Staying in hospital

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Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 9:58 pm

Just found out I need surgery to remove a large ovarian cyst, which will then be sent for analysis to check for cancer. Sad

I'm booked in for a laparotomy on 13 January - apparently the cyst is far too big to do it by laparoscopy. It's my first time staying in hospital, and they've kindly given me a leaflet on what to expect, take with me etc - but I know there's a few old hands here (does the NHS do season tickets?) and was wondering if anyone has any tips about being an inpatient?

Knowing you lot though, one proviso - I am nervous enough about all this, so no horror stories thank you very much, unless you want your head twisting off and stuck on the nearest christmas tree. Ta.

Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 10:08 pm

Oh, Cougie! I don't have any tips, so I'm sending you lots 'o hugs instead.

((((((hugs))))))

♥♥♥

Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 11:53 pm

Dress for comfort as much as possible. Nothing tight fitting that will be a PITA to put back on when you leave. You probably won't feel much like reading or other things. Just resting and recovering. They tend to do the procedure, get you up on your feet ASAP, & send you home.

(I had two wives that had Hysterectomies. Not the same but close)

Try to have the Doc prescribe the medications you will need at home a day early to your family so they can get them early. It's miserable sitting in a car waiting for a prescription when you would rather be home in a comfortable chair or bed. Maybe have the fixings for heat or cold packs depending on which feels better after the surgery.

Sorry that you have to go through this. If I think of something else I will add.

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 26 Oct 2013 Posts: 96

That's terrible, I hope everything turns out alright!

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:16 am

Oh, and socks. For some reason or another my feet always get cold after anesthesia so I brought along warm socks (and slippers too, if they let me).

@Big Al, excellent advice as well.

Do not worry, Cougie, we're all here for you.

(((hugging Cougie again)))

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:45 am

Firstly I am sorry to hear of your situation. Us Folk around here will keep you in our thoughts and Prayers!

Tips yes I’ve got plenty! Now I’ve never had even an overnight stay in the Hospital as I’m usually more of the Emergency Room type of guy after a few too many but I have spent days upon days with Friends and Family. Hospital stays can be very boring and uncomfortable so most of this is how to avoid that. In no particular order:

- Books, lots of Books and Magazines and anything you like to read. Get twice what you think you need. The same goes for DVDs and the like.

- Comfort food that can be stored without too much of a problem. Once again the more the better.

- If you want visitors then encourage them. Many people do not feel comfortable visiting the ‘Sick’ as they don’t want to bother them. A half an hour with a Friend can be something that will brighten your day. If you don’t want company then make it clear to the Nursing staff who and who cannot visit. Some folks can really ef up your day….

- Make sure you have a Wireless device that works off Cell technology (in case there is no Internet access).

- Hobbies. Ever wanted to Knit a Sweater? Or learn Small Engine Repair? Or Morse Code? Now is the time.

- Comfortable clothes and lots of them. Think of your favorite PJs and Slippers and Robe and keep packing. Depending upon the situation you may not have a lot of Privacy so you may want to keep that in mind when packing. You might be allowed to wander around the Hospital at length so keep that in mind.

- Headphones/Music. Sick people can be loud and annoying. Their Relatives can be much worse especially on Weekends. For example, one of my Father’s roommates thought his Buzzer was a Microphone so he yelled into incessantly until I figured out what the problem was and simply took care of him too.

- Personal items! Favorite pictures, a Teddy Bear, anything that makes you feel more comfortable.

- Personal Hygiene products like Shampoo or Soap or Toothpaste or whatever you use on a Daily Basis. Pamper yourself when you can.

- Phone numbers. Anyone who you have ever wanted to phone lately and anyone who you care about.

Horror Stories? Nah! Hospitals are like Hotels with really strange Staff Members, Guests and Rules. Once you are feeling better I'll tell you all about 'Oscar's Most Excellent Adventure Through the Windshield Glass' or 'Whadda Ya Mean I can't Smoke in here? I don't see no signs?' and my Self-Help Book 'A Shit Load of Ways on how to get First in Line for Emergency Treatment'.

Keep your Stick on the Ice!

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 1:21 am

^^^ You might ask how many days you are supposed to be in the hospital for before you pack the kitchen sink.

Some surgeries are through just three small holes in your abdomen and you might only be there a day or three before they send you home.

