Slowly loosing my cool

Ok y'all, this is getting real! I woke up this morning and realized that tomorrow is May 1st which means I am 15 days away from my surgery. Despite my best efforts to stay cool and distract myself, reality is creeping in. How did you guys prepare yourself for the surgery both physically and mentally? Also, what did you pack for the hospital stay? I am especially interested in people who travelled to have their surgery done. Did you buy compression leggings/socks? Did you bring your own vitamins and protein? How was it traveling back? Was taking a plane painful? Thank you very much for your input in advance.  

No worries.  Get out everything you think you need then put 3/4 of it back.  If you want to take some vites and protein, fine but you probably won't use much.  Once you get to your hotel,l stock up on stuff like gatorade.  Don't worry about carbs, your job is to stay hydrated and heal.

Here's a great idea.  Take all your oldest rattiest underwear and loose tshirts.  Wear and throw away.  Then you don't need to worry about heavy luggage or doing laundry.  The hospital should give you compression leggings and a binder.  Ask if they don't volunteer it.

The travel thing isn't awful especially if you arrange a wheelchair for the trip home.  My H and sister had to fly home from Spain and it went fine.

Thank you for your response. The old clothes idea is great!

This will help you prepare mentally on what to expect:

Even if you are going to be a couple of weeks I wouldn't bother with the vitamins.

Take books or whatever you use to occupy the down time before and after the operation. I was looking
for any distraction to keep from thinking about it beforehand. The first 3 days post-op I didn't much
care about anything but I would have quickly gotten bored at that point if I hadn't been headed home.

Chapstick is the best thing I have seen that I didn't remember.

Have a safe trip and an essentially boring surgery,

Pete

Thank you Pete. I would have never thought about chapstick!

I have another question in regards to the surgery and work. to those of you who traveled outside of the US and had to ask for short term disability from their employer. How did you get the paper work to your employer? Was your surgeon familiar with he paper work? And something not particular to surgeries abroad, how long did you take off work? Thank you OH for your valuable advice. 

I took a total of 2 months off of work.  Being a corporate trainer, my work isn't strenuous physically, but it does require a high energy level, and I didn't want to return with only half of my steam.  I came back and hit the ground running.  Some return part time at first, and some freaks (in a good way) recover much faster. To be safe, though, I'd plan on at least 4 weeks.

I took only the loose clothes on my back and a change of underwear, since I went commando during my hospital stay.  The hospital provided the gown, robe, and sox so I didn't need to bring any bed clothes.  Plus, I took my comb and brush and some toiletries including toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss.  I also took my CPAP machine, which was checked by the hospital while I was in surgery.  The machine was returned to me when I was wheeled into the hospital room.  The hospital staff maintained the machine during my stay.  The hospital provided the daily newspaper.

I traveled only 5 miles for my surgery.  I now live 10 miles from the hospital and doctor's office.

Take slip on footwear as you won't want to bend over to PUT shoes or slippers on post op.