just done my op- been here and looking for tips and these are proved to be great- i like to share also thanks for the ladies who put them down here
1 find very useful to bring wipes- baby wipes for body, facial wipes and fem care wipes too, just could not be bothered to shower and plus tubes on hand so wipes great!
2 food- the hospital did not allow u to eat much after op- so some own biscuits could be handy- for me i need to eat tp recover- but i suggest you follow the nurse’s advices first, biscuit just in case- everything is different!
3 some sport bottle pure water- very handy in night i got a 750ml and it is easier to drink, otherwise you have to wake up the nurse to fill in you cups ( as you might need more than 1 cups of water in night)
4 a small pillow/cusion - very useful as the pillow in my hopital is one not enough and two too much so a litter cusion came very handy!
Hi i am having my op on Tuesday and these tips will come in useful i too have wipes never thought of the water and biscuits, pj i have been told are easy to wear with the drains.
Hi ladies
Had 2 ops in 3 weeks - one local exision with nodes etc, but proved not enough and ended up with b/l mastectomy last week… anyway, some tips:
one useful tip was to take pyjamas with buttons in the fronts as they are much easier to wear. espeically after nodes removal (and probably reconstruction as well) it is difficult to life your arms to waer something over the head.
Then, I kept lots of fruits with me in the hospital because if you are given codeine as painkiller it usually results in terrible constipation.
Also, take some face creams / lotions with you as anesthesia can affect the skin (mine becomes terribly oil after the ops) - not really important but good for morale and feeling / looking pretty:)
Then, if like me, the night was the worst time, left alone with your worries and fears, i found valerian helps me sleep and calms down immediately and without any side effects. i think drops or tablets can be found in boots and holland&barret.
I hope something will be useful, and most importantly, be brave and get well everybody.
Having been in myself 9 days ago I’d like to add MP3 player with some soothing music as the wards can be incredibly noisy at night so this helped me to drop off (in fact one of the night nurses took my earphones out and turned it off for me when I dropped off!)
Can also recommed front opening button PJs especially the Tesco Florence and Fred shorties which were £5, in fact I wish I’d bought 2 pairs, as I got blood on them. Buy a bigger size than normal so you can get your arm in the armhole. The point being, dressings do leak so don’t wear your best stuff.
I spent days to find an open button PJ made with 100% cotton ( i know i am a bit picky) and at a reasonable price!! I ended up in Debuham with some lovely PJ - opening button, short sleef, one size bigger than i am, nice picky flower parterned but it is £20!! well,… If only i knew Tesco had some PJ ealier…
My mobile with ear piece kept me sane, especially the radio. Did mange to freak the nurses as it seems I would just stare into space, I was very content listening to radio 4!!
these tips have been fab. i have my mas and recon on tuesday next week and was wondering wat to take as i’ll be in for a week! seein BCN on friday tho, hopefully she’l give me a few pointers.
thanx everyone
Stocked up with front-opening jimjams at TKMaxx - 100% cotton, very nice and reduced from designer prices to 20 quid. Hmm…I’ll have to plan some exotic weekends after recovery to get the most out of them… if they’re not permanently damaged by wound leakage, that is… ;(
Sorry for the delicateness of this post but having had constipation for a week following surgery (and held to ransom over leaving hospital by my bowels) my suggestion if this happens to you is - garlic and if that fails garlic and wine! Nothing the hospital gave me helped to really sort me out properly and only enabled me to get out of hospital (I was asked to “score” my efforts on a poo chart complete with diagrams and descriptions - eek!). I sent my hubby to get me some hummous the day I came home and this began to get things moving again. Having had my first glasses of wine last night since before the op along with some guacamole I can honestly say I am a much happier bunny!
Having never been at the mercy of my bowels before or had them the subject of such interest and never realised the grief they could cause I thought my experience may help someone else avoid it!
Hi all
Had WLE, SNB and ANC on the 25th and my tips would be thus:
* Ditto PJ’s - ditto Primark - got 1 s/s cotton pair and 1 l/s flannel pair for £4 each - bargain!
* Ditto cocodamols = constipation! As soon as i could, i went on a paracetamol and ibuprofen mix (but got advice from BC Nuse first) but you have to be prepared for some tenderness etc (better that than what i was experiencing with the bowels!)
* Take comfortable non-underwire, non-lacey bra(s) e.g. cotton sports bras - invaluable!
* Bra extenders have proved to be worth their weight in gold as i had some swelling etc and wouldn’t have been able to fasten them if not
* Take some front buttoning tops for when you come out of the hospital (or, if you’re like me, don’t want to sit around the hospital all day wearing pj’s - it makes me feel ill!!!) as raising your arm over your head is not going to be possible for a while
* Obviously, reading material etc
* I took OH’s nintendo ds and did brain training games to make me feel like i wasn’t numb from the neck up…
I totally agree with the babywipes tip - I used mine for all sorts of things - and as I was in bed for a few days and couldnt face a shower etc , they were ideal!!
As for bowels - ha ha ha - there were three of us who were held prisoner until we performed… it was a race to the finish - in the end it was a litre of orange juice and some really nice prunes from the tesco finest range which finally had me to the winning line and let out of the prison on day 6 !! Its now 9 days post op and I am still struggling to remain regular - but have some senna tablets to help. Hilarious though, I agree, how much of my time in hospital was spent discussing bowel movements with strangers!!
Aah, thanks Chris - nerves are kicking in now but nothing a couple of glasses of wine won’t cure I am sure.
I’m starting to pack my things, got loads of mags and going to take my laptop too so I can watch some DVD’s when I feel better.
Apparently my hospital is close enough to the centre of Toulouse and I understand that if I feel well enough they don’t mind me going for a walk to do shopping. OH will be with me for the op, he’s staying op night and then the following day so at least I won’t be going through it on my own.
I’ll take some fybogel with me just in case - LOL. Thanks all for tips
There’s some good tips here, thanks. I did already buy 4 packs of babywipes! Also, if there are any larger ladies out there having trouble finding nice pj’s - I got loads from the men’s range in Matalan (£6 - £9). Lots of nice, smart, dark colours (thought they might hide any gunk stains!) and if anybody notices the buttons being on the rhs - I’ll tell them I had a bit of a sex change whilst I was ‘under’! I must remember to sew the flies up though! They have nice thin dressing gowns too in dark colours with big pockets for the drains, only £10, I can’t be doing with those thick ones, every time I walk into Barts it feels like I’ve just wandered into a sauna! Thanks everyone for the constipation tips, I’m gonna take in Tesco’s dried apricots - they work so well I only just made it to the loo the last time I needed something like that! God how embarrassing would that be on top of everything else? Good luck narnia, I’m in 2 days before you!
My essentials for hospital are:
PRUNES - It seems that everything they give you in hospital, combined with the lack of exercise, results in chronic constipation. The only effective solution for me has been to start each day with half a dozen prunes (I suppose dried apricots or raisins would work if you don’t like prunes). But do have them first thing as this seems to make a big difference. Grapes are also excellent.
SQUASH - I prefer Tesco’s pink grapefruit Hi-juice, because it’s not too sweet. You need to drink lots to help with the constipation, but plain water can get boring.
Best of luck, and just make sure that they empty your drains regularly.
Love, Lynn
How strange - Tesco’s pink grapefruit hi-juice is my most favourite! - I actually bought 2 bottles to take in with me only last night! Earplugs too might help (maybe not with the constipation though) - always use them every night anyway - slightest thing wakes me up and I live in a quiet street!
