Is anyone else a bit of a control freak like me? Receiving a CHD diagnosis for my kiddo was shocking and difficult enough but then comes the surgery date. I remember feeling a sense of relief about this scheduled repair as I felt hopeful about the possibility of a fix, fewer medications, better growth, etc. That relief was slightly short-lived though as my mind began to race with all of the questions and concerns and "what ifs." Naturally, I sought out the things I could control and dove right into prepping my bags for the dreaded lengthy hospital stay. It's also no surprise to us when a new parent joins our group and one of the first questions they ask is about what to pack for surgery. So with that, we polled the group to compile a list of must-haves for packing when preparing for open-heart surgery. We made the list into a checklist, added a backside for those personal extras, and of course dropped them into a folder in our care packages for surgery families. The folder doubles as a great space for storing those extra medical documents handed off to you. Below are the images so you can print off the list on your own. We'd love to hear if you have any extra must-haves you'd add to the list!
