Surgery Packing List

By Nick Peplow·Gender-affirming surgery coordinator

Last reviewed 27 September 2026· How this site is researched

You need less at the hospital than you think and more at home than you expect, so the list is split that way. Buy the shirts and the wedge pillow a few weeks ahead, not in the last days. Most top, facial and body surgery is a day case or one night. Metoidioplasty and vaginectomy are usually one to three nights, and phalloplasty stage one up to a week in hospital, followed by weeks staying near the surgeon. The clinic's own list beats this one where they differ.

The hospital bag

Keep it small. Whatever you pack, someone has to carry it.

• ID, paperwork, insurance or funding letters, and the clinic's out-of-hours number written down
• Medication list, plus your usual medications in their original packaging
• Phone, a long charging cable (beds are rarely near sockets) and headphones
• A button-up or zip-front top for going home. After top surgery you will not lift your arms over your head for weeks
• Loose trousers with a soft elastic waist, nothing that presses on your abdomen or groin
• Slip-on shoes. Bending to tie laces is off the table for a while
• Lip balm. Hospitals are dry, and anaesthetic gas dries your lips further
• Earplugs and an eye mask. Wards are loud and bright at night
• A small pillow for the car home, to hold against your chest or abdomen under the seatbelt
• Something to do that needs no concentration. You will not read a novel on day one
• Questions for the ward round, written down, because you will forget them

Leave valuables and jewellery at home, piercings included. For a stay longer than a night, add a few changes of loose clothes, wet wipes, dry shampoo and a toothbrush.

Clothing for recovery

• Three to five button-up shirts or zip hoodies. After top surgery this is the single most useful thing you can buy
• Loose joggers and shorts with a wide, soft waistband
• Underwear a size up for bottom surgery. Boxer briefs help hold dressings in place
• Compression garments, only if the clinic does not supply them. Surgeons are specific about these, and the wrong garment is money wasted; see compression and binders
• Thick socks for a cold hospital and a sofa you will live on

Extras by procedure

Top surgery. A wedge pillow or firm pillow stack, since you will sleep propped up for a week or two. Two small pillows to rest your arms on, away from your sides. A drain lanyard or belt if you will have drains; see drains.

Hysterectomy. Pads for spotting, which can go on for a few weeks. Nothing internal. High-waisted, loose trousers that sit above the port scars.

Metoidioplasty and phalloplasty. A peri bottle for rinsing rather than wiping. If the urethra was lengthened, you will go home with a catheter, for around two to four weeks after meta and three to four after phallo. Loose shorts, a leg-bag strap and dark towels make that easier. After phallo, sitting is limited at first, so ask the team whether a cushion is allowed before buying one. For a forearm donor site, pack wide-sleeved or sleeveless tops that go on over a splint.

Facial surgery. Straws, a soft-food supply and a spare lip balm, since you will be on liquids and soft food at first after jaw work. Antibacterial mouthwash if the clinic prescribes it. Shirts that do not go over your head.

Liposuction and body contouring. Absorbent pads and old sheets, because the small incisions leak tinted fluid for a day or two. A second compression garment, so one can be washed.

Sleeping and sitting

• A recliner if you can borrow one. Plenty of people sleep in a chair for the first week after top surgery
• Old towels and a waterproof sheet for the mattress, against leaks from drains or dressings
• A bedside table with everything you need within reach

Wound and dressing supplies

Ask what the clinic provides before buying anything. Commonly needed:

• Gauze pads and non-stick dressings
• Paper or silicone medical tape, which is kinder to skin that will be taped for weeks
• Saline for cleaning, if your team uses it
• A notebook or phone note for drain output and medication times
• Disposable gloves for whoever is helping you
• Silicone scar sheets or gel for later, once the wounds have closed; see scar care

Medications

• Prescribed painkillers, picked up in advance if the clinic allows; see pain management
• Paracetamol for when you step down from the stronger ones
• A stool softener. The thing people most often wish they had bought in advance
• An antihistamine, if you tend to itch with opioids or tape, after checking with the team
• A pill organiser or written schedule

Food and drink

• A water bottle with a straw, so you can drink without sitting fully up
• Easy protein: yoghurt, eggs, protein drinks
• High-fibre food: prunes, oats, fruit
• Ready meals or frozen food for the first week
• Electrolyte sachets for the first couple of days

Around the house

• A grabber or reaching tool, the cheapest useful thing on this list after top surgery
• A long charger by the bed and another by the sofa
• A shower stool if you feel unsteady, and a handheld shower head if you need to keep dressings dry
• Shows, podcasts and audiobooks queued up before you go in

If you are recovering away from home

For a hotel or rental near the hospital, add:

• Your own pillow and a small kettle, or check the room has one
• A spare set of dressings in case the clinic runs short
• Copies of your discharge paperwork and the out-of-hours number
• Enough of every regular medication for the whole trip, plus a week

In the hotels near the Bangkok hospitals I work with, the thing patients send someone out for in the first few days is almost always the same. A pillow they can bear to sleep on. More on recovering away in travelling for surgery, and for the run-up to the date, the pre-op checklist.