# Surgery in 2 days - what should I take to hospital?



## dibdab (Jul 3, 2013)

I am having a thyroidectomy on Tuesday and although I have done a bit of reading on here I am not sure what (if anything) I should take to hospital with me to make me more comfortable post surgery. They have told me that I will be staying in for 3 nights so other than lots of reading material for when I'm feeling well enough is there anything else I should take or anything to be aware of?

Thanks


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Three nights? Really?? Are there extenuating circumstances? Rarely are people in more than overnight.

Yes, books are good but...it's hard to describe, reading after a TT is hard. It's like a weird form of brain fog. And an inability to concentrate. My mom sent me a nice stack if books and it was a good five days before I could really focus to read. I always recommend lots of low-brow movies. Actually, kids movies were awesome.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

I was only at the hospital fr a total of 27 hours - I cannot imagine why they are keeping you for 3 nights, you must have fantastic insurance. WHile in the hospital try and keep a cool pack on the incision (in case they do not offer you one)

Make sure to bring the usual - your own nightgown, slippers, something you like to do, a book, crossword puzzles, music.

As stated I was only in for 27 hours which meant I never actually "checked in" to the hospital but did spend the night after surgery. I cooked my family dinner the day I came home.

More importantly - when are they planning to start your replacement medications? Have they decided on a dose yet? Manuf recommends - 1.7mcg replacement per kilogram of weight. If your weight requires more than the 100mcg they try and start everybody on - SPEAK UP! Be sure to insist they run Free t-3 and Free T-4 post op and aim for mid to 3/4 of range.


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## jackpot13 (Jul 10, 2011)

Well considering your in for 3 nights I have a feeling your gonna get board. I was in overnight but 4 days later back in for 2 nights due to a low calcium. All the suggestions for books magazines, puzzles are good but the smartest thing I brought both times was my own pillow!! I also brought an extra blanket because hospital blankets are very thin. They will give you more but it just didn't seem to help. I also took snacks and cans of pop. The hospital food was awful and if you get hungry during the night when you cant sleep all they have is crackers. Don't forget your phone charger or like in my case the charger for your kindle or lap top or whatever. You will probably feel like resting a lot but hopefully you won't feel too awful bad and will need something to keep you from getting stir crazy! Good luck and keep us posted. :hugs:


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## Kenwood (Aug 18, 2013)

I went in Friday morning and was discharged on Sunday afternoon. I think my slippers were the best thing I brought. I had periods were I was very cold. My hospital had those "heated" blankets and those were really awesome. I brought magazines that I never even read - too hard to concentrate. Just have friends to text on my iPhone is what helped pass most of the time. My iPad with Netflix also helped too. Also don't be afraid to ask for something to help you sleep.


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Wow, 3 nights?? I was in the hospital for only about 26 hours, so I didn't really get the chance to get bored. I didn't really need anything in the hospital because I was so out of it from the anesthesia, but I had the tv left on for background noise. I brought my Kindle full of books, but like joplin, I was a little too loopy to concentrate on reading while I was there. I would have liked having a more stable pillow, though, the hospital one was pathetic and I couldn't get my neck comfortable on it.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Oh the pillow from home - GREAT idea!

Slipper will allow you to roam the halls and since I highly doubt you will be tied to your bed - maybe sneakers would be a good idea.


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## dibdab (Jul 3, 2013)

Thanks for all of the replied, all great advice - good to know that I may be feeling a bit unable to concentrate afterwards so I won't worry if this does happen.

Yeah I guess I do have pretty good insurance - and my surgeon said he likes to keep people in for a couple of days after the surgery so that they can keep an eye on calcium levels and anything else that could result from the surgery. And my insurance has OK'd it so looks like I will be stuck in there for a while  I live in the UAE where the hospitals seem to love getting their money's worth from the insurance companies! The good thing is that I will be coming out at the weekend so my husband will be able to go to work for the rest of the week without worrying about me being on my own at home - I'm sure I will be fine but he is worrying!

Thanks again, much appreciated


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## dibdab (Jul 3, 2013)

Lovlkn said:


> More importantly - when are they planning to start your replacement medications? Have they decided on a dose yet? Manuf recommends - 1.7mcg replacement per kilogram of weight. If your weight requires more than the 100mcg they try and start everybody on - SPEAK UP! Be sure to insist they run Free t-3 and Free T-4 post op and aim for mid to 3/4 of range.


