What did you actually need at home for the first two weeks?

Surgery date is August (still doesn't feel real typing that). I live alone, and my sister can stay for the first four days but then it's me and the cat. I've read the official aftercare sheet about five times and it tells me what not to do, but not much about how to actually set a flat up for someone who can't do much.

So for those of you who've been through it: what did you genuinely use in the first two weeks, and what did you buy in a panic and never touch? I have a list going and it is currently 90% cushions.

Cushions are not a bad start honestly. Mine was last summer, and the things that earned their keep were unglamorous.

A bed station: water bottle with a straw, phone charger with a long cable, lip balm, snacks, all within arm's reach so I never had to negotiate with gravity for small things. Loose soft clothes a size up, because everything I owned suddenly had opinions about my body. Two weeks of freezer meals cooked in advance, which past me gets full credit for. And a little notebook where I wrote down medication times and questions for the follow-up call, because the first week your brain is porridge and you will not remember.

Things I bought and never used: a fancy recovery pillow the shape of a croissant, and a stack of ambitious novels. I watched gentle television and knitted about four rows in a fortnight. Set the bar low and let yourself be someone who is healing, that's the whole job.

Top surgery here so different logistics, but the one that saved me: before the date, move everything you use daily to below shoulder height. Mugs, kettle, cat food, the lot. Reaching up was off the menu for weeks and I only found out the hard way.

A grabber tool, no shame, it's brilliant. And set up a group chat before you go in so one message reaches everyone, because retelling the same update eight times is exhausting in week one.

A practical thread, and the suggestions above are sensible. Two general notes from the clinical side.

First, the aftercare sheet Kerry-Anne mentions varies a good deal between procedures and between surgical teams, and where it differs from anything posted here, the sheet wins. If part of it is unclear, ask your team to talk it through before your admission; that conversation is a normal part of their job, not an imposition. Your team will also want to know you have support arranged for the early days, so tell them your sister's cover ends at day four, they may have suggestions for the handover period.

Second, the site's guide to the first week after surgery sets out what those days typically involve, which makes it easier to see why the standard advice is what it is. Plan for rest to be the main activity, and let the fortnight be quieter than feels productive. Recovery is the productivity.

This is exactly what I needed, thank you all. List rewritten: fewer cushions, one grabber, freezer meals started this weekend. And I'll ask the team about the day four handover at my pre-op call, hadn't thought of that at all.