Question:
What kind of clothing will I be able to wear immediately following surgery?

I will be having Open RNY with a Fobi-type pouch in a month. What kind of clothing will I be able to wear home from the hospital and for the first few weeks? I've heard that having clothing on your incision, especially a bra, can be painful. I will be returning to work in a little less than a month and was wondering if I will be able to wear pretty normal clothing (business casual). When will I be able to wear jeans and a bra comfortably?    — Kristie B. (posted on April 4, 2002)

April 4, 2002
You will probably be wearing the same clothes as you are now, only less constricting. Find a comfortable cotton sports type bra or a bra that clasps in the front When you go back to work, wear dresses. Anything that has a waist was uncomfortable for me. ps: Don't freak out if you actually GAIN weight in the hospital, with a constant IV going its not unusual. You'll lose that quickly. See you on the flip side!
   — Mary C.

April 4, 2002
Hi Kristi....very loose fitting clothes are in order for at least the 1st couple of weeks. I am 6 weeks post op and I still am wearing a very lose and soft bra because your incision will begin way up under where your bra sits and it does rub and feel uncomfortable. Once your incision has healed and all your staples removed you can apply cream (I use cream w/cocoa butter) to the incision and it helps a lot. 1st week was worse because the staples were still in and really pulled on any bra I would try to put on. Best of luck to you.
   — SARose61

April 4, 2002
Kristie, For me, I was in sweats and sweatshirts( w/o a bra ) for aprox. 4 weeks. When I did finally put on a bra it wasn't as uncomfortable as I had imagined it would be. I DID however take a precaution of making sure I had a folded 4 x 4 bandage secured over the the top part of my incision. The looser you can have things the more comfortable you will be. Good Luck!
   — laurie W.