I actually have no idea about the replacement meds - this hasn't been discussed at all, guessing it should have been if you are asking about it so I will ask what the plan is for this when I am admitted in the morning. Thanks for the advice with recommended dose - according to your calculation I would need approx. 114 mcg so I will keep an eye on what they try to put me on. How soon after surgery do they start the medication?


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## Airmid (Apr 24, 2013)

Good Lord, I had a four hour surgery involving my parathyroids and thyroid cancer and I still got to go home the same day, which I was very happy about.

It just seems strange to me to keep you in for that long. I mean monitoring calcium is important but unless they manage to kill all your parathyroids at once um, there are warning signs and it usually takes several days for issues to show up. I couldn't imagine being kept for that long just due to that and I was recently trapped in a cardiac unit for almost four days due to flu complications. I was climbing the walls at the end.

Now one thing I did learn was my nurses' station had snacks, which was especially helpful if you woke up/are awake late at night or during the night. There seems to be a big stretch between dinner and breakfast (mine was like 12.5 hours or something) so it was nice to get cereal, yogurt, ice cream etc. Of course they were all recorded and while I was never denied anything I also didn't ask for lots, and I would imagine they would cut you off if you got greedy. It's worth thinking about.

I was glad that I had by chance my Kindle in my purse as it was an unplanned admission and my grandmother brought me a charger the next day. And my hospital had WiFi so fun to be had there. I also had around 35 channels, maybe more, and me not a big TV watcher at all anymore was happy to indulge.

If you are well enough they probably will let you wear your own PJ's and slippers as long as there is no tripping hazard. Many hospitals have showers that don't have the regular fixture and instead have a hand held wand. This is really nice as it will allow you to wash the rest of you while avoiding anything at your incision and above. Though nurses can get really creative with tape and bags if you really want to wash your hair. Just saying. So bringing your own stuff is a must along with all other hygiene items you would like.

Many hospitals now don't have issues with cell phones. All of my nurses, doctors and CNA's carried and used them in the cardiac unit and I was free to use my own. Don't know the policies at your own hospital but something to keep in mind.

I had awesome hospital food during my recent stay so I hope you had the same. While they did feed me proper calories etc I had things like French Apple Pie, chocolate milkshakes, cheeseburgers, tortellini, cookies, etc.


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## Swimmer (Sep 12, 2013)

An ipod loaded with old time radio mysteries. A pen & notepad. A Bible. Cash so you can send someone to get you Starbucks coffee.


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## dibdab (Jul 3, 2013)

Well surgery is all over and I feel pretty good, very sire around the neck of course but better than I expected to feel.

The surgeon seems happy and when my husband arrived last night he couldn't wait to take him up to theatre to show him what he had removed!

The worst thing is that I have a cough which is causing pain but I'm just trying to keep the coughing to a minimum.

Still no mention of thyroid meds so I need to ask about that.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Glad you are doing well.

Do those breathing exercises and it will help withthde e cough (which, BTW, is really common).


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Oh yeah, the post-surgery cough. I remember that! I found that it helped to kind of hunch over when I coughed, it didn't pull on my neck so much.

So your husband got to see your thyroid?? That's so cool! I asked the surgeon to take a picture of mine once it was out, but he didn't allow cameras or phones in the OR. And then my thyroid went straight to pathology where they chopped it to pieces for testing.


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## dibdab (Jul 3, 2013)

Yeah he did, he got to go and see it and take pictures so I've been impressing my friends with those 

I actually had a cough before surgery but kind of played ot down - not sensible I know but I was worried they would postpone surgery. Anyway they've been giving me tons of antibiotics and cough syrup so it seems to be improving and my neck is already feeling a little less sore anyway so the coughing isn't hurting so much.

Really ready to go home today, keeping fingers crossed for the surgeon's rounds this morning!


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## Airmid (Apr 24, 2013)

Aw man, I wish I got pictures.

The only thing I ever got after any surgery was to keep my gallstones. Kind of cool looking, wow I had a lot of them and it does gross people out but no pictures of what they took out for any surgery.  Though apparently my pelvic lap had pictures, would like to see those sometime.

I'm glad you're doing well.


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## dibdab (Jul 3, 2013)

6 days after surgery and doing really well, I had my dressings removed this morning and the scar looks so much better than I expected it would do at this stage so I'm feeling really happy about that - so glad I had this surgery!


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Excellent news!


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)




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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

That's great!!


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