Home from Panni

Hi!  I think the binder is mainly to keep the swelling at bay.  Also to give that extra support.  I know those first couple of weeks, gravity was not my friend.  I felt more soreness with the binder off.  I also felt like it kept my incision together and kept those staples from pulling.  At the same time, the rolling up at the bottom and the folding in places when sitting drove me absolutely nuts.  It helped to wear a tank top underneath the binder and I would pull the tank down as much as possible.  I just lived with the annoyance.  For 5-6 weeks.

Honestly Dr. Nohr didn't say anything about a binder.  I barely seen him at the hospital while I was there.  But the nurses at the hospital did say to wear one.  I wore one the entire time in the hospital.  Nobody said how long to wear one.  I think I read it on these forums mostly.  Seems like most people wear them for awhile.  As for when to stop wearing one, base it on how you feel.  The topic of the swell hell that so many go through scared me enough to wear one for as long as I did.  I ended up swelling very little.  I would think some kind of shape wear would help as well.  I just didn't want to wrestle getting into shape wear.  The binder was just easier.

My RNY was done by lap.  So I didn't think I needed a binder as I had no open incision.  If I had it done open, I probably would have worn a binder.  Dr. Nohr said nothing about a binder then.  I didn't wear one in the hospital so I didn't bother.

Hope you are recovering well.  It's a tough recovery, I know.  A lot tougher then the RNY was.  Drink lots of water, eat protein, and take a few little daily walks and try to straighten out.  It took me 5 weeks to straighten.

Giselle