My hysterectomy Prep List

I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous about having the surgery and the healing process. But I can not wait to be done with my periods!!! When I say I had irregular periods, I mean they are crazy. For the past 11 years every time my cycle starts the only way to make it stop is to take a medication! I've bled for up to 9 months before, yes, every single day for nine months. I started my period 19 years ago and I'm DONE.

Once I decided I 100% for sure wanted a hysterectomy I started my research. Was this really right for me? I have PCOS and get painful cysts, how will it affect that? I learned that unless they take my ovaries, I will still get the cysts so I am going to be asking my doctor to remove at least 1.

I saw an article about grief and loss after a hysterectomy. I feel like I've already let myself do that. I have never been able to get pregnant. I have 2 adopted children and we are done. So even if we wanted more we would just adopt again. For me I still had a small glimmer of hope that just maybe one day I would find myself unexpectedly pregnant with a miracle baby. So once I decided I was going for it I let myself be sad and cry about the fact that it will never ever happen now.

I've done my research and I want to be as ready as possible. I made a Hysterectomy board on Pinterest to organize everything. I found that the hystersisters.com is the best place to go for information and advise! Thanks to all their helpful articles I've come up with my prep, to do, to buy list! I'm mainly doing this list for me so I don't have to go through each article and try to remember everything!

To-Do:
-Keep working out up until the surgery. I currently ride my bike 2 to 4 miles a day.
-Meal Prep! I'm planning on making or having a good 4 to 6 weeks of meals on hand. I'm already a master at meal planning, so it will be (hopefully) easy for me to do this.
-Use my Medi-Safe app to make sure I don't forget any pain meds.
-make sure I let customers know that I will not be working for 6 weeks. I run my own business and I will probably become a broken record turning people away, but I need to do it and not feel guilty about it.
-arrange rides for my kids to and from school. If I can't drive and the school is too far to walk to, how will I get them there?
-plan accordingly. I have meetings that I currently go to every week or every other week that I won't want to miss. I will make sure to plan one for right before surgery and see how I'm doing no sooner then 2 to 3 weeks later.
-Filling prescriptions before surgery, if possible.
-clean house before surgery, not going to want to be cleaning anytime soon after.
-see about getting Dish in our bedroom (we have it in the living room)! My bed, the chair in my room and our couch are my main areas I'm planning on spending time in. I don't want to be fighting the kids over TV.
- stock min-fridge in our room with ice, juice, jello and pudding cups, etc

To-Buy (or make sure I have on hand):
- Pads
- Gum
- A new book to read
- New underwear, I have a feelings the elastic on mine will be right where the incision is and might hurt it. My sister experienced this after her c-section.
- Gas-X and Stool Softeners. Even though I HOPE I don't need these I'd hate to need them and not have them and no way to get them until hubby gets home from work.
- New pants. I have yoga pants and sweatpants, but all clothes that I have I would feel comfortable out in public in are jeans. I want to make sure I have a comfy pair that is either drawstring or elastic that I would like to wear to doctors appointments and such.
- A belly binder. They sound like a must need!
- Paper Plates and Cups. I won't want to be doing dishes and if they pile up too high it stresses me out!
- Drinks with electrolytes. I get tired of water easily, I need flavors!
- Flushable wipes. Another must have that I've read about.
- a button up shirt. When I read this at first I though, I don't like button up shirts. Then I thought about pulling a shirt off and on and realized, yep I need some of those!
-Dry shampoo. I've heard of it, but didn't know what it was. My hair gets oily so easily so I definitely need that!
- body pillow? We'll see how I'm doing. I usually sleep on my stomach or my side. ekk, not sure how that is going to work after.

Take with me to the Hospital:
- chap stick
- Phone and charger
- laptop and ipad and chargers
- ear buds to watch shows on laptop
- hair brush
- gum
- hair ties
- lotion (I have a favorite from bath and body works, their Stress Relief one!)
- socks and slippers
- comfy clothes to come home in
- underwear
- comfy pajamas
- pads and liners (I's sure the hospital will have some, but the last time I use one of theirs it was huge and bulky)
-take hubby's car, as my truck may be hard, or painful, to get into!


Other things to have handy for recovery:
-laptop
-tablet/ ipad
-books
-pillows