Most Comfortable Clothes for a woman to wear after OH Surgery?

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J

jackliz

Howdy, Y'all.

I am seeking suggestions as to comfortable clothes to wear after my open heart surgery. i.e. underwear, husband's big shirts, etc? We will travel by car and I want to be as comfortable as possible. Any specifics would be greatly appreciated. :D

Regards,
Liz
 
Sweat pants with a tie waist so you can wear them as loose as possible. Shirts that are very loose and do not require over the head access as that can be uncomfortable.

In other words - men's pajamas. :D :D :D

Good luck.
 
Prior to our daughter's surgery, I bought her jammies -- thinking the button down the front would be easiest for her. She did wear a big button down the front shirt/sweat pants home from the hospital. She did not wear the jammies, as she was more comfortable in stretched-out t-shirts. The bra is a problem. She wore a jogging bra for a long time after surgery. Her incision was a right mini thorocotomy (cannot spell that word) so she did not want to wear underwire bra.
 
I forgot about the bra. Didn't wear one for the first 6 weeks or so. However, I am not particularly well-endowed (alright, alright :eek: ;) :rolleyes: ) so it was not a problem for me from a comfort level.

If you can get away without a bra, you definitely should.
 
Gina,
Maybe Ross won't be able to resist remarking on your last post. Maybe we should try some underhanded tactics to get him back on and posting
 
terryj said:
Gina,
Maybe Ross won't be able to resist remarking on your last post. Maybe we should try some underhanded tactics to get him back on and posting
I am trying EVERYTHING I can think of - maybe another sex thread will work. :confused: :D :D
 
geebee said:
I am not particularly well-endowed (alright, alright :eek: ;) :rolleyes: )
hmm.gif
Could have fooled me.
 
I knew sex talk would bring Ross out of hiding. Even aliens like sex. Or so I've heard
 
O.K. silly people. Lets keep this thread moving as intended and not let me interrupt it. ;)
 
Sorry for the distraction Liz but we were looking for a way to get Ross out of the shadows. Thanks for being the catalyst.

Anyway, basically it is important to wear clothes that are not tight fitting ANYWHERE and I found pull over shirts difficult. That may vary from person to person but better to have the easy stuff available - just in case.

I went home in my robe and PJs. I didn't care what anyone thought. I also wore my slippers as my feet were swollen but I think that is rare. Slip on shoes are a must because you don't want to have to reach down to tie shoes.

Go shopping - it will be a way to treat yourself. :D :D
 
If your husband has any of those tasteless, machine-washable, silk camp shirts, they are very good for not rubbing on things and don't encourage infection. Fortunately, I had a large supply of offensively tasteless, Hawaiianesque silk camp shirts, and used them exclusively.

Best wishes,
 
While in the hospital, they gave me a heart shaped pillow to "hold on" when coughing. I found it very useful for separating my chest from the seatbelt while riding or driving. I haven't been able to find a comfortable shirt-seatbelt combo but the pillow under the belt works with any shirt. It is also already in place when a cough or sneeze comes up. OUCH!!!
 
I didn't wear a bra for the first 6 weeks either. I'm sure I looked like a shameless hussy while out on my daily walks, but I figured oh well.

I bought button down pajamas, too, but found that within not too long I could pull things over my head (t-shirts) and be just as comfortable.

For the car ride, I'd suggest pillows to rest under either arm and to place wherever else you're feeling like you need a little more support.
 
Undershirts. That's what I wore, like those ones when you are just starting to develope. My mom brought out a bunch and that's what I wore under my clothes. It worked.
 
I just had OHS in June so being fresh on this subject ill tell you what has worked wonders for me.. I went and bought a bunch of tank-tops with the built in bra. They have worked awesome!! Wearing a regular bra was wayy tooo much, but putting on the tank hasnt been a problem. Just buy it big enough so you dont have to stretch it.. thats what i did anyways!

I found big loose tank-tops (without the bra) in the hospital were awesome too. I was kinda lucky. Instead of iv's they put in a central line in my neck. Thats where they put all the meds and took out all the blood (i highly recomend it!! it was so much easier for ME to have it in.. Didnt have to be pricked in the arm everytime they wanted blood. But thats MY experience) Anyways since no iv's in the arm, i was able to wear tanks and stuff. It was nice.

And flip flops on my feet were great!! easy to slip on and off.. Right now is a nice season to find a lot of capree pants on sale. They were great comfort while lying in the bed.
You also might want to think about bringing toothpast,toothbrush and your own shampoo!!! And a nice lotion for your legs. As laying there for a few days my legs got really dry. Having my own stuff made me feel much better too!! And it always works MUCH better than that darn hospital stuff!


