Gifts for Someone Recovering from Surgery: Practical Ideas + Printable Daily Encouragement Notes

What it’s like to recover from surgery (From a personal perspective…)

Over the years I’ve experienced various health issues resulting in 4 abdomenal surgeries. Two were of the “old fashioned” variety with the long scars to prove it. My first major surgery was when I was 12 years old, and thankfully, I was blissfully unaware of what recovering from surgery was going to be like!

Later on, I had 2 laproscopic surgeries, and my latest was a full hysterectomy (you can read my hysterectomy story here.)My mom was my helper and nurse through at least 2 of my surgeries (and maybe even 3? – I can’t remember…), and my husband was an excellent care giver for my latest one.

If you’ve never had to recover from surgery of any sort, I’m so happy for you! Here are just a few things that I discovered when I was going through surgery & recovering from it:

• Someone else has gone through the same health issues and surgery as you have. You’re not alone! I encourage you to be open and talk about it if you feel comfortable with it. People will probably be willing to share their story with you if you’d like to learn from it. Be specific about what would be helpful for you. Much like the childbirth days, some people have “easy peasy” stories, and some have horror stories. If you’re fearful, be sure to be open and articulate when you aren’t in the space to hear graphically bad details!;)
• Recovering from surgery most often means having to get on top of pain with pain medicines while simultaneously trying to keep you digestive system working again. Anesthesia and pain meds have interesting side effects (like constipation) – so eating, drinking, taking pain meds, and getting things “moving along” is a full time job in the first few days post op.
• The third day post op is often the most difficult/ painful.
• Recovering from surgery can be a slow, discouraging process. Some days you may feel quite good and you can see such good progress and healing. Other days you can hardly get yourself out of bed. And, unfortunately, it’s hard to predict what kind of day might be coming…
• Depending on what type of surgery a person has, the first few days (at the very least), they will probably need extra care from someone like a friend or family member.

How can I help my friend or family member who has had surgery?

After all the experience I’ve had with recovering from surgery, you’d think I’d be an expert at giving advice as to how to help. However, I still find myself struggling knowing what to do for friends and family.

Personally, I want to show/ tell them I care. But, I also don’t want to be a “bother” and interfere if they’d rather be left alone!

So, I decided to do my own research on the topic and ask my team of “experts” – my community on Instagram. Like always, they had such great ideas and suggestions that I’ll share with you below.

Some of these gift ideas are actual physical gifts and others are thoughtful gifts of time and service.

Physical Gifts for Someone Recovering from Surgery

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon affiliate and the following contains affiliate links.

1. The most thoughtful and delightful gift given to me after my hysterectomy was 2 giant gift bags full of little tissue wrapped gifts. I was instructed to open one every morning. “They are everything from the ridiculous to the sublime!”, my friend said. I’m telling you what – I LOVED having that daily gift to look forward to when I got every morning.

Here are some things she included in those gift bags:

• book of crossword puzzles
• paperback novel
• beautiful single serve teapot (This teapot has a lot of great reviews and comes in lots of pretty colors.)
• teacup to match the teapot
• purse sized kleenex
• cute stickers
• fridge magnet with a fun saying
• bookmark
• seasonal dishtowel
• lip balm
• body lotion
• chocolates

Many of those things you can probably find at the Dollar Store. Or, you can pick special little things up to use for “sick friend gifts” at thrift stores, estate sales, or yard sales.

• Gift card for books
• Flowers
• Cozy fleece big shirt (Look at this amazing blanket sweater!!)
• Uber Eats Gift Cards
• Warm throw blanket
• Pretty journal & pen (This is a best selling prayer journal with over 45,000 reviews! And, here is a plain journal that’s also a best seller.)
• PJs- This cozy set has lots of positive reviews and comes in lots of different colors.

Action Gifts for Someone Recovering from Surgery

Someone once said that it is a very well-meaning statement to say, “Call me if you need anything”. (Yes, I still say it all the time…) However, if a person is really sick, they often can’t articulate what they need.

Here are some practical ways to help your sick friends and neighbors:

• Call or text and have a normal conversation about normal things – not just their illness. Use a normal, happy voice – not low, slow, and sad.
• Go for a short visit
• Drop off dinner for the family. (Chicken Noodle Soup was a favorite!). You might want to arrange a “Food Train” for the week after surgery with a group of friends or family. It’s a nice idea to drop off food in containers that don’t need to be returned, and also could be frozen to be used later if necessary. Some recipe suggestions are make ahead lasagna, ready to bake or freeze meatloaf, tater tot casserole, biscuit cheeseburger casserole, and taco soup.
• Send a thoughtful card.
• Bake Christmas cookies for them if it’s near the holidays.
• Offer to vaccum, clean bathrooms, water plants, and tidy the house.
• Run errands for them – like pick up groceries or prescriptions.
• Ask what day the garbage bin needs to be put at the end of the driveway and do that for them.

Give the Gift of Printable Daily Encouragment Verses

Here is an idea that you might want to use. I’ve created a set of 27 printable daily encouragment verses for you. They can be printed on your home printer using 3 sheets of cardstock paper. Cut them apart (I like to use a paper trimmer) and put each one in a little brown paper coin envelope like this. Number the envelopes 1-27, and they are a fun thing to open each day!

Just click here or the button below to have the printables sent right to your inbox.