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Alternative to hospital gowns??

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beth1954

beth1954

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I remember someone posted something about this subject, but I could not find it back.

I do NOT want to spend the entire 3 days at the hospital in a hospital gown with my bottom hanging out the back. Is there an alternative for this?
Can we bring a gown/robe from home? And will it interfere with the IV, etc.

I have been trying to find something online and have had no luck.

I'm not really expecting many visitors at all, but still I'm very modest and don't want to look so bad.
 
You have a couple of options. You can bring a gown from home, but the nurses and doctors will want to be able to easily have access to you like they do with that dreaded hospital gown. So, you might want to have something that buttons up the front. Or separate bottoms and a top - like a sleep shorts set. Many folks just bring the shorts bottoms and wear them with the gown....then at least your bottom isn't hanging out. I wore some shorts like that and a hip length shirt that buttoned up the front. It was very comfortable and frankly this is not a time to be worried about fashion!!
 
I wore a knee length cotton sleeveless nightgown. I also wore a "baby doll" PJ set. The top was nice and short and I did not wear the bottoms!
When I was leaving the room for PT in my wheelchair I was dressed for the day in nylon men's elastic waist shorts. I really liked the under armor brand. Very comfortable and I would wear a T-shirt or sleeveless tank top ( my surgery was in June). I also brought a polar fleece zip up jacket with me which I wore after PT as I became chilled after working up a sweat!
I went to rehab and was there for 6 days. I never left the bed in the hospital as I still had the catheter inserted.......
Once in rehab, I wore my own clothing.
I did have a reaction to the bedding. Apparently they washed the sheet in an alcohol solution..... My body did not like it. i also had to be an advocate for myself as the RN who had me after the recovery room was downright nasty, rude, and arrogant. My next nurse was fabulous. When she asked me if there was anything else she could do for me, I told her I wanted to speak to a nursing director as I did not want the nurse previous to her ever again! Wow, what a ruckus I must have caused about it. However, I was paying (or my insurance) for good care and I did not get it from her, and let them know. I did not have that nurse again and I met with the Asst. Director of Nursing.
Do not be afraid to be an advocate for yourself!
I was glad to leave the hospital and go to the rehabilitation hospital......
 
Aw Beth you dont like those lovely air conditioned gowns...lol...Me either. I wore a PJ top with PJ shorts, but I did buy a bigger size so the shorts could get over all the wrappings on the knee. Worked just fine. That way I could go up and down the halls with out flashing everyone.
 
At the beginning you will probably appreciate not having your own garments contaminated with blood should a) your iv leak, b) your drain leak or c) your wound leak! There are other accidents involving body fluids, of course but I won't go into detail! Then there's the likelihood that, should any of the aforementioned occur, said gown can easily be changed despite the presence of the IV and associated tubes precisely because the back is open and the sleeves wider than most normal nightwear.

Once you're rid of all those things, your normal day and night wear would be appropriate.

 
When I came back from the recovery room, I just had the iv taped to my hand, so easy to put on a shirt--I think I had on a polo shirt. Also, I did not have a catheter (at my request), so I put on some capri length yoga pants. I was very comfortable and put that horrid gown in the bathroom.

When the nurse came in, she said did you change your clothing yourself---to which I replied, yes, when I went to the bathroom. She was so angry==I guess you are su pposed to ring for the nurse and use a walker or something when you go to the bathroom. I could never bring myself to ring for the nurse--I just did everything my self!!! But, I guess, you are supposed to have the nurse help you change--I am not sure why.

I showered and changed the next day and then went home. What a relief to get out of there. I asked my husband where my bell was---and he told me to go ahead and get anything that I want!!!!
 
I wore the gowns at night to sleep in, but wore my own clothes (track pants and a t-shirt) during the day. That was in rehab, which was down the hall from the first room I was in for four days. I had an IV, drain, femoral block tube (that didn't work!) and the wound dressing. There I wore the gown the whole time (but I didn't get out of bed except to stand a couple of times). They also offer another gown to wear as a robe, which I never did because I never left my room in a gown.

