craft people come in some days and clubs in the day room. Maybe his will too?

How do you make sure your stuff isn’t stolen while you’re in surgery or xray? eg phones, tablets

What books did he enjoy as a boy? It might sound daft but things like Just William might be very easy listening for him and bring back happy memories.
As well as things like scrabble and card games, you can play things like Monopoly & Catan online.
You might want to think of something for the two of you to do together when you visit, whether it’s a programme to watch together or an activity to do or something. He’s not going to be doing much (obviously!) and nor will you by the time you’ve been to work and fitted in visiting him. You’re probably going to feel bad if you moan to him about how busy/tired you are and so
all you’ll end up with is the minutiae of his illness which could get quite dreary and repetitive.
Best wishes to you both!

Your own cutlery and an insulated mug.

Musicozy headphones are great, really comfy to sleep in and block out outside noise (I used mine to block out sound of the storm the other night).

I second the suggestion of a power bank to help charge phones etc .

Even if there are sockets nearby it can be surprisingly hard to plug stuff in when you are poorly and have lost your strength.

Yes

When DH was in, I saw patients with these squiggly arm things that clamped to the bed and could hold a variety of devices. I would definitely get one of those for a longer stay. Hands free holding an iPad, kindle, phone, etc in whatever position felt comfortable looked very useful.

He is going in for a heart transplant and has to stay in until a heart becomes available - this may take many months, no way of predicting. Then he has he post op recuperation to go, which we’ve been warned may be lengthy. So he’s mentally preparing himself to be in all year, I’ve settled on six months. Hopefully it will be much shorter.