Hi everyone,
As you know, my hubby had emergency surgery 3 weeks ago and Nephrostomy tubes were inserted through his back and into his kidneys so they could drain. The tubes are about 2 feet long and have a drainage bag on the end and are very hard to keep tucked in his pants pockets. They seem to always ride out so he ends up walking around with these 2 big tubed loops hanging out of his pockets. He had to temporarily remove a few knobs on the lower kitchen cabinets and a cabinet down our hallway. The tubes were catching on things and when they did, it really pulled and hurt. We have been trying to navigate as carefully as we can with measuring his output and recording it, about every hour or so. He has gotten somewhat used to the tubes, and I change his bandages every few days. They are uncomfortable when you are sitting in a recliner and the tubes rub on his skin.
I have been racking my brain trying to come up with some way to carry his drainage bags that is more hidden than wearing something like a crossover shoulder strap purse on each side…
I’ve made a few things but nothing really worked, especially if he happened to be in public….
But…the other day I was in Walmart and stumbled upon some Wrangler Relaxed Cargo pants that had a pocket design that intrigued me. The pocket was a slashed side pocket instead of the curved pocket you could barely get your hand in. Then below that front pocket, each side had a deep add-on pocket.
Here is a new Nephrostomy drain bag and the tube going to it… you can see how long it is and how much of it showed when inserted into the pockets as they were…
I had an idea about extending the inside pocket lining and jumped right in to give my idea a try. I unstitched the bottom lining of the pockets. Then I used some scrap fabric that had a little bit of stiffness to it so it would lay better and just eyeballed how I wanted them to look. I cut my new extended pockets about 5 inches longer than the original lining.
They aren’t going to win any awards for their looks and I’m sure our “4H Judge, Miss Charlotte,” wouldn’t give me a blue ribbon on workmanship, but like I said in my title, this was “practical” sewing.
You can see how the drainage bag goes down much further into the pants with this extension…
It worked!!! Now his tubes come out of his back, hug his side, the drainage bags are tucked into his pockets and when they get a little bit of fluid in them they pull down to the pocket bottom, keeping the tubes tucked in too!
The decorative pocket that sits just below the regular side pocket makes the bulk of the drainage bag just look like something is in that lower pocket. It kind of hides the bag.
Finally, we have a solution!
We are supposed to “hopefully” find out something regarding his next surgery tomorrow… so his new pockets may be unnecessary… but until then, he’s good to go!!! It just took me a while to find the right solution!
I know this isn’t very interesting, like a new doll dress, but I’ll get back to sewing “pretty” not “practical” as soon as I can!
See you all tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Such challenges your George is facing! One doesn’t normally think about how inconvenient some medical devices can be, and I think you came up with a wonderful solution, Jeanne. You definitely win points for creativity on this one!!
Yesterday Joy mentioned going to Habit for a meal; we have Habit Burger up here. I’m assuming it’s the same thing? I know my friend Kathy in Santa Barbara said that’s where Habit Burger started (I think). Anyway, one of my favorite things there is their sweet potato fries–yum! I also like their tempura green beans!! (Anyone getting hungry?!)
And Joy mentioned bone scan. Do you mean bone density scan? I Think they are two different things, with bone density scan looking to see if you have osteopenia or osteoporosis. I have the latter, diagnosed about 20-some years ago, so I have a bone density scan every two years. I took daily Fosamax for a while, and started to have some jaw pain, so we decided I shouldn’t take it any more. However, about 2-3 years ago, my doctor suggested the weekly Fosamax for me, and I have had no trouble with it. I also take calcium (I get Viactiv, which is chewable–I simply can NOT swallow calcium pills!), and the last bone density scan shows some improvement, so it is working!! I have had a number of broken bones in the last few years, mostly little ones like toes and a metatarsal bone in my foot, but of course four years ago I broke my upper arm, and that was scary for me, because that is a “big” one, in matter of importance. I am so thankful there are meds that can help. I certainly do not want to be one of those whose hip snap and she falls (as happened to a lady I knew years ago, who was probably about my age at the time).
Paula, I love to play pool, and used to be fairly good at it, for someone who didn’t play too often. My in-laws had a wonderful pool table, and we spent some happy hours down there, shooting pool. Sometimes Mom and I played, sometimes Daniel joined us. I can’t remember if Ron played with us occasionally or not, and maybe his stepdad, too.
