Question:
Would the open rny's please tell me what kind of clothes they were able/wanting to
wear after surgery? I will be staying with my parents after my surgery and I would like to know what to pack. Thanks for the info and wish me luck on April 18th! — Heather L. (posted on April 10, 2000)
April 10, 2000
Perfect advice, I had open RNY in January and I couldn't wear a bra for a
month. I wore a large loose dress home and then stretchy shorts and
t-shirts at home. I like to wear clothes and not lounge around in my
jammies because I too feel like I should be sick. And the more you get
around the better you will feel.
— S S.
April 10, 2000
Hi Heather: You've gotten good advice. If you have a vertical incision as
most of us do, wearing a bra is a real challenge. If you absolutely have
to while your incision is still tender, try placing some gauze dressings
between your skin and the bra, it will help relieve the pressure. I
personally survived in summer dresses, a few sarong things that I had used
for bathing suit coverups, and couldn't tolerate anything that had a
waistband of any variety for the first few weeks. I'm different from the
other posters, I lived in my jammies in the beginning, and pampered myself
and allowed others to pamper me, too. It was wonderful! (I did the same
thing for my recent hernia repair, too, where my doctor removed my RNY scar
completely and replaced it with a new, sleeker model). Good luck with your
surgery, and God bless. Jaye Carl, open proximal RNY (divided)7-29-99, 102
pounds gone forever!!!!! Yes, 102!!! Yippppeeeee!!!!
— Jaye C.
April 10, 2000
Hi Heather, I had my surgery done in July of last year so it was hot and
muggy where I live (in Virginia). I had made cut off shorts for myself out
of sweat pants for the summer, as I couldn't find any decent shorts to wear
as big as I was. =) So, what I wore home was a pair of those cut off sweat
shorts and a T-shirt. I was able to wear my bra, thankfully, or I would
have had some trouble w/ the big boobs bouncing everywhere LOL Hope this
helps...Good Luck on the 18th...
— Marni
April 11, 2000
I bought 2 pair of mens sweatpants to wear around the house
since I get cold easily. I bought them one size larger than
I wore before surgery and made sure they had draw string waists.
I am down 45 lbs and still can cinch them up for around the
house on those cold April nights! Good Luck!
— M B.
April 11, 2000
I still have difficulty with the bra (6 weeks post op) - can't seem to find
one that doesn't irritate the incision. I wore elastic-waist baggy PJ's
and loose pantsuits. I did have to slide the waistband down for the car
trip home from the hospital - but since then have been fine. I've been
able to wear jeans (fat lady style - elastic waist stretch denim) for the
last 3 weeks.
— Toni B.
April 11, 2000
Toni, Try a sports bra. Those didn't seem to bother me so much.
Especially the ones that fasten in the front.
— Julie H.
April 11, 2000
Heather, Just wear comfortable clothes, sweat pants, shorts baggy t-shirts.
By my two week check up I had lost 16# and was wearing the jeans
comfortably that I use to lay on the bed and suck my belly in to fasten.
Even if you wore the same clothes over and over soon the weight will
disappear and the clothes will become bigger, I wore a 3X pair of sweat
pants home and a 3X t-shirt. (Just an FYI I am now a size 10 and wear a
size med shirt). Good luck!!!!
— Julie H.
April 11, 2000
Heather, congratulations to you for getting the surgery. I wish you lots
and lots of luck. You will do fine. I wore very very loose clothing.
Stretch pants that would not be tight. Also you could wear a dress that
was not binding. Good luck!!!!!!!!
— Lee Ann B.
April 11, 2000
Heather, I asked this very same question at my last live support group
meeting! Most of the post ops said they didn't have such a hard time with
any clothes because our surgeon gives us a binder (abdominal) and this was
very helpful for them. They said it even sucked them in a bit. I guess
even with the binder you won't want to wear extremely tight things on your
waist. If your surgeon doesn't give his patients binders maybe you could
ask if it would be ok if you bought one on your own??? Just a thought. I
didn't even think about my bra! So I got some advice from your question
too! Thanks and good luck!
— jennmak72
April 12, 2000
Hi, Heather--I had open RNY almost 9 months ago. At first, I wore loose
housedresses (maybe 1-2 weeks), then I graduated to elastic waistband pants
and loose tops. By then I had lost some weight so things weren't so tight
on me. It honestly was about a month before I could honestly wear
"regular" fitting pants. Good luck to you!
— charlene M.
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