Prepping for Surgery

Preparing for any surgery is an ordeal (at least I assume so, I’ve never had major surgery before). It requires mental and emotional and physical preparation. But what I’ve learned about mastectomy surgery (after reading somewhere on the order of 100 different other blogs) is that it also takes a lot of STUFF to adequately prepare.

Before my body is ready for surgery, I need to be as clean as possible (reduce the risk of infection) which requires a night before and day of surgery shower with special Hibiclens soap, plus clean pajamas and bed sheets after the first shower the night before surgery. I also need to remove all metal jewelry before surgery – which means my nose ring gets swapped out for a glass nose-stud (because I’m fairly certain I won’t have the range of motion to get my metal ring back in after surgery, and no one is particularly enthused to have to dig around my nostril to get it back in for me).

While I will hopefully only be in the hospital for one night, there’s a whole bunch of stuff I’ll be packing. Of course, there’s the stuff you need any time you spend the night away from home:

• Pajamas (button front for ease of getting on with limited range of motion)
• toiletries
• electronic devices
• charge cords
• snacks (this might be a Gavzy thing – but we never leave home without provisions)

Then there is the stuff you need coming out of this surgery in particular:

• Special Zip Front Camisole (from the lovely ladies at Heide’s who figured out how to get insurance to cover it)
• A homemade waist apron (for lugging all my drains around with me)
• Compression socks (for keeping any potential blood clots at bay, again, thanks to Heide’s)

And of course, the stuff you want for comfort in recovery from the surgery:

• A mastectomy chest pillow (thanks to Aunt Maris for the MN-proud homemade one!)
• Neck pillow (because all the hospital has are big pillows, and they make getting comfy difficult)
• blanket (the hospital blankets are crap)
• beanie (for my still fairly bald head)

From my port-surgery, I learned that the Operating Room has very little humidity, so any time spent in there really drys you out, so you need to bring stuff to re-hydrate:

• chapstick
• lotion
• throat lozenges
• water tumbler

All in, I’ll be bringing quite the sizable bag with me for a one night stay! Then, once I’m home, there’s even more stuff you need:

• More Drain Management supplies like a lanyard to hold the drains while you shower, a measuring cup to measure the output of the drains, a backup apron, etc.
• More pillows and devices for making you comfortable including armpit pillows, an adjustable bed, and a recliner (I’ve been told to expect to sleep sitting up for at least a few months)
• Spray-on deodorant (applying rub on deodorant is apparently not so easy after this surgery)
• Meds to keep your GI tract functioning like colace, miralax & magnesium citrate (pain meds are good at stopping pain, and also stopping bowel movements)

And of course, with limited range of motion and lift restrictions, there is needed help for all the things you can’t do – thanks to my amazing friends and family in advance for stepping up and helping me with cooking, doggy duties, and all the other things i don’t even realize yet that I won’t be able to do.

Unfortunately preparing for surgery can feel like a full time job (and a not-so-enjoyable one at that)

Fortunately I’m as ready as I’m gonna get. So, here we go!