Hospital Essentials

So prepping for a week stay in hospital is a big deal, I’m prepping for 2 months. Here is what is on my list of items I will likely be taking in (maybe not all at once, but over the course of my treatment!) In advance to this list i would make sure you have given a family member or friend a guided tour of where any spare clothes, entertainment, etc are stored in your house so they can be brought in if wanted.

Clothing

My main tip here is to consider when you have visitors coming that will do your washing for you and therefore how many outfits you need. I tend to take a mixture of comfy clothes that will quite easily transition from day to night, as sometimes you are left connected to IV pumps for hours and won’t easily be able to change. So think comfy trackies/pjs, not jeans!!

(Lots of) knickers – you can’t have too many of these!

Comfy bras –preferably no underwire, or tops with built in bras

Comfy Shorts – in case the room is hot

Vest tops/t- shirts/longer sleeve tops – for varying temperatures, although likely your room will be hot rather than cold

zippy hoody – Generally zippy or button up layers, in case cold and if you are attached to IV you can still layer up

Selection of socks- lightweight and slipper style socks

Shoes/Slippers – For those rare escapes from your room

Dressing gown – I never bother, but I know a lot of people like dressing gowns

To do – Entertainment

Hospital is boring…… and it is easy to get bored, especially when stuck in one room. I find that keeping busy is essential to me keeping a positive mindset so I bring loads to keep me amused. One thing to remember is its likely you will be drugged up so your attention span might be limited so I bring a variety to keep me going.

Colouring books and pens/pencils (even took in a paint by numbers one trip)

Knitting projects – some quick and easy ones, some bigger clothing ones

Crochet blanket project – I will be trying to make one square every 1/2 days as a mini goal to finishing a blanket over my stay!

Playing cards and card games rule book – helps with entertaining visitors too!

500 piece puzzle and puzzle board – These are great as you can quietly sit and do with a visitor too whilst watching a crappy film. 3D puzzles are also good and tend to take up less room

Books to read – Although I find this is something I’m rubbish at in hospital, too many disractions

DVDs  – films and boxsets

Audio books – sometimes you don’t want anything visual

Radio – I’ve bought in  my digital and bluetooth radio, its brilliant. I can listen to music off my phone or have general chit chat in the background

Miniture games like scrabble, uno, rummikub, etc

Laptop and a means of getting wifi (might be able to get access at hospital or buy a dongal/use your phone as a wifi hotspot)

Puzzle books – I love a sudoku

Food

If you are having chemo this messes with your taste buds so you might not fancy your normal favourite treats. Also to a certain extent I would recommend not having your normal tasty treats as you might barf them up and never fancy them again!! If your immune system is suppressed you will have a more limited list of food you can eat to reduce your chances of infection.

I tend to get nasty tastes in my mouth when in hospital so like having strong flavoured drinks and strong flavoured thing:

• cordials (love the bottle greens ginger and lemongrass/elderflower)
• fizzy water
• ginger beer
• mints
• biscuits/crackers to nibble on
• Salty snacks

I actually took in my nutribullet when I went through transplant so I could make smoothies to get some goodness in me. Hospital food is NOT nutritious. I swear you would die of scurvy if left in there too long.

Find out if there are any supplement drinks you don’t mind, e.g. complan, fortisip, fortijuice.