What to Actually Pack in Your Hysterectomy Recovery Kit

The day you come home is not the day to Amazon Prime

Let's skip the clinical checklists. Here are the seven things women consistently say they wish someone had told them to have ready before surgery.

1. A **memory foam wedge pillow**

Lying flat feels awful for the first week. A wedge pillow changes everything — sleep, sitting up to drink water, reaching for the remote. If you buy one thing, buy this.

2. **An abdominal binder**

The hospital may or may not send you home with one. Even if they do, a backup at home in a size that fits you is priceless for when you want to shower or move around the house.

3. A **grabber/reacher tool**

Bending is not on the menu for weeks. The first time you drop your phone, you will understand.

4. **Stool softeners + high-fiber snacks**

We're going there. Anesthesia + pain meds = you will regret not having these on hand. Nobody wants to send a family member to the pharmacy on day two.

5. A **water bottle with a bendy straw**

Sitting up to sip is effort you don't have. This is the kind of tiny comfort that reveals itself on day one.

6. **Soft, button-front pajamas**

Pulling anything over your head involves your core. Buttons and zip-fronts are your friends.

7. **A Hysteregistry**

The most-skipped prep step: letting your people actually help. A Hysteregistry is a share-able list your friends and family can see, claim from, and ship directly to you — without knowing your address.

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Recovery is a group project. The more specific you are about what you need, the more likely you are to get it.

You've got this.