make the hospital stay a bit more comfy

S

samboy

hi, for those who recall, I shared that I have been diagnosed with colon cancer stage IV recently. After two chemos and radiotherapy, I am scheduled for a major operation to remove a tumor in mid Feb.

my last stay in the hospital was only 5 months ago and I struggled during those 9 days in the ward. Even the wife had to stay a few nights to help me through.

so in preparation for the next hospital stay, what should I do or bring to ease my stay there? this time if all goes well, stay will be about 7 days. some of the things I thought to bring are my favourite snacks, photos of my baby boy, my favourite magazines, laptop with movies and comedies etc.

suggestions much appreciated.
 
Hi Samboy,

I'm sorry you are going through such a scary ordeal. I wish you all the best for successful surgery and ultimately banishing the cancer from your body.

As having your wife there with you last time seemed to be of great benefit to you, perhaps it would be good to make arrangements to have friends and rellies look after your baby while you are in hospital, so your wife can have the time to spend with you. I know it can sometimes be difficult to ask for help, but I'm sure the people in your life would be more than happy to, so please don't hesitate to ask them.

Caroline
 
Hi samboy,

Look up hemp delight 4 hemp oil and hemp protein to aid before,during,after.Imo.

Fave snacks etc?,,,,I'd eat good healthy food.

Meditate,relax and rest.

Good luck and go bust.

Cheers Spades.
 
I'm sorry to hear and wish you all the best success.

I find it's best to accept you are there, relax as much as possible and appreciate that you are surrounded by health professionals should you need them.

Take a trip to the library and find some books and magazines that may interest you to take along.
 
Richard Feynman said:
Were it me, an iPad loaded with books + internet access would do the trick.
Click to expand...

If you like watching movies and browsing then yeah, an iPad would be OK. But if you prefer fiddling with things, endless tinkering, learning how to make things work... then get an Android.

(I've just been reading the iPhone thread, and could not resist a cheap shot. :) )

IMHO for bed or travel an iPad is hard to beat for content consumption. Get one with 3G/4G, get the Telstra 12 GB 365 day expiry pre-paid internet, and get better soon.

Subscriptions to the property investment magazines are really cool on the iPad because the property data -- yield, etc -- is dynamic and can be sorted, so it's easy to find the highest or lowest performers in any category.
 
Sorry you are going through all of this.

Your own pillow.

Coffee cup, and your own coffee, tea if you find hospital quality not to your liking.

Family photo.

Cordial if you find water bland.
 
some good suggestions so far. when you say comfy and you struggled were you also referring to pain/discomfort? if so speak to your doctor before admission.

if your wife is happy to stay for some of the time that may help too or visits from other people who you enjoy.

very best wishes and hope it goes better this time.
 
I'm sorry to hear.

My suggestion comes from long journeys. I like to have a selection of spoken stuff to listen to to make a change from music, books etc. You can borrow audiobooks on cd from the library, download podcasts or even lectures from iTunes U. In the past I've bought stuff from the learning company- like the history of English or analysis of a composer's symphonies.
 
Your own pillow, and one of these U shaped pillows to relax /sit up on.
Peppermint tea for nausea and one of those Eco/reusable thermal coffee cups with the lid. Easier to hold in Bed with less spills than hospital mugs.
Don't go overboard with snacks your appetite won't be there.

Earplugs
Your own soap and deodorant/ aftershave to make you feel human.
Socks. And a cardie or wrap. It gets cold in the air conditioning

A stand for your iPad so you don't have to continually hold it.

All the best.

Cheers xactly
 
Does the hospital have Wi-Fi?

If so, ensure your laptop has Skype or facetime so you can keep in touch with friends and family.

Hope all goes well.
Marg
 
samboy said:
hi, for those who recall, I shared that I have been diagnosed with colon cancer stage IV recently. After two chemos and radiotherapy, I am scheduled for a major operation to remove a tumor in mid Feb.

my last stay in the hospital was only 5 months ago and I struggled during those 9 days in the ward. Even the wife had to stay a few nights to help me through.

so in preparation for the next hospital stay, what should I do or bring to ease my stay there? this time if all goes well, stay will be about 7 days. some of the things I thought to bring are my favourite snacks, photos of my baby boy, my favourite magazines, laptop with movies and comedies etc.

suggestions much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Was there anything in particular that you need help with for the suggestions

- were you bored? Lonely? Stressed? Anxious? All of the above?

Some of the post op pain medications can send you round the bend. Hubby had huge nightmares and panic attacks from some which terrified him. If you feel any of your medications hindered talk to your dr now and also if you felt more anxious mention it now and they might be able to give you something to help with that.

Depending on how much pain you are in you could use some time to master some photo montage software to make some montages of your sons life so far to music. You could build/sew/knit him something - yes guys can knit and it's very therapeutic to while the time with it.
 
Hi Samboy

Sorry you're going thru such a tough time. My partner had a bowel operation 2 yrs ago & he's not a reader or an internet or gaming fanatic. So what to do? I went & found a classic car model that he could build, and in fact found his classic car so got brownie points for this. You can also build trucks, planes and trains. Something different to do and my partner enjoyed this.

A combination of things to do and visitors after the first couple of days. I think we can sometimes forget the trauma our bodies go through when they need to be tampered with, so no wonder you lost confidence, felt vulnerable and needed support from your wife. I know my partner was always very glad to see me and his visitors.
Take care.
Jelsa
 
Crossword & puzzle books. Big writing pad and pen. Do you sketch or draw? Then a sketch pad and drawing tools as well.

Ear plugs and fav music. Make sure you've got some meditation tracks in amongst it and use them to help with breathing and relaxation and de-stressing.

Alternately use imagery to music. Having been through same/similar to you I used Vanessa Mae and her album The Violin Player, mainly the tracks Toccata & Fugue in D Minor (I imagined Star Wars stormtroopers and light sabres storming through my body obliterating the cells) and Contradanza (for this one I used Knights on horses with lances and swords). (Children are asked to use fairies with magic wands, boys like pirates with swords etc.)

As long as you've got internet connection - clean up your email accounts, write long newsy letters, (real ones or email), start a blog, join a forum relative to your illness and see what advice they have for you.
Here's one - http://www.colonclub.com/ which gets you to here -
http://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewforum.php?f=1

Play online games.

Eat REAL fruit.

All the best,
Olly


samboy said:
hi, for those who recall, I shared that I have been diagnosed with colon cancer stage IV recently. After two chemos and radiotherapy, I am scheduled for a major operation to remove a tumor in mid Feb.

my last stay in the hospital was only 5 months ago and I struggled during those 9 days in the ward. Even the wife had to stay a few nights to help me through.

so in preparation for the next hospital stay, what should I do or bring to ease my stay there? this time if all goes well, stay will be about 7 days. some of the things I thought to bring are my favourite snacks, photos of my baby boy, my favourite magazines, laptop with movies and comedies etc.

suggestions much appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
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