#OOTD

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the "Outfit of the Day" posts (#OOTD on Twitter and Instagram), or the internet-famous "What I Wore" blog. If you're not, I'll sum them up in a nutshell: People provide pictures of their fabulous outfits and then describe them, shamelessly self-promoting themselves and their style across the interwebs.

Well, I thought I'd do something a little like that. As an anxious pre-surgery patient who once scoured forums and blogs searching for advice about what to pack for my stay at Phoenix Children's Hospital, I know that knowing little details are important, even, and maybe especially, when it comes to packing for your hospital stay. Amidst all the chaos and stress of preparing for surgery, controlling your wardrobe and packing for a stay in the hospital is one of those "little things" that you can have some control over. And a little control makes everything a little more manageable.

Today's feature is called Outfit of the Day: Day 1 Post-Surgery Edition. 

created with Polyvore

As you can see, I wore a brilliant little outfit whose main color was a beautiful pasty faded blue. Some important elements of this little number:

• The oversized hospital gown serves as a solid palette of color and accentuates the lovely accessories you might be wearing, like chest tubes, IVs and catheters. 
• The oximeter adds that "pop" of color you really want to see in a post-surgery outfit. It's the "bling bling" of hospital fashion. 
• Gauze is so in right now. This multifaceted fabric adds some much-needed texture to your post-surgery ensemble. That, and it helps you not bleed to death. 
• The grippy hospital socks complete the look, and are a perfect mix of fashionable and practical. Fashionable because they're blue and (almost, but never quite) match your hospital gown, and practical because you won't slip and fall and reopen your sternum and OUCH.

MayaJoy modeling the "Cardiac" gown in pale grey.
($n/a, One Size Fits Everyone, literally)

In all seriousness though, you won't really need much for the first few days. The hospital pretty much takes care of your wardrobe for the first few days at least. I did pack a bag of important items, but I didn't even think about putting on any of these "real" clothes until a few days after surgery. After open-heart surgery, you're covered with tubes and wires, and the last thing you're thinking about is whether the leftover iodine on your skin is clashing with the pale blue/ pale grey/ pale everyothercolor designs on your hospital gown. I promise.