scared of hospital?

my oct. 10th date is looming and i'm finding myself suddenly wondering what the hospital experience will be like. scary? boring? painful? cold? i've never had a surgery or even stayed in a hospital so i've got no idea what to expect. any tips would be appreciated.

hi im on the same boat as you and same surgery day too how exciting hehehe bye now

You have NOTHING to worry about We all have been down that road of wondering what the hospital's going to ve like...but rest assured you wil be fine. I had surgery on a WED and was released on Friday to go home. On WED the day of surgery I really don't rememebr ANYTHING, because they have ne JOY JUICE , I had not pain, other than gas pains, and was ALL DAY. I do remember later on that night I got up and walked around, and that did help with the gas pains. On the second dayI drank that BARIUM so the doc could see if my pouch was leaking, and THANK GOD it wasn't after that I returned to my room and during the course of the day the doc and nurse's are coming in and out checking on you, giving you IV's and all. Now, rememeber that EVERYONE is different. I remember before my surgery I was talking to people to find out what to expect while in the hospital....everyone that I spoke with had a HORRIBLE experience, which in a way, mad me a little tense. But everything was fine, and your stay at the hospital will be finetoo

I had my surgery on 8-16 at a military hospital and I had never stayed a hospital before that! I was so scared, but it was actually nice. I had to stay in ICU overnight after my surgery (no complication, just Dr.'s oders). ICU had only 1 other patient in there so someone was always right there with me. It was quite and nice (of course I was on morphine, lol). The next day, I had my catheter taken out and I went for my barrium swallow (yuck) and then went to 7th floor, regular patient rooms. It was kinda different in there b/c in ICU I had a nurse come by every 5 minutes, but on the 7th floor, I had to push the call button when I needed them (which was often b/c I didn't have my cath in anymore and had to go to the restroom frequently and couldn't get out of bed on my own). I slept a lo****ched TV, listened to the radio (it was part of the bed), walked the halls, and talked to my roomate ( I guess is what you would call her). I thought I was going to have a private room, but it was a military hospital, what do you expect? Let's see, is wasn't scary except right before they wheeled me in for surgery, it was boring, the only pain was gas build up but walking helps a lot, I was never cold but always HOT so you may want to bring a small clip on fan (ICU gave me one from the nurses station b/c I was sweating sooooo much after surgery. They had piled like 5 thick blankets on me, thank goodness I had enough strength to tell them to get me just a sheet and a fan!!!) Hope this helps. -Lynn Lap RNY 8-16-05 297/258/150

Hi Kari, Don't fret...the hospital stay isn't too bad It's not the best experience of course, but it goes by quickly. I was in for 4 days and I can barely remember it because I was on good pain meds Be prepared to be woken up at all hours for checks on your vital signs and all that. Also make sure you have some visitors lined up to help the time pass during the last day or so. Tell the nurses that u r nervous because its your first hospital stay and they might be more attentive to you. You will sepnd most of your time in and out of conciousness though(recovery and pain meds). Do bring something that reminds you of home just for comfort. Also an extra pillow might be a good plan...this might be too much information, but my butt really hurt after the second day and an extra pillow really would have helped for the cushion! Best of luck to you!! Hugs, Sara