Before surgery, it will be helpful to crowd-source ideas from others about what was useful before, immediately after, and for a period of time after. In preparation for my abdominal surgery, I created these lists:

BEFORE SURGERY (including preparation):

• Medical Power of Attorney & Estate documents
• Clean sheets, towels, and laundry
• Clothing that will support your healing
  • non-slip socks
  • slip on shoes
  • pants with a very wide waistband or overalls
  • front-closure bras
  • front-closure (zip) shirts/sweatshirts
• Foods and medications to support your prep (these are mine because mine included a bowel prep - yours will be different)
  • Sports drinks, coconut water, broth, yellow Jello
  • Required medications to support the prep
  • Special wipes, petrolatum, bed coverings
• Notes for any special instructions (special soap, no lotion, no food, which medications were ok to take)
  • I put a note in my medicine cabinet that I could not take ibuprofen, and one with my vitamins to remind myself to get out of the habit of taking them, per my surgeon's instructions
  • I made a note for the night before surgery reminding me not to use hand lotion or face lotion, and to use a fresh towel
• Sharable documents for those who will support you. I used a google document to describe the narrative play-by-play and a spreadsheet to gather names and contact information for others to connect with one another
  • I used a google document that was set to 'read only' for other people so that I could update any special instructions like who was going to watch the dog, who should tell whom when I was out of surgery, etc
  • I used a google spreadsheet that was set to 'read only' for contact information. I used one sheet for people who wanted to make meals, and one sheet for essential folks so that my support people could know who was who and how to connect

IMMEDIATELY AFTER SURGERY

• If possible, it might be nice to have someone else take and watch pets for a few days after the surgery, just to take that responsibility off of your plate. This would likely apply to children as well.
• I made a list and plan for who could come and visit me in the first days after surgery to offer relief for my partner so that he could go run an errand or take a break and someone else could watch me if needed
• Post-surgery nest kit
  • Basket or tote with...
  • Medications and notebook of medications
  • Easy snacks (can be important with medications)
  • An extra phone battery
  • lotion
  • chapstick
  • tissues
  • a book or magazine
  • gum
  • a bag or washed yogurt container (with lid) in case of vomit
  • depending on your surgery, a bell or buzzer that can summon a caregiver if your voice is tender
• Other items that might be useful to gather:
  • disposable plates and bowls
  • a shower chair/handheld shower head
  • special undergarments or compression garments
  • shower sponges
  • wet wipes
  • face wipes
  • a reacher/grabber tool
  • audio books/podcasts
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