Marilyn, I love mysteries, too, and have read both Dorothy Sayers’ and Marjorie Allingham’s books. Agatha Christie, too, got to detesting her “little Belgian” (Hercule Poriot)–she wrote so many books and stories with him in them! My favorite of her characters, though, was Miss Marple! I think I own just about everything Agatha Christie ever wrote.
Thanks so much Charlotte, for the information on bone scans. I’m not sure which one I had yesterday, but it was more intensive that the previous two I’ve had. The results I’ve seen don’t look too bad, but the doctor’s take will will be coming soon. This was my third scan. I’m going to have other person measure me because, the height measurement indicated that I’ve shrunk! Oh no, what to do? I guess I’ll need to go into space for awhile and decompress. So, I’ll have to impatiently wait to see what a “real” doctor tells me although, I often don’t agree with them. I didn’t do well with Fosamax weekly, so quit some years ago. I have had osteopenia, but don’t know yet about this last scan. I didn’t know there were different tests either. Thanks for the education. I’ll find out more.
And yes, it is the same Habit. We always go for the special which is less expensive and always good. 🙂
Glad to hear you played pool! It is fun – my husband likes to show me special moves that help in difficult plays.
I used to play pool occasionally, but as a six year old, I was in charge of chalking the cues for my grandfather, dad, and uncles. Loved that. I haven’t played in a long time.
Jeanne, if anybody can do anything like that, for sure you can beat them at it! How lucky George is to have you! It seems that you can fix any big or small problem,
with innovation and skill to make things work out! You certainly did need to do that before any doll dress was concerned!
I was kind of puzzled when Joy mentioned Habit, and then Charlotte mentioned Habit Burger. Neither name rings a bell for me, not in St. Louis, anyway!We have our share of burger places, but none with that name!
As far as mysteries go, I can’t get myself interested in them, or even tv crime shows! Yesterday while we were in a doctor’s waiting room, they had a tv going with Law and Order on! Good grief, I much prefer HGTV or the Food Channel over something like that for the general public to watch! I am too much of a Pollyanna, I guess!
I will add my consolations to Anne in NZ. I know she didn’t think NZ would go far, but just the same, a loss hurts.
I always watch HGTV with headphones when I go to the dentist. He has tv’s on the ceiling. 🙂
Today is time to start getting outfits and stuff for our trip to FL next week. I will also be making cookies and lots of meringues to take for the group dinner. They count on my special dessert, the meringues topped with GA peaches and squirt whipped cream. Also they ask for my cheese grits dish. This will all happen after we get back from diving for scallops, hoping we will have plenty of those. There will also be cooked fish that my nephew has caught. I am getting hungry already, but Peyton is making my favorite breakfast now so I am happy!
Jeanne, you never fail to find ideas that are needed, either for doll clothes or for your dear George. You are just amazing! Thank you for showing us about what you have done now for him. Praying for a good ending of this.
The Florida get together sounds like a great one. Water sports, well diving for scallops, and the delicious food you make sounds fabulous. Hope that you can get some pics for us. 🙂
Have a great time on your trip to Florida next week. The treats you’re taking sound great!
I am probably going to upset everyone but the only seafood I like is fish. anything else, prawns, shrimps, any shellfish is completely off my menu. I have tried, my sister made a fish pie last year and after trying to eat one prawn I had to pick them all out and give them to my BIL. UGH
Anne haha that seems okay really. Some people can not eat certain things, perhaps it is our bodies warning us. At least that is what I always think. Fortunately, no one forces us to eat stuff. 🥰
That’s funny. I’m not a fan of fish, but crustaceans like prawns, shrimp, and crab are delicious to me when basted with olive oil/garlic. 🙂
Have a lovely trip though, it sounds great (so long as I don’t have to eat any scallops)
I love fish, all kinds, but not lobster, scallops crab legs ( ugh) , oysters, or anything like that. Our old neighbors who were from Louisiana, would have crawfish boils in backyard, which creeped me out big time!
