BJ,
While I can't answer all of your questions, I can answer some of them which I've included in my response below:
1. What is the University Hospital like? <-- Unless things have changed since 2006, the UCH is a newer facility that's on the opposite corner from Dr. Steinberg's office facility. There's a cafeteria in the basement that's not one of the best I've seen; the one in Dr. Steinberg's office building is better. The surgical waiting room for caregivers is very comfortable and modern. There's an AuBon Pan on the first floor of the hospital and they have good food.
2. Are the beds comfortable? <-- They were standard hospital beds, but Cynthia had a private room which was nice. The staff also provided a folding bed, so our son and I could alternate staying with Cynthia. I would strongly recommend seeing if you can arrange for a private room. As I remember, the floor that they were using for bladder surgery didn't allow flowers in patients' rooms.
3. Is the food tolerable? <-- When you are ready for solid food, which will take several days following your surgery, they had a special arrangement with the children's portion of the hospital to provide food on an extended schedule by just dailing the cafeteria. It was almost like room service - but the idea was to allow the patient to eat when they were hungry.
4. Is there a hotel close by?
I will be staying the night before surgery. <-- Since we had a temporary apartment uptown, I'm not sure about lodging close to the hospital. I believe that Pat sent you a link that my provide more information.
5. What do you recommend I bring? <-- Cynthia had wanted to bring her laptop and iPod, but I don't believe that she really felt up to using them. She also brought some comfortable clothes for the trip back to our apartment; loose pants and top for the bag and tubing. Comfortable shoes are also a good idea.
6. What do you remember when waking up? <-- Cynthia's surgery took about 5 hours and she was back in her room from the recovery area by early evening. She will need to tell you more about how she felt, but at this point she was recovering from anesthia and was is pain from the surgery.
7. Did you have a lot of tubes in you? <-- There were several drains and tubes from the "bladder"; they all have names, but I don't remember all their names. The drains were removed within a few days, but the one from the "bladder" remained for several weeks; maybe two.
8. What did you do for your bowels? <-- Cynthia was literally up and waking within several hours of her return from the recovery area. She had to force herself to get up and moving because she had tubes and IVs to contend with whenever she wanted to get up. After several days, she was allowed ice chips and then sips of water. Once bowel sounds were heard, they started her on light food that was easy to digest.
Hopefully, the information above will help answer some of your questions. Don't forget the Sunday evening "chats" if you have further questions. You'll be in our thoughts, so please keep us posted on your progress!
Ed K.