How to Pack the Perfect Hospital Bag
Whether you’re heading to an infusion centre for your monthly dose of Tysabri, getting a course of Lemtrada, or treating a relapse at Spa-umedrol, packing a great bag can make the hours and days of tedious and uncomfortable therapies a lot more bearable. Since there is no fashion mag dedicated to MS (Ms. magazine is sadly, not about de-mylenating in style), I offer you my best attempt at ‘What’s In Her Bag? Hospital Edition’. Because fashion is fun. It might be shallow and materialistic but sometimes stuff makes you feel better. Here’s what I’m packing for my upcoming five day medical séjour.
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| Patent leather bonus: sleazy hospital germs can easily be removed with a disinfectant wipe.
What’s in there? |
- Travel Water Bottle Hydration is key when being pumped full of chemicals.
- Tech I don’t have to tell you to pack your iPhone but don’t forget your charger. My iPad is loaded with The Mindy Project and Gilmour Girls. (House of Cards is forbidden, because that’s a watch-together show, and I can’t betray The Banker like that.)
- Pill carrier Getting IV therapy doesn’t mean you get to skip your regular meds. Pack OTC’s like pain relievers and anti-nauseants to handle unpleasant side effects.
- Lip gloss Hospitals can be so dry. Chapped lips are gross.
- Hand Sanitizer Hand sanny is key. Immune systems are suppressed. Hospitals, guys. Ick.
- Enormous Sunnies In case you want to sleep or be ignored. Or paparazzi.
- Blanket Scarf Tissue sized hospital blankets are never enough. Though I do love that they come from ovens.
- Fingerless Gloves Cold arms mean rogue veins. Guys, I’m always cold.
- Litt Trashy gossip mags were made for days like these.
- Journal For recording any drug-induced moments of genius.
- Snacks that won’t make me barf Vomit suppressing snacks include ginger chews, ginger cookies, ginger ale, my ginger bestie. Basically anything from the ginger family.
I’ll also be bringing my mom (because The Banker’s gotta bank), who will no doubt have her own giant tote in tow. She always carries Emergency Chocolate. She was a nurse, so.
What’s in your hospital bag?
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Thank you for your humor and for keeping our spirits uplifted during our journey!!!
And thank you for reading! ?
It never occurred to me how lucky I was to go to a clinic where the blankets were not only heated but big enough to cover Nebraska. And there was a volunteer who regularly came around with a cart of chocolate bars, protein shakes, juice, ginger beer, ginger ale, ginger snaps, and just about everything but Ginger Rogers.
I did however need to bring my own music. The singer who came around to entertain people was a good guy but at no point during chemo was I in the mood for "Edelweiss".
I am relieved to learn that ginger ale is readily available in the States. For some reason I thought it was mostly a Canadian thing and that made me sad for you guys.
As for Edelweiss, that is pretty shocking. Like, I'm not sure he was rooting for you to make it.