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
