Control Top

I know that this may sound silly, but on Xmas it will be week 4 post op. We have a BIG family party to go to on Sunday night and I have a swelly belly! Can I wear a girdle or control top hose? I had a LAVH.

Have you got something you could wear that could be discretely un buttoned? that's what i did last Chrsitmas and wore a loose top over.

You might try a girdle..but I found that anything tight is still out of the question. I get so uncomfortable and I am 9 weeks out from LAVH! Tried to wear my jeans to work today...had them on 1/2 hour...felt great at first, but after walking around the house getting ready for work....NO WAY! Good luck finding something that will work. Have fun no matter what!

I've found light support has been nice but much more than that it's too much. What happens for me is after I'm standing for a few hours, I get more swelly and then any support is too uncomfortable. I'm with the others, find something a little more loose fitting I think so you're comfortable. I'm going to a concert Saturday night and found some dressier black terry pants and a new top with flat dress shoes. I think I'll be fine.

I had a TAH but swelly belly is swelly belly right??!!

I got an abdominal binder and it works great!!!! It really helps and gives more support, it is not as tight as a girlde.

I was wondering the same thing myself. I'm only about 1 week out. I really wanted to attend Christmas Eve service at our Church. It is one of my favorite services of the year. Unfortunately, I don't have any long dresses and none of my pants fit at the moemnt other than sweat (big swelly belly). I didn't plan that too well. I'm going to attempt just getting some kind of hose on tonight (my DH is threatening the video camera for the occastion) to see if I can evenget them up much less handle wearing them! HA! Should be a hoot!

The surgical hose they make you put on at the hospital, I swear are for someone whose a size 2 and I'm far from a 2. I actually broke a sweat putting those things on! It was actually a good tension breaker for me! HA HA

Best Wishes on your party!

With the abdominal incision, I started out with the tummy binder with a pillow underneath it. Then about 3 days ago, I went with one of those wide wrap around back braces. I asked the doc about it yesterday; she said do whatever is comfy for me. The back brace is adjustable, so I can put however much pressure I can handle. When I went yesterday, I wore the back brace, a pair of jeans held together with a ponytail twister (through the button hole and around the button), and a long untucked flannel shirt. Both the doc and the friend that drove me said they couldn't even tell that the jeans were unfastened...both the button and the zipper. I was totally comfortable. Keep in mind that when I do this, I do keep the super thick, super long pad like they had in the castle, over the incision just in case. Don't use more pressure than you can handle though. I like a lot of even pressure because it feels like it's holding everything in; and with the back brace being adjustable velcro, I can loosen it when needed. It doesn't even hurt to laugh. I even wheeled around Wally World in one of their wheel-chair carts yesterday. I picked up one of each of their girdle type underwear, light, medium, and extra support.

And the long sweaters are in now. If nothing else, go get a decent, cheap pair of maternity pants. A long sweater or shirt, a nice pair of pants, and some flat shoes...you'll look just as good as the one's that are there that haven't had the surgery. Not to mention that if you don't already have these things, you've got the excuse to go shopping for yourself.

Good luck and have fun!
Char