What to bring for hospital stay

this is a little out of order chronologically but might be helpful.

i put the outfit i wore to surgery in a paper bag after changing into the johnnie. this is probably all the clothes you need for your whole stay, and you can wear it home upon discharge. wear a loose pair of pants because you will probably be swollen (surgery fluids, trauma) and the incision area will be tender.

if you're not a beauty queen, all you probably need is lip balm.  CHB had toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, lotion, comb.  i probably would have preferred to have my own hairbrush. they also had baby wipes which i used for everything (face, underarms, hands).  i have an unhealthy addiction to my nailclipper, so i brought one to snip off hangnails and things.

i probably wouldn't have worn any underwear b/c it's an ordeal to get them off to use the toilet. but i got my period and the hospital gave me these funky gauzey panties and pads. PT was all women, which was the only time i was standing up, so i didn't care much about them seeing my gauze undies.  plus i was too drugged out to care.  otherwise, some loose-fitting undies might be useful if you don't want to wear the hospital ones.

i had my blackberry with me for emails, phone calls, pictures and taking notes.  headsets are good for long calls (like more than 2min long) cuz i was too tired to hold up my phone usually. blackberry charger.

camera, for snapping pix for the memory pages. (make sure battery is charged).

i didn't bring any books or other forms of entertainment.  never turned on the TV either. magazines were too heavy to hold and too many words to focus.  i was kept plenty busy with nurses, drs, and my own visitors. plus sleeping.

if you have an itch cream you think works for everything, you might want to bring that.  otherwise you are in a hospital so they can get anything you need.  rubbing alcohol felt great on my super itchy areas.

i didn't wear shoes or slippers, just the grippy socks they gave me.

there are plenty of blankets at the hospital if you get cold.