Skin Removal Surgery: What To Take To The Hospital

After losing a ton of weight, you may be dealing with excess skin that will not go away through excellent nutrition, exercise, vitamins, or drinking water. So maybe you’re planning to have skin removal surgery! I did that and am so glad I did.

Skin removal surgery is not right for everyone, so do your research. But if you’ve scheduled surgery and are trying to get prepared, I’m happy to share what I took with me to the hospital.

Keep It Light

First piece of advice is that you won’t need much. You won’t be able to do much, and you’ll be drowsy a lot so you want want to do much. I ended up taking more than I needed, but there are a few essentials that were life-savers. Let’s go down the list of everything I took, and which of those items ended up being actually useful.

All The Things For Skin Removal Surgery

The clothes I went to the hospital in. These were obviously important except I kind of over-though this one. I only wore it on the drive to the hospital and walking into the hospital. Once I was in there I changed into a hospital robe and stayed in that the entire time until I left to go home.

I’m so thankful for Dr. Kreithen and his awesome staff because they made my experience so wonderful!!

Sneakers. I wore these to the hospital but I didn’t wear them while I was there, or when I went home.

An extra change of clothing. The clothing I wore after the surgery was more important than what I wore to the hospital. I recommend something very loose fitting (remember you’ll be swollen) and something like a hoodie (so you can stick your drains in the front pocket). Looking back I probably would have picked an outfit and worn it to and from the hospital.

A bathrobe. Didn’t use this at all. I used only the robe at the hospital, and threw an extra one on when I went for walks around the hallway.

Breathe Easy Tea!! You’ll be under anesthesia during surgery and it’ll take 24 hours to begin wearing off, but you have to be intentional about getting all the anesthesia out of your lungs so you don’t develop pneumonia. Your doctor will give you tools for this, but having this tea seemed to at least soothe the heavier feeling I had in my chest while there was still anesthesia lingering in there.

Lilly’s Chocolate Bars. They’re naturally sweetened, and a fave of mine, so I had to have one for when I wanted something sweet!

Slippers with rubber bottoms. This one was a good idea. I didn’t end up wearing them much while I was there, but I wore them a little, and it was easier and more comfortable to put these on when I left the hospital then sneakers or flip flops would have been. You won’t wan anything slippery or unsteady on your feet after surgery.

Fuzzy socks. Wore these the entire time. The hospital had socks with some rubber pieces on the bottom to help create traction, but I liked my cozy socks.

A make-up/essentials purse. Took all the basics like make-up, a razor, deodorant, face wipes, things like that. I didn’t use any of it but the deodorant.

Dry shampoo. This I did use. Each day I spent about five minutes washing up, taming my hair a little, and applying deodorant. Dry shampoo was great because you can’t shower! Or at least I couldn’t, not until my drains came out.

Snacks. This was important. Particularly protein bars, mixed nuts, and an already mixed protein drink I pour into my coffee in place of creamer. Hospital food isn’t always that amazing, but you do get hungry! So between meals it’s nice to have something to snack on. There was one night I ordered way too little for dinner and was starving a few hours later when the kitchen was closed. Thankfully the nurse brought me a sandwich which was a major life-saver!!! But I definitely recommend taking snacks!

Books & magazines. You’ll be laying down the majority of the time, so these are good to have. I was drowsy a lot because of the pain medicine, so reading made me fall asleep. I found it better to binge Netflix!

My phone. Be careful with your phone for the first 24 hours after surgery!! You’re on pain killers that may make you a little loopy. I had my husband change all my social media passwords to something I couldn’t figure out, so I didn’t post anything crazy. I also committed to very little texting until the meds wore off from surgery. BUT, having my phone for Netflix was awesome!

Ear phones. I took them, but didn’t end up using them. I was alone in my room, so I could play music if I wanted, but I didn’t even do that much.

Computer. I took it, but didn’t use it! I thought I’d be whipping up blog posts while I laid in bed…. no way. There was no way I would have had the energy to do that!

Well there you have it! What do YOU plan to take to the hospital for your skin removal surgery?