The Night Before a Procedure
For the evening before an operation or a procedure, when the instructions are long and the mind is loud. It helps you get the practical things done early, set up the day after, and give the fear somewhere to go before lights out.
Health · Anxiety · Body · 8 items · whenever you need it
The checklist
- Read the instructions again and write the times — fasting and medication rules are easy to misremember.
- Pack the bag tonight, not in the morning — morning you will be hungrier and less patient.
- Confirm who is taking you and collecting you — most procedures will not discharge you alone.
- Put food and easy meals in for afterward — the day after is not a shopping day.
- Write your questions on your phone now — you will be asked if you have any, and go blank.
- Tell one person what time it starts — being thought about at the hour helps.
- Say the frightening thought out loud once — unsaid fear keeps you awake longer.
- Put something undemanding on until you sleep — a bad night is normal, not a problem to solve.
Use this checklist Free account: tick items off and keep each day's record.
How to use it
Run through it whenever you need it, honestly and without scoring yourself. A checklist is a way of noticing, not a test: an item you cannot tick is information about the day, not a verdict on you. Over a few weeks the pattern of what gets ticked and what does not says more than any single pass.
With a free Theraglee account the checklist remembers each pass, so you can look back. Without one, you can still read it here and keep your own copy.