Chapter 3: Practical Prepping Tips

With my surgery quickly approaching (in 5 days... eeeek) I thought it would be a good idea to outline what I've been doing to prepare. I should mention that none of this is intended to be medical advice. I am not a doctor. I'm just sharing my experiences and tips that I hope will help you, too.

The medical stuff:

Two weeks ago I had to go to the hospital where my surgery will be done and get blood work, an EKG and a chest X-ray. Normally they don't do the latter two for patients my age, but with my mom's family history of stroke and amyloidosis, Dr. Ghomi decided to do it to be safe. I'm very grateful for that because it gave me peace of mind. A week later I had to meet with my primary care doctor to get cleared for surgery. Everything came back normal so she cleared me and gave me a pep talk (I've been seeing her for 15 years. She knows I'm an anxious mess about this). Everything on this front was easy peasy.

Things I bought:

I've been told that I will not want to wear anything that touches the incisions on my abdomen after surgery. So I bought 3 long nightshirts from Kohl's and Torrid to wear around the house post op. The exact ones I bought from Kohl's are sold out but they were both from Lauren Conrad's line and on sale. The Torrid one was Harry Potter themed, because why not have a little joy while going through recovery? I also bought a pair of maternity leggings. They are very comfortable. We should all be wearing these.

My other big purchase specifically for surgery was a pack of Thinx Period Panties. I've used these for my periods before and a friend told me that they will be very helpful for post op bleeding. I like them in general and I think that they're worth the steep price tag. They're a more environmentally friendly way to handle periods. Plus, you don't have to worry about the chemicals that are in pads and tampons (which I'm pretty sure you can't use post op anyway).

I also bought some tummy friendly food for post op and magnesium citrate for bowel prep on Tuesday. I'm not looking forward to that. I'll share more details about that Tuesday night (probably from the toilet if the horror stories I've heard are true).

Miscellaneous prepping steps:

Over the last 2 weeks or so I've been deep cleaning the house like a mad woman. I've gotten pretty far and will be doing more this weekend.

I recorded a ton of horror movies on the DVR to watch during recovery. I have an insane amount of books. I taught myself how to crochet (to help with anxiety) and I am stocked up on yarn.

I have been drinking a ton of water and walking 4 miles each day. I'm trying to lose weight and I figured I should go into this as healthy as possible.

The worst part of prep (besides nerves):

For the week before my surgery I am not allowed to take ibuprofen or any of the herbal supplements I get from my acupuncturist. Of course I have my period this week so it's been... unpleasant to say the least. I also take a hair growth supplement, an herbal allergy supplement and an herbal sleeping supplement from my acupuncturist. I'm not a new age hippie that doesn't believe in western medicine, and I will always listen to my primary care doctor over anyone else, but I think a marriage between eastern and western medicine is a healthy way to go. I am DYING without my allergy supplement. It's ragweed season here on the east coast and I am not happy about not being able to take it this week. Honestly, I am counting down the seconds until Wednesday night so I can take it again.

That's all for today! Off to clean things that I've probably cleaned 5 times already!