Ok friends, here as promised is a shopping list for top surgery – the things I had to buy, the things I found were the best for my comfort, and a few extras.

Medical:

• Surgical compression vest. Measure around below the bra line and order by the number of inches. About $75 each with your surgeon’s discount.
• Percocet and anti-nausea medication as prescribed.
• Ibuprofen – to take with, and then instead of opiates as an anti-inflammatory.
• Benadryl – your foam dressing will itch.
• Colace – you will need some help going to the bathroom, you may also have to take milk of magnesia if you take a lot of the opiates.
• About 80 NON-ADHERENT telfa pads, 2×3 inches.
• About 20-40 abdominal pads – this and the telfa will be your main dressings, and will be about $40 if you have a good drugstore.
• Bacitracin ointment.
• Tub of vaseline.
• Paper tape – once you get the vest off you need this to hold the dressings on.
• Pack of 100 surgical gloves.
• Soft scarf or towel – your vest will need extra padding eventually.
• Organic hippie-dippie soap/shampoo – once you’re allowed to shower your skin will be super delicate.
• Coconut oil or delicate moisturiser – for the skin that’s been under the vest and later for your surgery site.

Logistics:

• Microwaveable food or a bunch of tupperware so you can store food in the freezer in advance. I did two casseroles and a huge pot of soup, and my friends cooked a few meals to help me.
• Applesauce – my nurse recommended it as the best thing to swallow with drugs post-surgery.
• Soup/instant noodles – on the first day you’ll want to eat almost nothing.
• Granola bars – but you do have to get calories into you somehow.
• Gatorade or other electrolyte drink – keep yourself hydrated on the first two/three days.
• Baggy clothes with buttons or zips, elastic-waist pants – you are going to have trouble dressing yourself for a while.
• Shoes that you can easily slip on and off.
• A bag that does not cross your shoulders or chest – absolutely NO backpacks.
• Extra pillows – you’re going to want to prop yourself up in bed, and make sure you can’t roll in your sleep.

Comfort:

• Warm socks and fuzzy blankets.
• A hot water bottle.
• You know what, seriously, I went ahead and bought a heated mattress topper because I had to spend a long time in bed and I’m a really cold-blooded human being.
• A second compression vest – I didn’t, but you might want to.
• A netflix subscription, or some kind of easy game you can play on your back in bed on a phone or tablet. You won’t have much brain, but you’ll need something.
• Dry shampoo – again, I didn’t, but I had a human who would wash my hair for me.
• Baby wipes – if you don’t think you’ll want to sponge bath for a day or so.
• Scented candles, or incense, or sparkly nail polish, or something that makes you feel good about yourself and your body.

 

I may come back and add to this in case any other expenses come up. You’ll also want a budget for lyft, since you won’t be able to drive for 2-3 weeks, and you’re not allowed to carry groceries for 8 weeks (unless your groceries are under 10lbs).

Hopefully this will help folks budget reasonably for surgery, or give your supporters ideas of how they can contribute. If anyone else has great ideas feel free to let me know. Wish my good luck tonight, I’m going out dancing! I mean, I’m going to sit down and DJ and try not to move very much at all. Have fun!