Small Children - Post Surgery

Out of curiosity - If you have small children did you allow them to come visit you at the hospital after you had your surgery?

How did you explain the surgery to your child?

My children are 5 and 2.5 - will be closer to 5.5 and 3 by the time I get to surgery.

My kids were 5 and 3 when i had my surgery.  I had requested that they not come and visit me.  However, i ended up being in the hospital over Christmas so they did come up on Christmas Eve.  It was not a great visit because I was feeling pretty rotten and was hooked up to IVs etc which scared them a little bit.  I would have just preferred to see them when I returned home.  I missed them, but figured my time in the hospital was my time to sleep and heal.

I told my boys that I was having an operation on my tummy that would mean that I would not eat as much and that would make it easier for mom to run around and play with them.  I also let them know that it probably would mean that mommy would be around a lot longer because I was healthier.  I expected that tehy would have more questions for me... but they haven't.  My now 6 year old just keeps asking when i'm going to stop shrinking!

If you have any other questions please ask

Heather

My kids are 7 and 4 so they are a little older than yours.  I didn't let them visit me in the hospital mostly because I didn't want them exposed to the germs in there.  There were alot of people with C-Diff and MRSA and I was worried that they would catch it.  Besides, I was in a lot of pain and I didn't want them to see me that way.  I just told them that I would be in the hospital for a few days but I would talk to them every day and they could call me whenever they want. (And boy, they did!) LOL

I told them that I was going for an operation and that I was going to be very sore when I got home so they had to be very gentle with me.  I also told them that this was going to make me healthier and it's a good thing.  I didn't go into much detail until post-op.  That's when I told them that this operation would help me lose some weight and that I can't eat what they do right now.  When I got home I showed them my band-aids so they could see why they had to be careful.  

Best of luck to you  :)

 I dont have small children my kids are 14 and 8 and I think its going to be harder on them then the younger ones...LOL..

My son is worried that I will have yet another reaction like I did with another surgery My daughter is worried about everything because she talks to friends and you know 8 year olds.. heck they know everything cause they heard it from their smarter older sibling so her fears are a lot worse then her brothers. 

I was in the states this past wekeend and I went into a borders book store and I happen to find an anatomy book it was huge pictures of everything this book was about 3 feet tall and about 2 feet wide! .. well I looked up RNY and BAM there is was... step by step in anamated pictures of course but now she knows step by step whats going to be done and I think being frank with her actually helped. I have sat down with her and showed her the before and after on here and she is amazed so now she is exicited but still a little worried cause her brother told her about my past reactions... On the cycle..LOL 

I have been thinking a lot about what to do and probably would air on the side of not having them come visit - that's if I can arrange child care - I know it will be impossible to keep my hubby away for the whole time.