Surgery Tips

I recently had surgery to remove a mass on my left ovary and thought I'd put down a few things I found helpful!

Mostly I liked having relaxing and familiar things with me.  

I got this book and some meditation music.  I didn't have time to follow it all exactly, but her basic points about learning to relax yourself and how important that is to recovery helped me be in the right frame of mind:  http://www.healfaster.com/

I got a really cheap little MP3 player and put some very relaxing meditation music on it.  Before and during the surgery they let me play it - I don't really know if it matters to play it during the surgery or not (obviously don't remember) but I know when you sleep you still hear in some way (even if you don't remember) so I'm guessing that I did hear it on some level...

I brought a big fluffy blanket from home to the hospital.  I often get cold and it was just nice to have my own blanket.  Also a robe and slippers.

I brought some snacks and healthy drinks I like as well.  Turns out the hospital food wasn't too bad, but I was glad I had brought a healthy drink I liked.  

I had one of those pillows you can warm in a microwave and they warmed it up for me - very comforting!  http://bucky.com/catalog/controller.php?pg=welcome

I had earplugs and an eye mask - turns out it wasn't noisy, but the eye mask really helped keep things dark when I needed to rest.  http://bucky.com/catalog/controller.php?pg=product&cat=COM&product=S800

They give you a glass of water, but it was much easier to have a water bottle that didn't spill so easily.  (this isn't the one I have, but you get the idea of a "sport cap" bottle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nike-Mouth-500ml-Bottle-Sports/dp/B001ADHQJY)  

I also used music / headphones after the surgery to relax me and drown out the hospital noises.  It made it easier to get to sleep.  

That's all I'm thinking of right now, but if anybody else has tips list them!  

One list that I looked at for ideas was here: http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/article_96849.htm