You will be packing for a version of yourself who cannot reach, bend, or lift — and doing it before you know what that feels like. This list is organised around that, not around a normal trip.
Recovery houses vary enormously in what is already in the room, and the difference is several hundred dollars and half a suitcase. Before you buy anything, ask the house directly which of these they provide: a BBL pillow or wedge, a bedside commode or shower chair, extra pillows, a grabber, dry shampoo, basic first aid supplies, and laundry.
Most established houses have the bulky items — that is much of what you are paying for. Post-op suites and hotels usually do not.
Worth its own section, because it is the most expensive thing people get wrong. Your surgeon will specify what to wear and when; buy to their instruction, not to a recovery house's recommendation or a brand's sizing chart.
Two practical points. Bring at least two of whatever you need to wear continuously, because one will always be in the wash. And expect a second-stage garment: swelling drops substantially over the first few weeks and the size that fitted on day three often does not fit by week three. Budgeting for that second purchase up front avoids an unpleasant surprise at a bad moment.
Keep all prescriptions in their original labelled containers, and bring more than the exact number of days you expect to be away. A written list of everything you take — including supplements and anything your surgeon told you to stop — is genuinely useful if you end up talking to a clinician who is not your surgeon.
If you are flying, keep medication in your carry-on, not in checked luggage.
Most of what people pack goes untouched. You will not read the books, you will not use the nice clothes, and you will not want the snacks you brought. Laptops mostly stay closed for the first several days — anaesthetic and pain medication make concentration unreliable in a way that surprises people who planned to work.
Pack light on everything except the categories above, and leave room in the bag: you are likely to go home with more than you arrived with, between garments, supplies and whatever the house sends you off with.
If someone is travelling with you, the useful thing is for them to know the logistics you will not be able to hold in your head: which medication is due when, the surgeon's number, the follow-up appointment times, and what the house does and does not handle. Write it down before surgery. On day one you will not be the person managing it, and that is fine as long as somebody is.
Check the guest fee before you assume they can stay in the room — it is commonly $85–150 a night and it is frequently missed in the original quote.
Each listing spells out what's in the nightly rate and what's billed separately, so you know what to leave at home.