I spent 8 days in hospital this month (so far, let's keep our fingers crossed). I was pretty sure when I headed into A&E that I wouldn't be sent home so I thought, I'd better think ahead and pack well: I packed my iPad, phone and chargers. This was not quite good enough. I will give myself credit for wearing elastic cotton pants and a sports bra which was perfect.
Here's what would have been much better to pack:
- Tweezers, nail clippers and nail file — Chin hairs! Nails that are far too long after one week!
- Flushable wipes — Because you're hooked up to a drip and not showering.
- Toothbrush and toothpaste — Because eventually your mouth sores will heal and you'll want to not be cutting your tongue on tooth grime.
- Eye mask & ear plugs — Good lord there are a lot of lights and noises at the hospital, even when you're in your own room there are lights and noises because they're checking on you. Also you might want to go to bed at 19:00. These are actually probably the most important items.
- Hairbrush — Wow, your hair up in a bun on your head for a week becomes a single unit.
- Dry shampoo powder — Because I happen to have that format, seems better than an aerosol in a hospital and it helps!
- Underwear — Though it's really camp-life there and you don't get up too much, it's nice to have a couple of pair. One more pair of elastic pants and another sports bra would have been nice, too, but not as critical given it's also gown-life.
- Notebook and pen — For all the things that come to mind after the doctors' visiting rounds.
- Books, magazines, Switch — I actually enjoyed not having anything to do and preferred that for my usually restless brain but it was nice to have some options, sometimes.
Thank you to the friends who brought me these things throughout the week <3.