Jeanne, thank you for sharing this project. This is very practical. I like the idea, and you used some snazzy fabric AND you were neat and tidy! I hope George is feeling much better. I am so sorry he had some yanks and pulls when getting those tubes stuck on things just doing some activities. Just awful I am sure. I know both of you are enjoying each day, recovering and taking good care of each other, I hope your neck muscles are feeling better.
Both of you continue to be in my prayers, daily.
I need to find a Habit restaurant around here. I live in Northern Virginia and I believe we have everything imaginable 😂. They just keep stuffing more into this area.
Here, we have rain all day. I do have to go out at 1:30 to go to the retina doctor. I do get my eyes dilated so that will be that for the rest of the day. I will probably make it home by 3:30 – too late for tai-chi. That is okay. I am not really enjoying that class. Should I be? I am not going to give up on it yet. I will attend Friday’s class.
Linda, Law and Order on tv? haha that is not pleasant doc office tv. Most doc offices here have HGTV, or something similar. I recall years ago, so many doc office tvs had CNN or other news and it was just too shocking and stressful.
This Retina doctor has a very long large waiting room and there is a tv at each end. I think they play different channels. They also have bowls of candy placed all over the place. Kind of interesting. Before covid, they always had a coffee maker and donuts. I think they still do have a coffee maker.
Linda, I hope you can enjoy a lot of older tv shows when you feel like watching tv. Just about everything now is filled with profanity.
Hubbs and i watch a lot of youtube tv now,. We like watching “channels” about farms and such around the US and a few in the Netherlands, Friesian horses, also Ryan Rose here in the US, training naughty horses, and Clever Cowgirl and also Homestead Horsemanship. Today the cameras go live at 2:00 at Brooks Falls. https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/alaska-naknek-river is the main page sort of. It can also be viewed from your tv, on youtube. It is live nature and most of the time it is delightful and interesting but there are some situations of aggression and you just have to be at peace with the behavior of all of God’s wild creatures.
I am going to end here, and get some things accomplished this morning before I have to head out in the pouring rain for my retina adventure. I will wear my new glasses.
I hope all of you have a smooth happy day. Sissy, have fun gathering and preparing for your trip. Charlotte, thank you for the mystery reading sources.
So, we have YouTube too, but how do you find those shows you watch? Kind of clueless as I usually only watch the local news and a couple of rerun shows or an occasional very old movie. Is there somewhere that they provide a tv guide? All I see is a listing of channels and then what they have going, but haven’t found any sort of guide.
And I go to the eye doctor for my shots tomorrow so I too will be out of commission for awhile. Good luck with your appointment today.
I have to look for stuff I want to see.
You can type in the search bar “brooks Falls Alaska Bear Cams”
or you can speak it clearly into your remote.
Or you can search other topics, “live cams Europe” or “live beach cams” “horse farms” or names “Clever Cowgirl” “European tour guide” …. just about anything!
It is tedious. I try to use the microphone on my remote now.
It takes practice. If you subscribe to a channel, then you can scroll down to your subscriptions if you click left. There are probably youtube videos on how to use youtube 😂
We love youtube. It is easy once you “learn” google it on your computer would be an easy idea too. Good luck. ….. bring snacks
I’m not familiar with Princess Kitty type kitty cats. I’m glad you enjoy her- she sounds like she loves you!
thank you Paula. People that have pets, … well, they are the babies. haha She is a very sweet lovable kitty, very affectionate.
I’ve never tried the microphone. Bad me.
Jeanne’s fabulous pocket extension idea should quickly be patented. Then, she can release it to those in need of the same, which is probably a lot of folks, to help them. But, then, perhaps make some money on the idea from manufactures of medical clothing. I’m sure when George wears those pants he feels great.
I’m so glad that probably today, you may hear about a date for the removal of those uncomfortable tubes. We’re all pulling for you both.
After a crazy morning at the scan place, we headed to Costco, so that I could return some shorts that were way too baggy. I think that I’m going to pull a Jeanne, and find an old pair of jeans and cut them off like we used to do years ago. That way, they will fit in the upper leg. We’ll see what I can do. 🙂 Then, we picked up hot dogs/cokes and headed home. I did see a couple of crepe myrtle trees that I liked at Costco, but neither of us is very enthused about trying to dig two huge holes in the hard ground at the other house, so we may take a look at a couple of tree nurseries that also dig holes. We’ll see.