When I last heard Laparotomy, It was done by either a bikini cut similar to a C-Section (1st Wife) or completely done by going up through your Girlie parts. (2nd wife). Both took about a week back then for recovery before they sent you home. (Over 10 years ago)

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

oscarpiles wrote:

Keep your Stick on the Ice!

Ditto. Best wishes your way!

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 1:49 am

^I was only throwing out suggestions. I Apologize if I have Offended anybody but I've seen some people who are completely alone in hospitals without anyone to help them so I thought I'd offer some of my observations and experiences.

Sorry. I was just trying to be helpful....

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 2:58 am

Cougar, I wish you the best. You will be in my thoughts and prayers. Oscars hospital stay recommendations are excellent. Keep busy.

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 3:33 am

For never spending a night in the hospital OP, you do have a lot of good tips. Next time I am admitted (and I will be in the next coming months) I want you to come an pack for me! And sit with me while I am there.

I am an old hat for hospital stays. (first time was the week of thanksgiving when I was 13- I am now 45. appendix out- no turkey Evil or Very Mad

) I have gone from being a terrified patient to the worst patient you could ever imagine. I won't go into horror stories, because I have those, too, so I will just give you a couple of tips to add to those already stated above. I have Crohn's disease and have been hospitalized more times than I can remember. I hate being in the hospital. I don't know what the rules are at the hospital you are going to, but having someone with me during the evenings until I fall asleep always helped. Staying in the hospital is the loneliest place. I know the difference of being alone and being lonely and the only time I have ever been lonely is in the hospital. If I am alone, I cry myself to sleep. It's weird because the only time that happens is when I am in the hospital. I feel so vunerable at the time. If you don't have someone, bring a laptop with DVD's. I don't imagine you'll be in for long, you might have surgery and be let go the next day. If so, get as much pain relief you can, sleep and then go home. Anyway- jabbering too much and you want tips!

#1 tip- most important EVER! Have someone with you who knows your medical history. Someone who knows you intimately (this does not necessarily mean in the biblical sense) Someone to speak up for you if you can't speak up for yourself. Someone who can tell if something if off with you. Remember, the nurses (the hell with the drs. they don't do crap) don't know you. If you are in pain and the nurses don't do anything about it, then this person can firmly fight for you. I have my fiancé who knows my medical history better than I. He can also tell if I am "not myself".

#2 tip- Make sure you have an advance directive. Someone who can legally make decisions if you are unable to . This is not to scare you, but to help you. You don't need to spend money on this, most hospitals have a form you can fill out. This is to protect you. If something happens, you have someone who will comply with wishes you may have. This is usually the person in tip #1, but it doesn't have to be. Who do you trust to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to.

#3 tip- Speak up! If you are not being communicated with, or do not understand something, don't be afraid to speak up and say you don't understand. If the person who is supposed to communicate with you, isn't, get someone else who will. Ask to speak with the charge nurse, if she's the problem, ask for her supervisor.

#4 tip- the best way to recover from surgery is to WALK! After surgery try and get up as soon as possible. Walk the halls. Sometimes I would walk just because I am bored and it wastes time.

Good luck, I also have ovarian cysts. (most all women do, they just don't know and the cysts resolve themselves). Those can be very painful. Hope the biopsies come back negative.

Positive thoughts coming your way! Hope it all turns out okay and make sure you let us know you're okay afterwards. Take all the pampering you can get, and ice-cream, eat lots and lots of ice-cream. Milk this for everything it's worth- ha ha just kidding, maybe Razz

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 4:50 am

The wife has had an ovarian cyst removed, being a women's ward, there is a lot of nattering between the patients and staff.
I have only been in for day surgery.
Television for each bed is by a prepaid card. Hospital radio you can listen too and there could be a telephone for each bed using the same prepaid card.
You might get a menu card, where you choose your meals for the day, or a booklet showing meals for the week.
Your stay will be made as nice as possible.

The Patient Advice Liaison Services or P.A.L.S can help you, find your local one via,
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1082.aspx?CategoryID=68
this one has a video of a nurse advising what to take into hospital,
http://www.nhs.uk/video/Pages/Preparingforhospital.aspx?searchtype=Video&searchterm=&offset=49&

To Add, have a friend go with you to and from the hospital.

