Adaptive clothing

I would like to thank my friend Irena for adapting some Tshirts for me. I found this picture on Pinterest:

It's a short sleeved shirt which has been slit up the side of the affected arm from bottom to the end of the arm seam, and in this instance taped press studs have been sewn on.

When Irena and I discussed how we could do this, she suggested Velcro instead of press studs, so that's what we did. 5 of my old XL polo shirts were adapted for me to wear while I had to wear this 24 hours a day:

I took a couple of them into hospital and the nurses were quite impressed with them, as it meant I didn't actually need to remove the sling, I could just tuck the front of the shirt under the straps and fasten it under my arm.

These days I do remove the sling, because I have exercises to do without the sling, and also because the sling is nylon and very sweaty, so we have cut up an old sheet to make liners which are far more comfortable. If I could actually sew, I'd sew these up so I didn't have to  tie them in place - but by the time I will be able to sew, I won't need the sling or the liners!

As the polo shirts are short-sleeved, and it is autumn/winter, I need to cover my arms up so I have a couple of ponchos I can pull on. However, the velcro of the Tshirt catches on the crochet poncho and opens up when I pull the poncho over my head. So I have a really large pashmina which can do the job. It's slightly easier to manage. I have several lovely jumpers/ponchos that I can pull on, but there's always something wrong with them: my favourite has an Aztec type pattern on but is short-sleeved, but there are others which are either itchy or too restrictive to go over the sling.

I can cope adequately with my bottom clothing, but knickers can be quite awkward - so I don't tend to wear them unless I'm going out! That old saying from my mother about always wearing clean  underwear isn't leaving my head in a hurry!

But the one item of clothing that I miss being able to wear is a bra. You see, I'm a big girl, and the weight of the boobs really pulls on my deltoid muscles, and that means that my neck and shoulders are stiff and sore. Hopefully I'll be able to wear a front fastening bra in the next week after the physio appointment. I have a multiway bra, which means the straps are detachable so I can just wear one strap and at least I can get some support. I also have a bra which wraps around, which I haven't dared try yet.

I do have some work-type clothing which I can wear when I call in. I am due to go to the Cacao ceremony at the Centre on Saturday, and I guess I can wear my lovely sleeved purple poncho then. I also have a one-sleeved black crepe top but I'm not convinced I want to expose my scar to the world!