It was a requirement in rehab to wear "comfortable clothes". And shoes that we could walk in. I was going to bring my good Avia sneakers I got for working out (because I'd hoped against hope that I'd be back to exercising by May), but instead opted for the flat-soled "Airwalk" casual sneakers. They have minimal tread and the entire sole is flat on the bottom. My Avias have a lot of tread and have a shape that tolerates the impact of working out.

I was going for comfort AND stability...
 
It's a safety thing - when you're fresh out of recovery you're not really totally capable, plus you might dislodge your iv and if you're out of bed, you might be usnteady on your feet. Any accidents or injuries you sustained would be the hospital's (and her) fault.
 
What I did was I bought a cotton short sleeve robe that has snaps up the front then I cut from the neck line all the way down the sleeve and replaced the seam with snaps. I did it to both sleeves since I don't know which hand the iv will be in. This way you can wear their lovely gowns and when you get out of bed you can put the robe on and not flash anybody. If you can't visual what I did...think about the sleeves on a hospital gown. That's what I did with my robe.:cool:
 
I wore a knee length cotton sleeveless nightgown. I also wore a "baby doll" PJ set. The top was nice and short and I did not wear the bottoms!


Hold it,,,Crystal wore that,,,


Sorry about that,but it sounded so nice,,hahahaha:hehe:
 
Hi Beth,

If your brain is as "mushy" as mine was after surgery you will be past caring about what hangs out where :)

Seriously though, in our hospital, after day 2 or so we had to shower ourselves and get dressed in normal day clothes - PJs were not allowed during the day. That rule was strictly enforced by the nurses, because, as they said, we were not sick!

For nightwear (I was in hospital six days), I purchased 3 very large, stretchy, full-length easy-to-put-on nightgowns (dubbed "passionkillers" by my sister). I took a dressing gown to hospital, but never needed it - the nighties were sufficiently modest for the 5 minutes walk down the hallway from the ward to the ablution facilities .

Hope that helps :)
 
Okay for you, Mr. Clunk....we need to get you back to the research room.....:hehe:
 
Shorts and a tee shirt. Get a tee shirt that lets them know just how you really feel. Like " MY Attitude Check Bounced". :D
 
My attire now seems most unusual. I wore the hospital gown. Yes I every time i was in the hospital got called for flashing too. Some times I had on an additional gown in the opposite direction. The last time I even had on a bathrobe of my own and got caught flashing somehow!!
judy
 
Just put another hospital gown on front ways over the backwards one, then you are covered and have no washing to send home!
 
I just wore cotton t shirt nighty things, and my own clothes.

Good point about the washing or lack of Rachel!
 
Omg Jo, you painted such an unappealing picture :skp:.

Sooooo, the slinky satin outfit I'm going to buy when I have lost all of my spare tyres may not be appropriate, LOL.
 
Oh yes they will - but not until all the tubes are out. You don't want to risk spoiling the lovely new stuff!
 
The first few days after my surgery, I wore the gown and was glad to, because it made it a lot easier to use the bathroom with nothing on under it! But I finally put on underwear (felt good), and then went to these loungers that I had bought. They were just mid-calf length nightgowns, a little heavier than normal material. I just wore an open robe over them for PT. Our rehab floor of the hospital was open to whatever you felt comfortable wearing, so people were in hospital gowns, their own PJ's, or street clothes, depending on their ability to dress themselves. Don't worry about it! You'll be concentrating on your basic bodily functions the first few days, and probably won't care if you flash anyone. Believe me, the nurses, aides, techs, etc. have seen plenty, and it doesn't bother them a bit. Everyone who took care of me took extra time to make sure I was covered, even when I wasn't thinking about it! Best wishes, Paula :hehe:
 
Yep! Anything and believe me, everything goes! Depending on what point you are in your recup! And what season you have your surgery! Why haven't they come into the 21st century and use VELCRO???? Can just hear all the snapping in every hospital and rehab center now!!!! Yikes!!! :)l
 
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