Operation tomorrow

I took my own pjs and decided that I’d come home in the clothes I went in.  I spent 4 days in a hospital gown showing my arse to anyone who’d look. (With hospital string vest knickers)  never even got to use my lovely shower gel. I took a dressing gown but it was too hot in there to wear it but I did have a comfy cardigan that I could put on. Getting out of bed and having a wash even it’s just your face will make you feel amazing.   

You’ll be fine. You’ve got this.  ️

Thank you! I too was planning a return trip in same clothes  I am fully prepared to leave any dignity at the door ! Hope you are doing OK xxx

Hi Arial88 Yes it’s part of the gold standard recovery whereby they’ll encourage you to get up and sit in a chair rather than lying in bed. I think I wore pjs and maybe a hoody or light dressing gown? They’ll also encourage you to walk about when you feel up to it so I used to just wander up and down the ward corridor.

Hope everything goes well 

Take care

Karen x

Thanks Karen, I think we are in the same area, my nurse mentioned enhanced recovery along with the fact they like you to be up and about.  Seems sensible.  Thank you am so nervous , more the going under anaesthetic really. Thanks again xxx

I’m really well had my first day back at work on Friday.  My company are being amazing and forcing me to take it easy.  

Oh big tip.  Ask all of your visitors to help you do your lap of the ward.  For the first couple of days it will seem like hard work but definitely the more you move the better you will feel.  

please don’t worry about the anaesthetic   It was my first general and I can honestly say that was a lovely experience   Tell them how nervous you are  xx

Thank you! I was thinking about you on Friday.  So good to hear the return to work went well! That must feel great, a step back into normality xxx

It’s great.  It feels like a massive leap away from cancer too.   

I hope your journey is straightforward too but if not just remember the NHS is truly remarkable and these clever people will take such good care of you.  

Don’t flap Sweetie.

I wore men’s hospital jammies after I managed to soil every garment I had and kept the clothes I went in with for the journey home. In the hospital I was in, you could wander around the ward really openly (carting my drip stand etc.) and nobody gave a monkeys what you were wearing or how you looked. The only thing I would say is if you usually wear makeup, then don’t forget it. After feeling like pants for a few days, I felt as if I recognised myself again when I put on my “leaving the house” face rather than my “leave me alone” face.

I’ll be thinking of you tomorrow. Please don’t worry. If you saw me walking down the road, you’d have no idea that I had that same operation a few months ago. My neighbours up the road didn’t even know about my cancer, they saw me really soon after the op and had absolutely no idea. Allow yourself the time to be a poorly person, but you don’t need a sexy dress and a pair of stilettos to feel like a human again

You’ve got this !

Hi, just a small tip, the hospital gowns tie at the back, but if you want to feel a bit more comfortable, ask for a second gown that you can wear at the same time,  the right way round and use it as a dressing gown. As soon as I could walk around the ward, I always used two gowns to feel more comfortable. I sometimes used my actual dressing gown as a comfortable blanket on the hospital bed. 

I was in hospital over November December so I found the hospital bed covers a bit cold and got someone to bring in a blanket from home. Make sure they know if it's too warm or too cold, the best thing to be is comfortable 

This is genius!!   Wish I’d thought of this.  I think the other patients probably wish I’d thought of this