Clothing

Having survived the glancing blow of the hurricane overnight, we woke to a gray, drizzly, blustery morning. Although the wind howled all night, we were relieved to find that there was no damage to the house or yard, although in neighboring communities in our county there were numerous trees down and half the county appears to be without power. We are very fortunate not to have any of those occurrences!

None of that has anything to do with my knee, of course, but I'm glad that I wasn't in the operating room when the earthquake hit last week or trying to be discharged from the hospital in the middle of a hurricane, so yes, weather does have an impact on every facet of life, doesn't it?

Tonight's topic will be fairly brief, but important, namely the topic of clothing. I did mention what I had packed to take to the hospital in one of my earliest posts, and I also advised packing a bag to keep in whatever temporary bedroom was to be used during recuperation, but let me give a little more specific advice.

(1)Hospital: Although I did address my hospital clothing advice quite extensively, I would emphasize that there's no need to pack too much. I wish I had bought two pairs of nylon pajamas with long pants and short or no sleeves rather than cotton jersey. I only felt comfortable in the nylon pajamas. Rather than a robe, a bed jacket over (very loose) long leg pajamas will be just as nice looking, and you can wear the bed jacket in bed if you get a little chilled while sitting up in bed. If you (or I) really worry about having enough clothes, leave something neatly folded in your bedroom so that it can be found easily and brought to you in the hospital, but you probably won't need it.
(2) First week: Again, buy two or three pairs of nylon pajamas, preferably elastic waist and with no buttons. It's hard enough to dress yourself at this stage so make it as easy as possible. I'm not a big fan of tee shirts, but some cotton jersey tops will be easy to put on and take off which, paired with nice loose pants will be about as dressed up as you'll feel like being. I had home physical therapy starting the day after I got home, so I needed real clothes but I wanted them to be as soft and loose as possible. Pants made out of sweat pant material but which are only knee-length or 3/4 length are perfect. Your therapist will want to look at your incision and you need to have pants that can be pushed up over your knee easily but which also cover your knee otherwise. Obviously the time of year will influence your clothing choices somewhat, but even if it's really hot or really cold, you'll be inside so there's not that much variation in what you'll wear no matter what the season.
(3) Second week: Most of the clothing advice remains the same although, if weather permits, you may want to get out and have someone take you for a drive. Loose pants and a shirt (coat if it's cold, of course) should be sufficient. Wear the same comfortable clothing and make sure you choose safe shoes. By that, I mean you should not wear flats that might slip off, you shouldn't wear flip-flops or sandals. Sneakers might be a little heavy but if you like them and have someone to help you get them on and tie them, that's fine. I had some canvas shoes with nice rubber soles and a velcro strap across the top of my foot which looked okay with pants, stayed on securely, and were no problem to put on or take off.
(4) Third week on: By the end of the second week, I was more or less wearing normal clothes and certainly by the end of the third week. The only consideration at this point is to wear clothing for physical therapy sessions that is comfortable for exercising, that allows you to pull up the leg of your pant so the therapist can see and massage your knee, and that is washable. By the sixth week I was back at work and there was nothing about my clothing that was particularized to knee surgery. I still am probably wearing looser, lighter, softer clothing than usual. I'm also taking into consideration the fact that I'm wearing the silicone scar sheets on my knee, so pants that are at all a little more snug (such as blue jeans) tend to catch on the silicone sheets and pull them off. Other than that, though, there's no restriction on what I wear.

The obvious advice is to be comfortable, to wash clothes often, and to try to look moderately nice and tidy. Even if you are feeling lousy, looking presentable gives you a little boost of confidence that life really will return to normal!