Good luck with shorts, planting crepe myrtles, and of course, your eye appointment. So far for me, no injections. whew.
🤞🏽💝
Thoughts on two topics….
Osteopenia, Fosamax and bone density scans: I’m dealing with it all of it too. Have lost 3 ½ inches from my 5 ft. 6 and am finding top shelves hard to reach! BUT I watched my mom suffer 8 years with osteoporosis, constant pain and frequent spontaneous back fractures so I will do whatever it takes to stay out of that range. Going on Fosamax when it was first released in the late 1990’s slowed her decline but it was really too late to reverse the effects. So, stay on top of it ladies, it’s worth fighting.
Extending pockets: I ran into the same problem with trying to keep my cell phone handy. Most women’s pockets were too short and the phone fell out. I came up with the same solution Jeanne did… lengthen the pocket. Even brought my complaint and solution into Christopher Banks (remember them?) My granddaughters will buy men’s cargo pants, to have the leg pockets for their phones. Just added length to the new pants I found on sale this spring.
No Habits in fly-over land. (except reading Jeanne’s blog!)
Thoughts and prayers for you, Jeanne, and dear husband George.
Thanks for the Fosamax info and pep talk. I’m hoping that there is something else I can take that doesn’t cause every bone in my body to ache. And also that doesn’t have the side effect of a possible broken jaw and other things. I’m going to see what the doctor suggests. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I will follow orders. I’m so bad.
Excellent project, well done, Jeanne! Where there’s a will, there is a way. Thank you for sharing….one never knows when they might need to make this adjustment to pants pockets.
I remember the small clothing shop that was located on the first floor of the Oncology building I went to for my cancer treatments some time ago. They had several styles of soft fabric hats/turbans for women who might lose their hair during cancer treatments. I went thru radiation and weeks of targeted therapy, as my Oncologist called it, and so I had purchased a turban pattern and fabric prints I liked, and started on making a couple of them. I never lost my hair during my therapy so I only finished one cotton knit turban. I did wear it to bed at night when I lived in an apt. because even with the furnace running in winter (Indiana), it would be so cold around your head and ears sometimes. So that turned out to be a useful sewing project!
I am with those of you who would rather not watch crime movies on TV! My daughter likes to watch the crime stories or the “who done it” crime documentaries, but some of them are just too unsettling for me. I agree about watching HGTV over crime stories or even the news! But then we each have a TV in our rooms and the big TV in the living room when we watch something together. My flat screen TV is getting older, but I have it in my sewing/art room where I watch Hallmark+ movies, and often, re-watching the Great British Sewing Bee episodes on ROKU! Hallmark movies leave you with a happy ending, and sometimes Turner Classic Movies do too. I watched the older version of Father of the Bride, with Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor, the other day….and I really like the version with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton! I actually like the black and white Shirley Temple movies and years ago, PBS used to show one or two every Sunday, but not so much anymore. I have a complete DVD set of her movies when she was young, but my daughter’s DVD player is not hooked up….I would need her to take a look at it. She thinks there may be a DVD stuck in it.
Hi Elizabeth,
I love the first version of Father of the Bride (Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor) and also the sequel Gather’s Little Dividend. Have you seen it?
Back and saw my typo Father’s Little Dividend.
Jeanne, I think your idea for solving George’s problem is amazing. And I think you did a very neat job of it. David wears pants like this every day but gets his from Duluth. He started wearing them for work because the jeans he usually wore were too hot and heavy for the summer and if they got wet it took forever for them to dry. He loves having all those pockets and his Nook fits in one so he always has it with him being the avid reader he is.
I didn’t catch up with the blog until later in the day yesterday and while I love Jeanne’s idea of how David and I spent our time I have to comment on how we really spent the weekend. Well I gave David the last of the bell peppers Thursday evening. I had Chorale rehearsal and didn’t want to eat anything heavy and there was just the right amount left for him. So there was none left for the weekend. For dessert we finished off a wonderful spice cake with cream cheese frosting made by David. He is the dessert maker of the family. We do love caramel popcorn and David just bought an air popper and we have seasoned the popcorn but haven’t tried caramel yet. Probably would defeat the purpose of the air popper but we might give it a try sometime. David actually used to do Kettle Korn at festivals and his was very good. But it’s a lot of work to set things up just for us so we haven’t had it in a while.
