Leukemia and Wes

A journey with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Packing List for CHOP

by · 2019-03-20

One of the first things we did when we came home from that initial week in the hospital was put together a “go bag” of essentials we’d need if we had to scramble and be away for a few days. As we’ve gone through this now we’ve learned a few things and our bags have evolved a lot.

Most of this is geared for planned admissions now, but applies just as well for emergencies. Admissions can vary in length, but packing for four days is about right – there are laundry machines so by day four it should be easy to extend the supplies with a quick wash, but if we pack for a shorter trip he could easily burn through it in a (bad) day. Plan for four days.

Wesley’s Essentials

  • Pajamas – one set per day (minimum), preferably button up for easy port access
  • Socks – grippy soles, one pair per day, extras never hurt
  • Grippy slippers
  • Diapers – a day’s supply to handle needs before admission and on the way home. Hospital will provide diapers and wipes during stay
  • Drugs – hospital will provide whatever drugs he needs during the stay, but plan for before and after
  • A sweatshirt or jacket (depending on weather), just in case
  • Light blankets from home – one per day
  • Hats – comfy, soft, to keep his fuzzy head warm (but not too warm)
  • Snacks just in case – mini Snickers, popcorn, whatever he’s into lately
  • Good working water bottle
  • Snugglies – pack two or three of whatever he likes to cuddle with at night
  • Toys – the hospital has great playrooms but they aren’t always available. Bring toys he can play with in bed and on the go.
  • Playmat – for days you can’t leave the hospital room it’s really nice to be able to spread out and sit and play on the floor.
  • iPad with charging cable, iPad to HDMI adapter to plug into TV. iPad will not last a full day so charge every chance you get, and bring a spare high capacity battery pack to keep it alive. Recharge everything overnight, always.

Dad’s Essentials

  • Comfortable street clothes for the day-of – jeans, t-shirt, a sweatshirt or flannel, and easy shoes. These won’t get much use in the hospital, but may need them for a quick trip outside, or on the way home.
  • Light sweatpants or pajama pants – one pair per day. In the hospital focus on comfort, period. It’s never hot inside, usually on the cool side.
  • Thick socks – more than one per day, most of the time this is all I’ll wear on my feet unless I leave the onco unit. I don’t wear slippers, but if you prefer them to walking around in socks, so be it.
  • Underwear – two per day. Can’t ever go wrong with fresh.
  • T-shirts – I bring at least 1.5 black v-neck t-shirts per day. My uniform, for sleep and daytime. Always nice to have a clean shirt when you can’t squeeze in a shower.
  • Hygiene – toothbrush and toothpaste; 3-in-1 (shampoo + conditioner + body wash); allergy meds (3x the number of days); Benadryl (you never know); Excedrin Migraine; nasal spray; lotion; wipes; chapstick; lotion; anything else you might need for dry, cool air; razor and shaving cream; nail clippers
  • Laptop (and charger); camera (and spare batteries); two 5000+ mAh USB battery packs; USB charging cables for everything; four port high output USB wall charger
  • Headphones – I only wear in-ear during stays so I don’t completely block out external sounds. If I have headphones in at night I still want to hear Wes if he wakes up
  • Healthy dry snacks – protein bars, nuts, jerky, etc
  • Meal vouchers for room service
  • Two refillable, insulated water bottles
  • Knife (always useful), travel spork
  • Notepad, pencil, pen
  • Checkbook
  • Spare eyeglasses, lens wipes
  • Copies of all IDs and health insurance cards kept on phone
  • Instant coffee packs – hot water is usually readily available but coffee often requires a trip downstairs. Also for some reason there are often single serving coffee makers but they only keep tea packs in stock, so I bring my own coffee “freshpacks” for their machines just in case.
  • Good blanket from home. Pillows are nice too but they are bulky and I can wad up a towel or clothes to supplement the terrible hospital pillows.

All of this should fit in a rolling suitcase, on my back, or in the stroller. Keep absolute essentials in a backpack with you at all times because it may not be until the end of a very long day before you can get settled into a room and retrieve the rest of your stuff from the car.

I’ll keep revising this list as we go.

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