Clothing & mobility

Pull-over tops are impossible with a drip line, a shoulder injury or an abdominal wound. Buttons let a patient dress themselves, which is often the first bit of independence they get back.

Ward floors are cold, hard and busier than you expect. Slippers with a proper sole and a back stay put when you shuffle to the loo at 3am, and may save you from being issued the dreaded hospital grip socks because you have nothing safer to wear.

Chemo chairs and day units run cold, and drips make you colder still. A zip or button front can be draped over a cannulated arm rather than threaded onto it — a pullover simply can't be worn.

Clothes come off damp, and there is nowhere to put them. A wipe-clean bag keeps the worn things separate, hands over to a visitor in one movement, and saves everything in the bag smelling of the ward.

Everything lives in this bag for the duration and gets moved every time a bed does. Soft sides squash into a locker, a shoulder strap frees a hand for a drip stand, and something you actually like the look of makes the whole business feel less like an emergency.

Staying in nightwear around the clock blurs the days together. Something soft with a forgiving waistband counts as getting dressed, survives a walk to the day room, and doesn't press where a wound or a fresh scar is.

Ward floors are hard and cold, and feet get colder as circulation drops. Grip socks let someone stand for obs and toilet trips without hunting for slippers under the bed.

After some operations, bending, stretching or repeatedly getting up can be uncomfortable or simply not practical for a while. A grabber lets you retrieve the phone charger, sock or whatever else has immediately thrown itself onto the floor without turning it into an expedition. Follow any movement restrictions or recovery advice your clinical team has given you.