What Do You Do With the Drains? do they just hang there?

As my LBL on Dec 10th approaches, I got to thinking the other day: the dr. says I will come home with 4 drains, two in the front, two in the back....I've read where people pin them to lanyards while showering etc. but when you're walking around in the house, etc. what do you do with them? pin all 4 to your clothes? do the ones in the back interfere with sitting?

I'm so exctied for you!   I LOVED Dr. Gallaher btw!    I have an appointment with him for a consult in November.

Did you make it to the last meeting?   We had just got from vacation and I had so much catching up to do that I couldn't make it.   I'm planning on being there next month.

Amy

Hey there chick!

Do you not adore him? I'm tellin ya, I knew within 30 seconds of meeting him that he would be my p.s.
Yay for you on a consult with him!

I did go and whoa! There was a 10 year post op there whose kept off 350+ lbs - talk about AMAZING!!!!! Then I thought it got kinda catty....I get tired of people criticizing my choices that "I" make to keep it off, ya know? We're all there for the same reasons and should focus on supporting one another!

I had two drains in the front groin area and two on each side after my lbl.  But no matter where they come out of your body, your garment will help keep the tubes in place.  Some drains come with tabs that you can pin to your clothes or a lanyard, but mine didn't.  The tubes on the drains were really long so I could loop them to come out of the top of my garment where I chose. I'd gather all four to come out in front and put them in a fanny pack if I was home, or I'd put two on each side to come out of the garment and slip into my sweats pockets if I was going out.  I'd wear a long shirt/sweatshirt over and no one could tell.  So hopefully, no matter where the drains come out of on your body, you'll be able to manipulate them to put the bulbs wherever you want. 
Congrats on getting your surgery date.  Good luck to you.
Cindy

I had two in the front and two in the back, but what that means is that two were draining my belly area and two were draining my back area. They all came out the front - two on my upper left leg and two on the right. Mine had tabs and I kept them pinned to my binder most of the time, and to a lanyard when I took a shower. I also wore sweats and put them in the pockets.

I never let them just hang. I used the lanyard in the shower, and then used mens boxers, and let the groin one come through that hole in front, and pinned them all on the waist band, or the bottom of my binder.

The men's boxers just had more openings, and loose open leg holes, and no seams that hit at new incisions that made it easier to accommodate drains. If you use them, make sure they have cotton, and are absorbent.

I just dug out an old pair of granny panties and stuck the things in.  I can't even remember what I did when I showered.  I guess the drugs were better than I thought!

They generally have pretty long 'leashes' from the drain to your body (the tubing) and so you can have a lot of flexibility with the drains.  My ex-TT (anchor incision) came with 2, my hysterectomy came with 1, and in both cases they had a tab around the top that you use to pin them to stuff.  I don't always use the tabs, they are easy to put in your underwear to keep out of the way, or in your pocket (sweats, shorts, pj's, whatever).  They aren't very heavy, since generally you dump them everytime they have much in them.  I was instructed to sometimes let the drains lie as flat as possible, without curving the tubing because gravity can help with the draining, and when you have them bunched up in your clothes sometimes you will find that you've kinked the line and are stopping the function of the drain.  That happens easily when you're sleeping and such, so I have found. 

I have had as many as 8 (yes, eight) drains at one time.

The best solution I found was a small lingerie laundry bag. I put all the drains it in then fasten the bag to my garment with a couple of safety pin or later I found some removable long bra straps. 

And those worked great as I hooked the straps to the bag then it went around my neck/shoulder like a messenger style bag and was easy to remove/put on/adjust.

They will be tied to your compression wrap.    Suggest you get some men's tie shirts.   i was itchy and the cotton helped.    For a bit I used a soft cloth belt as well to hold the drain's as well

Take care and good luck!