Mom's Having Surgery: Printable Prep Kit for the Week Before a Parent's Surgery

People plan, hospital and rehab bags, home ready, and a handoff into recovery — blanks you fill with what the surgical team said.

Surgery is on the calendar. Don't leave the people plan and the bags in your head.

The week before a parent's scheduled surgery is when the family is booking rides, packing two bags, lining up the first nights home, and trying to remember what the surgeon said. This printable kit is for that week only: who drives and who waits, what goes in the hospital bag and the rehab bag, how the house is set before they come back, and one page to write the surgery-day briefing in the team's own words. Then it points you into the Hospital Discharge Kit for the stay and the trip home.

It does not tell you what to ask clinically, what to pause or take, or what is safe. Every medical blank is for what the surgical team already told you.

Why it helps

- One day-of people plan: who drives, who waits, who is on-call by phone, who the team calls, and a sibling phone tree

- Two separate packing lists: hospital bag and rehab / next-place bag, so someone can grab either without guessing

- A home-ready page for pathways, bedroom floor choice, easy meals, and the night bathroom route — observation blanks, not safety specs

- A first-nights coverage grid; if the family can't cover, it points to the Caregiver Hiring Kit

- A surgery-day briefing sheet and a hand-off page that routes into the Hospital Discharge Kit and the Caregiver Binder

In your first 5 minutes

1. Open Pre-op Visit Notes and write what the team already said (procedure name in their words, expected stay, who to call)

2. Add three logistics questions to Questions We Are Bringing (rides, equipment, first nights)

3. Fill who drives and who waits on the Day-of People Plan

4. Check off hospital-bag items you already have

5. Photograph the Day-of People Plan and send it to your siblings

What's inside (12 pages, US Letter and A4)

1. Start Here — how to use over the pre-op week; organizing tool, not medical or legal advice

2. Pre-op Visit Notes — blank columns for what the team said (procedure name in their words, expected stay, activity limits, who to call)

3. Questions We Are Bringing — blank list; logistics prompts only (rides, equipment, first nights), not clinical advice

4. Medications & Holds Log — blank table the buyer copies from the surgical team's instructions (what to pause / continue / morning-of). No doses we invent.

5. Day-of People Plan — who drives, who waits, who is on-call by phone, who the team calls; sibling phone tree

6. Hospital Bag — packing checklist (ID, insurance card, glasses/hearing aids, chargers, labeled cases)

7. Rehab / Next-Place Bag — separate pack list so someone can grab it without thinking

8. Home Ready Before They Come Back — pathways, bedroom floor choice, easy meals, night bathroom route (observation blanks)

9. First-Nights Coverage Grid — who stays which nights; points to the Hiring Kit if the family can't cover

10. Surgery-Day Briefing — one page to write what the surgeon said afterward (what was done, what to watch for, follow-up)

11. Hand-off to Recovery — one page that routes into the Hospital Discharge Kit and the Caregiver Binder once they're home

12. Sources — public pages cited by name: ACS geriatric surgery checklist (topics only), MedlinePlus night-before and day-of pages, American Cancer Society, Sagebeam, CareCoordinate

FAQ

Is this the same as the Hospital Discharge Kit? No. Discharge is for the stay and the trip home. This is the week before: people, bags, house, and the briefing that hands off into Discharge.

Does it tell you what to ask the surgeon, or what meds to stop? No. Clinical questions and medication holds come from the surgical team. The pages are blanks for what they already told you, plus logistics prompts (rides, equipment, first nights).

Is this just a packing list? No. Packing is two pages of a larger kit that also covers the day-of people plan, home ready, first-nights coverage, the surgery-day briefing, and the handoff into recovery.

Can I print more than one copy? Yes. Print fresh people plans, bag lists, or coverage grids as often as you need.

What format is it? An instant PDF download in US Letter and A4. Nothing is shipped.

Good to know

- Once surgery is done and discharge is coming up, use the Hospital Discharge Kit (https://payhip.com/b/ExObq) for the stay and the trip home.

- Keep standing meds, doctors, and contacts in The Caregiver Binder (https://payhip.com/b/IjT2q).

- If first nights need paid help, the Caregiver Hiring Kit (https://payhip.com/b/lAxT2) covers interview questions, comparison, and a trial-week log.

Disclaimer

An organizing tool only, not legal, tax, or medical advice. You fill in every field yourself with what the surgical team said. For anything about the procedure, medicines, activity limits, or warning signs, ask the care team.