Compression stockings

What are these? How long do you have them on? What are they for?

When you're preparing for surgery, you pull on thick white thigh highs with the toes out. Then you put on the footie socks over them. When you wake up in recovery you will have white covers over both your legs up to your knees with tubes attached to a machine that pumps air to inflate them every so often. The purpose is to keep your circulation going while you are immobile.

The next day while you are up and walking around you can unhook the whole thing and take the inflatable part off your legs but they will hook you up again to sleep at night. The only problem with that is each time you need to get up to use the bathroom you have to bend down and unhook the tubes so you can walk away from the machine. I suppose a nurse would do it for you if you can't bend down (yes, ouch!!) but I didn't wait for that. This is my experience. I felt good having a means to prevent blood clots, that has always scared me. Hope it helped somewhat.

49, TAH 7/17, both ovaries too, kept portion of cervix

Thanks for the great answer. I was wondering what the huggy boots the nurse was talking about are. It must be that. She is so silly sometimes. It is good to know it will prevent clots that is soooo scary.
Janelle

I wasn't given any stockings to wear, they just had my legs in the compression machine overnight post op.

mshowdy

My friend had the thing that puts your bottom half to sleep but you stay awake (sorry I can't remember what its called). Anyway, she is afraid to fall asleep so wanted to stay awake. She did end up sleeping quite a bit but she remembers in recovery waking up and they had put the stockings on and her legs were straight up in the air! She asked and they said it was the make the blood flow to the tummy so everything can start healing. She said she was laughing and saying "I didn't know I could do that". ha ha

I really loved those leg things!! They rocked me to sleep, as drugged up as I was. I had a CAT in for 2 days due to my bladder surgery and they were on the whole time, I missed them when they were gone, anyone else like them? or am I a werid one?

I loved the compression stockings too! I was having a lot of weird feelings in my legs in the weeks before my surgery (which have gone away post-op) and it felt so good to have them "massaged" all day.

My TRUE sister!! CHEERS!!!

I too loved how they felt....although I didn't attempt to remove them, I just asked the patient care tech's to do it for me. I only had mine on the first 24 hours since I was up and walking the next day.