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 7:10 am

I have nothing to add except that it's always a good idea to befriend as many nurses as possible. (Just be generally nice and make them feel appreciated.) In 99 out of 100 hospitals they'll be in a far better situation (and also more willing) to make you feel better than all the doctors combined - it's the doctor who signs the prescription, but normally the nurse who decides when and how much morphine and extra pillows you get. It can also be very helpful to know how they feel about a certain doctor.

Don't be afraid to ask too many questions. Doctors are those demigods in white, their time is much more valuable than yours etc. etc., but you're still a customer whose money makes up a part of their extravagant salaries and have a right to know what they know about you.

Good luck and come back soon!

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 7:27 am

Definitely pack a cellular device, none of the hospitals my good lady has stayed in had patient access wireless. Don't forget a charger.

Take cash if you fancy the pay-TV systems, these are not cheap but could stave off boredom. Likewise for the shop; food at ours has been somewhat lacking so it's best to have a plan B.

Hope it all goes well, keep in touch Wink

Baiting Guru Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Posts: 21158

A lot of great advice above already. I have nothing of value to add other than Best Wishes! My thoughts will be with you.

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 11:11 am

Cougar, hugs and best wishes!

No horror stories, good advice above. The one thing I remember is the difficulty truly to sleep at night-the nursing staff was actually friendly and willing to talk which made it much easier.

If you like and trust your attending, great. The next best is their resident, specialist in training-this is the person to talk to, get information from and generally find out what's what.

Great suggestions about keeping yourself from getting bored once the initial wooziness from surgery wears off. I have been in getting a knee reconstructed and almost went nuts.

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 11:55 am

Best wishes Cougar Thumbs up

Cannot give anymore advice to the top stuff already mentioned.

One thing I will add is not to expect to stay in hospital very long after the op. Nowadays the NHS are short of beds and they will send you home ASAP unlike years ago when a week or two post op was normal.

'Keep your powder dry'.

419Eater Admin Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Posts: 7469

Very best wishes to you, Cougar.

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:46 pm

@ Oscar. Wasn't trying to totally diss you. Sorry if my reply sounded that way. Embarassed

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 1:20 pm

I second OPs advice to encourage visitors many years ago pre wifi I spent a few days bored as people thought I needed my own space to recover and as we had a 1 year old at the time the wife struggled to sit with me for long.

My thoughts are with you, the wife has had cysts cauterised twice and although only kept in for a few hours she needed time to recover afterwards at home.

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 2:25 pm

Spent three weeks in hospital from 20 September because the peripheral neuropathy in my feet was playing up something fierce along with the agony of a compression fracture in my L4/L5 vertebrae.

Make sure the doctors have written up plenty of strong painkillers for you for after the procedure, drink plenty of fluids so you don't get dehydrated and have lots of easy to eat comfort food if the anaesthetic hasn't put you of your meals. If you have trouble sleeping at night you could try Valerian tablets. They can be bought at any health food store and are non addictive. Also make sure you bring with you a list of all medications you may be taking, allergies, next of kin details, your GP's name and contact details and any other personal info that you may wish to include. Comes in handy when you're trying to cope with a million things at once under trying circumstances. Don't forget your mobile phone and charging unit in case there is no phone beside your bed. Don't forget to make sure all contacts are up to date in the phones address book so you can stay in touch with family and friends. Don't forget to get out of bed and go for a walk (even if it's only around the bed several times) regularly. Helps stop blood clots and is good for the morale.

Hope all goes well for you Cougar and plenty of hugs from me too. Take it easy after the procedure and round up family and friends to help out with things like housework and cooking when you get home.

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 2:45 pm

The one thing I would make sure of is sleeping pills.

Nighttime was very loud and someone was knocking, walking in or laughing like mad every ten minutes it seemed.

It made Justcold.....Justgrumpy.

Best wishes Cougar.

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 2:50 pm

^^I forgot about the sleeping part. Melatonin (5 mg tablets, over the counter and quite safe) worked for me.

Baiting Guru Joined: 28 Feb 2013 Posts: 3152

I wish you all the best and a speedy recovery.

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 6:17 pm

Really depends on your hospital - I had my gall bladder removed, and being on the surgical ward was great. Being in the general ward was not so great - food was worse, staff lost my notes, left me with no morphine... If you can take in a laptop or a tablet to keep yourself entertained, do it - and don't forget your headphones and chargers! Get someone to bring you food, if you can. And drinks - I was also left with no water for 12 hours, despite asking for it - had to drink the joke Lucozade a friend had brought for me. Good luck!