And definately prop yourself up with lots of pillows on the way home. I needed one under both arms, and one to squeeze!!

Anyways that was what worked for me!!
Best of luck
Diesel
 
Howdy, Y'all.
WOW!!WOW!!! Thank you to everyone that replied to my message. I wrote down the information about clothes, pillows, etc. Great suggestions!! :D :D

Much obliged,
Liz
 
ShezaGirlie said:
I think this is a case of "size matters"

I am sure "size" does matter, at least somewhat. At Stanford, they would not let me leave the hospital until I had a bra on. Their material says that all women are to wear their bras after OHS because the weight of the breasts will pull down on the sternum. But if mine weren't "heavy", I probably would have not worn one after I got home.

Since I normally wear the underwires, I went shopping before the surgery and bought some of those cami's with the built-in shelf bra to wear after the surgery. I took one to the hospital with me for the trip home. The cardiac rehab nurse kind of frowned on that but it was what I had brought to wear so that is what I wore. Possibly because of the "size", I found the cami's kind of hard to get into in the beginning.....whether I stepped into it or pulled it over my head, the bra part invariably got stuck in the wrong place and I had trouble getting it adjusted and getting the boobs in there right. By the time I did, I was worn out and my chest was hurting. So I wound up wearing a bra (soft-cup about a size larger around than I usually wear) for about the 1st 2-3 weeks after I got home. You wouldn't believe how many bras I ended up buying and then taking back trying to find SOMETHING that was comfortable enough to wear! The problem was, the bra was rubbing on the incision and causing it to not heal properly. So after a couple of weeks, I went back to the cami's. By then, they were easier to get on and since they did not rub on the incision, they were much more comfortable. I continued to wear the cami's until about 8 weeks out.

It was February when I had my surgery and I tend to be very cold-natured so I brought my own flannel pajama bottoms to wear in the hospital. I know I could have asked for some pajama bottoms but it felt good to wear at least some of my own clothes. I also took some of the footies with the non-skid stuff on the bottom for my feet. Using those, I didn't need any slippers and my footies were much nicer and more comfortable than those that they have.

Most hospitals don't give you very much in the way of toiletries in the admit kit anymore....its pretty expensive for them to provide all that stuff to every patient and most people bring their own stuff anyway. They always have any toiletries that you need or want available but you have to ask for them. I took my toothbrush and toothpaste because I work in a hospital and I know that the toothbrushes that they give you are better than nothing but thats about all you can say for them. I also took my comb and brush and some scrunchies.....I had my mom put my hair up out of my face. I didn't wash my hair while I was at the hospital so it was nice to have it pulled up out of my way.

I also brought a book (but I didn't feel like concentrating enough to read), my CD Player & a few CD's (I really enjoyed just laying back and listening to my favorite music), some mints for a dry mouth (lasix really dries you out), and a small clock for my bedside table (I like to know what time it is).

Good Luck....Keep us posted!
Diane
 
My last OHS was almost 24 years ago but I do remember not wearing a bra for the longest time and wearing loose fitting gowns or p.j.'s. My scar is pretty long...right down the middle. But I guess my chest area just seems to be extra sensitive because after I had my pacemaker/defibrillator implanted I didn't wear a bra for a while either. They put those things in right under where a bra strap goes. Maybe I should put a bug in the surgeons' ears and tell them to find a better spot. In fact, when I went back for my defibrillator post-op exam, I had managed to get a bra on but had a couple of sterile gauze pads under the strap. My electrophysiologist wanted to know why I was using them. I told him if he ever had to wear a bra and have a defib. implanted, he wouldn't be asking that question. Anyway, all that to say, wear what is comfortable and feels good.
 
I'm 8 weeks out of AVR and I've worn a bra maybe 10% of the time since I left the hospital. If it were winter and I was wearing layers for warmth, the percentage would be near ZERO!

No bras worked for me in the 70's; it works the same way now. ;)
 
"I am sure "size" does matter, at least somewhat. At Stanford, they would not let me leave the hospital until I had a bra on. Their material says that all women are to wear their bras after OHS because the weight of the breasts will pull down on the sternum. But if mine weren't "heavy", I probably would have not worn one after I got home."

I think a soft sleep bra that hooks in the front might work. It did for me. Kinda keeps those things from falling under your arms and pulling on the incision when you lie on your back! Hospital staff insisted I get some soon as I got home. I did - still wearing the same sort - five years out.

I guess the bunch doesn't realize how hot it is in Lantana - no matter what the time of year. Sweat pants just won't do down there. Get some elastic waist shorts.
 

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