Post surgery essentials

[sheepandbear]

My BF is having quite major surgery on his spine in a couple of weeks. He’ll be in hospital for around 3-4 days and is quite anxious about it all.
I want to get him some bits and pieces together to help get through the hospital stay. Ear phones for podcasts (and Netflix if he can manage to find a position that allows him to look at a screen.) A cup with a straw as drinking water might be tricky.

Can’t think of much else? Any ideas?

You can get these grippers that hold an iPad and also grip onto the bed/side table.

loooong cable for his charger and a clip that you can attach the end to the sheet so it doesn’t fall to the floor. The sockets are always behind the bed and very difficult to get to for the patient and the staff do not have time to be plugging in phone and then checking and passing it back all the time.

slip on shoes and slippers. Clothes that button not pull over. Joggers/no fastenings for using the toilet. Baggy shorts so he can maintain his dignity while having a catheter if that will bother him.

flannels. Dunno if they treat men differently but I was left without help to wash and physically unable to shower myself.

snacks. Easy to open if in pain can he open the packet? Top his water up whenever you visit. Not a massive heavy bottle but multiple lightweight.

assuming he has short hair but if not multiple hair ties.

tell him to shave/have hair cut cut nails (toe nails!!) and all that personal grooming stuff the day before surgery so he doesn’t need to worry about about it for a while if he can. Get all his washing and house cleaning done before going in. Mow the lawn. All that so once out it’s not a problem.

Ask him what he wants when you visit too. I’ve taken deli bagel to someone in hospital as they were craving fav food. Starbucks coffee when you arrive. Whatever he’s into. If someone visits me in hospital with chocolate or flowers instead of a high sugar coffee I’d think they don’t love me 😂

Thanks Burntt -all really good ideas. I’m the coffee fiend, not him but maybe some small bottles of soft drink instead and definitely snacks!

I would say earplugs and maybe an eye mask so he can sleep at night in a potentially noisy ward

Totally agree with earplugs and eye mask. During my recent stay I forgot to take any and really missed them, it's surprisingly noisy at night and hard to get a good sleep

Yep, he always wears ear plugs but the eye mask is a great idea too!
Thanks

I always say take fresh fruit. Pain meds give you terrible constipation and it’s rare that hospitals hand out fruit. The nurses will figure out how to help him drink, so I wouldn’t worry about taking special cups. In fact, apart from the personal IT stuff they are well equipped. I took far too much with me on several occasions!

… because he’s unable to think of and buy these things himself?

I had spinal surgery. For the first three days I was so off my tits on morphine I didn’t want anything! Then all I wanted was to go home! Netflix and headphones was pretty much all I needed as I was more asleep than not.

Ear plugs
Eye mask
Really long phone cable
Sliders not soft slippers
Squash if he doesn't like plain water
Rich Tea biscuits ( sometimes it can be a long night from 5pm dinner time to 7am breakfast if you're not sleeping)

I bought a blue tooth headband with speakers in - they cut out other noise and you can snooze in them too so easier than ear plugs or phones. Little pots of fruit - delmonte do them. Cleansing wipes. I didn’t actually need half the stuff I took in. Also, when they book you in, you have to go to one room to meet the anethetist, another room for surgical stockings, another for gown, etc, etc all while trailing your bag with you so only take in something small and manageable and then you can bring in more stuff afterwards.