It is a new day so a new question if you don't mind...

I keep hearing that I should get all my stuff together before surgery.  What do people mean by stuff?  I am assuming it is what I am going to eat.  What types of things did you get to tide you over for the first few weeks? 

I really wouldn't purchase much in terms of food - you can always pick up stuff that settles well afterwards. To get through the first week I'd consider a few flavors of broth (like maybe 2 cans), a 6-pack of SF jello, and some sugar free popsicles. Instead of broth I preferred to get soup and strain the liquid from it to drink. It was a little thicker and had more flavor. Minestrone was my fave, but some people are not allowed tomatoes. If you like crystal light get some of that, preferably the ones with electrolytes added. I can't stand crystal light but I tolerated water much better with a little lemon or lime in it. I'd just keep wedges in the fridge and put one in each glass of water.

If your doc wants you to drink protein shakes, I'd definitely only buy SAMPLES at this point. Your tastes will change and something you like now may be completely unpalatable after surgery.

Beyond that, make sure you have a comfy place to recline/lay/sleep. At first sleeping in bed can be uncomfortable for many. I slept on a chaise lounge for a week or so.

Make sure you have your vitamins. You won't know how you handle things like mil****il after, but I drank milk and soy milk for protein at first because I couldn't swallow anything that smelled like protein.

Honestly the one thing I couldn't live without post-op was a detachable showerhead. It made things so much easier to wash downstairs and my hair without getting my incisions wet.

Goood luck!

I agree^^^  I bought a whole bunch of HUGE can's of protien shake mix and couln't use any of them after the  op.  ugh.  Thankfully GNC will take them back for a refund with the reciept, even if it's open.  I liked protien pudding (also at GNC) post op.  It was the only pro I could get down at first  :)

Depending on how heavy you are and how much pain you are in you may want to consider a shower chair.  I used one bc/ the pain meds made me dizzy and I was scared to fall.  I was very heavy at the time of my op and not too stable in the 1st place.

You know I had no idea that my tastes would change.  That is really good to know.  I will for sure go the route of small size proteins to find out what I like. 

Yeah, you don't need to buy too much food.  I liked SF pudding pretty early out - I couldn't stand the taste/smell of milk and it made me sick to my stomach, but I was able to get the protein from it when I mixed it into pudding mix.  2% string cheese has been one of my greatest allies since surgeries.  I eat it at least 1 meal each day.  RF peanut butter helped for a while but now I usually choose something with more protein and fewer calories.

For the first few weeks though all you need is what the others mentioned - vitamins and some protein containing liquids in small amounts.  I also would buy different size bottles of water - maybe it's just me, but I am still experimenting with how I take my water so that I get in enough a day - the different size bottle help me pace myself.  I have a long commute to work so I drink 1/2 liter bottle to and from work and then a 1 liter bottle between breakfast and lunch and another one between lunch and dinner.  I don't always get all of this accomplished, but the different bottles help me assess how far off that I am.  It will be hard to drink water, especially at first, so you will want some way to guage that you're drinking enough at the right pace (other people use an alarm on their watch).