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nym_wibblyI now have a hospital bag and everything I need to put in it. I usually wouldn't bother doing more than stuffing a couple of changes of clothes into one of my everyday rucksacks, toiletries in a pocket, but since my arms and range of motion are going to be affected by the op, I've had to plan a bit more carefully. I bought packing cubes to divide up my new big holdall. I never imagined I'd be the kind of person who owned a packing cube, let alone carefully rolled up knickers and socks and put them inside!
I have a special pillow for double mastectomy - this style of thing. I've spoken to women who swear by them for keeping their arms comfy in the weeks after the op, plus I got one in a cheerful fabric to brighten everything up a bit! Local hospital volunteers make under-arm heart-shaped pillows and bags for carrying surgical drains around, and those are given out on the wards, but I couldn't picture myself juggling an unweildy hospital bed, two pillows, a bag, earplugs, earphones, the obligatory jug of lukewarm, plastic-jug-tasting water, and a phone all at once. I'd have trouble with coordinating all that even without an operation! And I'll be parted from 4G and Big Finish audio only if I expire on the operating table.
I've modified some of my clothes to have inside pockets for surgical drains & my phone (usually easy if they have the cheap-ass variety of ordinary 'bag' pockets running outside to inside - can just stitch the cheap-ass flappy bit down one side/across the bottom so it forms a pocket on the inside), made sure my nightclothes have actual buttons, and bought a lightweight robe/wrap thing to avoid that "exposed arse" thing while wearing the lovely surgical gown. My everyday warm dressing gown takes up my entire bag, is frumpy and scratchy, and isn't comfy to wear in bed, so I treated myself to an Ebay ex-Marks and Spencer Autograph one in lightweight, stretchy modal. And some Debenhams Jasper Conran pyjama bottoms in the right size, my normal nightwear being so loose it practically falls down when I stand up. Or full of holes. I had to shorten those by about four inches, then hem them, which took up way more of my week than it ought to have done.
I own two new pocketed, post-surgery bras, and now a pair of Knitted Knockers in the size I'm hoping to use (or, in the meantime, the size that fits the bras I bought). Long term, I'm hoping I'll mostly go without any knockers at all, nice and comfy and free from bra straps at last, but short term, none of my tops will fit unless I have some knockers, and it'll be a while before I'm up to going shopping for better fitting stuff. Knitted Knockers appeal to me way more than the similar 'comfies' they give you before you leave hospital, drape a bit more naturally, and are more flexible on size. They even sent me a little bag of extra stuffing.
The house is less ready. I've been organising, tidying, cooking, freezing, but I don't seem to be getting very far. My class has a long Easter break coming up, so hopefully I'll win the battle before we go back. At which point, it should be time for surgery.
*twitch*
I have a special pillow for double mastectomy - this style of thing. I've spoken to women who swear by them for keeping their arms comfy in the weeks after the op, plus I got one in a cheerful fabric to brighten everything up a bit! Local hospital volunteers make under-arm heart-shaped pillows and bags for carrying surgical drains around, and those are given out on the wards, but I couldn't picture myself juggling an unweildy hospital bed, two pillows, a bag, earplugs, earphones, the obligatory jug of lukewarm, plastic-jug-tasting water, and a phone all at once. I'd have trouble with coordinating all that even without an operation! And I'll be parted from 4G and Big Finish audio only if I expire on the operating table.
I've modified some of my clothes to have inside pockets for surgical drains & my phone (usually easy if they have the cheap-ass variety of ordinary 'bag' pockets running outside to inside - can just stitch the cheap-ass flappy bit down one side/across the bottom so it forms a pocket on the inside), made sure my nightclothes have actual buttons, and bought a lightweight robe/wrap thing to avoid that "exposed arse" thing while wearing the lovely surgical gown. My everyday warm dressing gown takes up my entire bag, is frumpy and scratchy, and isn't comfy to wear in bed, so I treated myself to an Ebay ex-Marks and Spencer Autograph one in lightweight, stretchy modal. And some Debenhams Jasper Conran pyjama bottoms in the right size, my normal nightwear being so loose it practically falls down when I stand up. Or full of holes. I had to shorten those by about four inches, then hem them, which took up way more of my week than it ought to have done.
I own two new pocketed, post-surgery bras, and now a pair of Knitted Knockers in the size I'm hoping to use (or, in the meantime, the size that fits the bras I bought). Long term, I'm hoping I'll mostly go without any knockers at all, nice and comfy and free from bra straps at last, but short term, none of my tops will fit unless I have some knockers, and it'll be a while before I'm up to going shopping for better fitting stuff. Knitted Knockers appeal to me way more than the similar 'comfies' they give you before you leave hospital, drape a bit more naturally, and are more flexible on size. They even sent me a little bag of extra stuffing.
The house is less ready. I've been organising, tidying, cooking, freezing, but I don't seem to be getting very far. My class has a long Easter break coming up, so hopefully I'll win the battle before we go back. At which point, it should be time for surgery.
*twitch*
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Date: 22 Mar 2019 09:31 (UTC)no subject
Date: 28 Mar 2019 10:59 (UTC)no subject
Date: 28 Mar 2019 04:05 (UTC)no subject
Date: 28 Mar 2019 10:59 (UTC)