Winter fashion with a cyst

As you all may know, I have a rather large peritoneal inclusion cyst, and it’s distended my stomach so much that I can’t wear most of my current wardrobe. Things like jeans and anything that’s fitted are too uncomfortable for me to wear due to the amount of pressure they put on my abdomen.

With the help of my cousin, I have finally sorted through my current clothing and am putting them up on Vinted in the hope of making some money to use towards a new wardrobe once the cyst has been surgically removed.

My winter wardrobe

Being on long-term sick leave this side of Christmas means I have to be careful with my pennies, as my income has dropped and I still have bills to pay.

With my stubborn nature, I refuse to spend good money on bigger clothes because once I’ve had Buddy removed, I will drop down to the weight I was at prior to Buddy’s ever-growing presence.

For those of you with hernias or peristomal hernias, this may also help you, as the one thing we have in common is a distended one side of the stomach, typically stoma side, and a smaller side on the opposite.

I fell down the rabbit hole that is Temu and found that most of the clothing is of good enough quality to get me through this no-man’s land of being unable to get comfortable in fitted waistbands.

I also asked for gift vouchers for my birthday and managed to grab some really nice autumn/winter smock dresses in the sale from Fatface.

Tips for winter dressing

Opaque tights
Elasticated trousers
Elasticated skirts
Smock dresses
Joggers
Jeggings
Flat ankle boots
Trainers
Flat heeled knee-high boots
Loose-fitting dresses

I have my good and bad days with the pain, so I spend a fair amount of time in loungewear to keep me warm. They are also so comfortable, and the stretchy waistbands help when my stomach becomes more distended after eating and during that time of the month.

Winter warmers

Thankfully, the majority of my jumpers, hoodies, and long-sleeved t-shirts still fit, so I didn’t have to get an entirely new wardrobe. You can check out some of the outfits I have been wearing on my Instagram account @crohnsfighting.

As always

Many thanks for reading

Louise | @crohnsfighting Xx