Jeanne, I hope you and George get an answer for his surgery soon. I don’t like waiting and much prefer knowing things so I can make plans. Right now I’m waiting to hear back about my PT. I did my last one on this schedule yesterday and was supposed to have one tomorrow but got a call this morning that my approval would not be ready until later in the week so they took me off the schedule. I’m hoping the insurance will approve another round. Since they just discovered the problem is my left abductor muscle. The abductor muscles are what moves your leg to the side like when you do snow angels. Right now my angels would not have a very wide skirt, at least on the left side, so we’re working on that. I sure don’t want to have to end that therapy too soon even though it hurts like crazy.
Hope that you hear back soon about the PT. The waiting is so difficult.
What a wonderful and discreet solution for George. i’m sure he feels happier and more confident in these pants. Hopefully, you will get some answers for his surgery soon.
Lovely breezy day outside. The weeds are calling. I already spent part of the morning cutting down the dead side of the burning bush. Really sad to see that has happened, but it’s been here for more than forty years.
yes Laura, the weeds and the bushes will keep calling us.
My burning bush has sort of evolved into a mess. I am keeping it trim and it looks good enough. Once we sell the house it won’t be my challenge anymore!
Jeanne, only you can transform something into a useful purpose. I’m sure George will be very pleased with how helpful the pants will be. It’s nice how you watch over him so faithfully.
Girls, I’m a lover of murder mysteries and some documentary’s about them. However, if it’s too creepy or about children, I can’t go there. I love simple mysteries too.
I have a good friend who shares that interest in those series and movies. We’re always comparing our thoughts of who, when and where.
Now, nothing supernatural.
I had a bone density not to long ago/ mostly good. I’m dealing with some other issues now- kidney and bladder. I have a conference 06/29. Not looking forward to it.
I will keep you in my prayers regarding your kidney and bladder, Paula.
I always say “every one gets something” which means, some good genes, traits, and some not so great. We cope.
Well I hope that the conference yields good news or a simple solution.
Jeanne your solution was wonderful, practical and creative. I hope George hears soon about his surgery and he makes a complete recovery.
I don’t watch a lot of TV but if I do it is mainly UK or some NZ stuff. I read murder mysteries, cosy crime stuff not the gritty stuff with foul language every sentence. I do watch some of the UK crime series but again, they would fall into the cosy crime genre. Have any of you seen “The Brokenwood Mysteries”? It is probably the most successful TV series to come out of NZ. It is great fun, it is funny without being a comedy if you know what I mean. Full of quirky characters who keep popping up. And not a single swear word!
One of my favourite authors is Catriona McPherson. She is probably one of the most versatile authors I have ever read. She writes a series about an unlikely duo in the Scottish Highlands between the wars, a youngish single man and an older woman married to a Scottish Laird who discover they have a flair for solving mysteries and open an agency together, without her husband’s knowledge. He isn’t happy when he finds out but she points out that the money from the agency has helped them financially so he begrudgingly accepts it. Then the author moved to California and has written a hilariously funny series about a Scot living in California who gets mixed up in solving murders with a very odd group of characters. She has also written some really dark psychological stand alone mysteries. I’m not so keen on them. They come into the “unsettling” genre.
I will finish my quilt today but whether it will get washed is debatable. It is so big, it will need more than sunshine to dry it when the temp is only just in double figures. It needs a day like the one we had last week, 25C and a Norwest wind. Either that or I take it to the laundromat and use the large dryer.
Anyway have a lovely day everyone
thank you for sharing the writer that you like.
I will look for those books
I always liked the Inspector Cousteau mysteries with Peter Sellers. Lots of humor there which I enjoy. 🙂
“The Pink Panther” et al.!! Such fun. Loved Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau!! Some of the situations were so outrageous, they were funny!!
Well, I think that’s fantastic Jeanne! I would give you first prize and you get A+ for the pictures too. Another ‘tutorial’ which you know i just ❤️
See if there’s a medical clothes department close. Get the names of manufacturers and see who is interested. There will be people who need these or related styles and don’t have your creativity, determination, or skill. Someone should be supplying these to the people who need them.
I agree!