Finally....

.......got my approval from my insurance company!! It's finally happening, September 4th. Im super excited and anxious and nervous and blahhhh lol. Anyone have advice on things to bring to the hospital????? And what to expect when you first wake up????? Any words of wisdom would be great actually. Woooooooohoooooooooo!!!!! :)

 Congrats... good luck...  

my surgery is a few days after yours.  so excited !!!!    something someone told me was chap stick and biotene mousterizing mouth spray to wet your mouth since you cant drink anything before surgery and may get really dry ...... 

Wow, your day is coming up quick! I second the chap stick. I never used mine because I was allowed ice chips within hours of surgery, but if you're not it will be a life saver. And a cell phone charger. Other than that all I really needed was toiletries, like toothbrush and toothpaste, face wash, shampoo (I was there for 3 days and they let me shower). My surgery started around 1. After "waking up" from surgery I remember being wheeled into an elevator, semi-remember being wheeled into my room (I'm told this was around 3), but only because I remember my grandmother being there waiting on me, and then I slept until about 9 that night. Once I was good and awake the nurse got me up and walking. After we got back to my room she gave me pain meds and I went right back to sleep. Day 2 stayed with my leak test, which as everyone else Erroll tell you is the worst part. I've never tasted pine-sol, but I imagine it tasting a lot like the stuff they made me drink. Truly horrible. I napped off and on that day, but only an hour or so at a time. They brought me food (my surgeons plan is quite different from most, so I got yogurt, grits, soup, and even sugar free ice cream!) and made sure I walked, but I spent most of my time watching the olympics or playing on my phone. My surgeon visited me daily and so did the nutritionist and the program coordinator. My nurse, who was very young and also the best nurse I've ever had, checked in with me regularly to see if I needed pain meds, but I didn't. She talked me into some at night, but honestly I had almost no pain. The hardest thing for me was getting in and out of bed after they took the catheter out. They pump you full of liquid so you pee a lot, but because of the arm rails on the bed getting up and down and comfortable is a challenge! I was truly amazed at what a breeze surgery was for me, only real side effect I had from any of it was tiredness, and by the end of week two that was gone also. good luck, and if you want to know anything I didn't cover here feel free to ask!

Hey, I'm right there with you. I am scheduled for Sept 4th as well. My plan is to bring the following:

Robe
light shoes or slippers to walk around in
chapstick
cell phone and charger (probably an extension cord too)
light weight loose fitting clothes to come home in
book
Gas X

Good luck to you and meet you at the losers bench!