Mom Looking for Tips on Son's Upcoming Surgery/recovery

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matt 11:28-30 NIV

I read that this morning and felt it certainly applied here. Just simply tell him the truth. And validate that it is scary but God says 365 times throughout the Bible, "fear not." That's once for every day of the year, right?

What a great opportunity to share with him why we put our trust and faith in Jesus and not ourselves. Cause when we get scared, it sure does feel good to know that Jesus is right there with us. Be sure to pray with him too. And ask God for a scripture just for your son. I love Isaiah 54:17 KJV "no weapon formed against you shall prosper..." and have taught my boys that during those times we are afraid to stand firm and speak out loud this scripture to their fear.

He will be sore of course afterward, but kids bounce back so much faster than we adults do. I want to encourage you mom to stand strong in your faith in Jesus and to know that "greater is He that is in you than that which comes against you."

Take Care,
N. :) SAHM homeschooling 3 boys 13, 8 & 2 yrs old and married to my Mr. Wonderful for almost 15yrs. I love to help other moms, who want to become SAHMs, reach that goal!

I have always been open with my Children and it has proven to be the best way. They know when we are hiding things from them plus they will sooner or later know we were hiding things and will not trust us in the future.
L.

My nephew just had this surgery last week. He is only 3 so it will be different for your boy. The surgery was quite quick and we were able to take him home the same day. He mostly slept the first couple a days. We medicated him when he woke up for the first day but after that he seemed ok. The doc said potty training was out for now but we could resume after a couple weeks. Now that is has been a week he is moving and playing, as usual. We try to make sure there is no rough housing but, you know boys. I think your boy will be fine, just some tender areas.

T.

My son had this surgery when he was 2, about 18 months ago. THe surgery was very easy for him, and didnt keep a two year old from running all over the house. He was only groggy the day of the surgery. I took a few days off of work, but ended up going back after a day becuase he was fine - and I am lucky enough to have a great sister who watches my babies :). But his surgery was also at Children's and a very common and easy surgery. Good luck!

Children's Hospital has an intro session that they run once a week on a weekend day for all kids scheduled for surgery in future weeks. You should have received a notice about it by now if you are scheduled in the next 2 weeks. Call if not and get the info or ask for your own separate tour which can sometimes be arranged. Kids and their parents go on a full walking tour and it greatly allays fears of what to expect on their day. They get to see the kid-waiting room, induction room (where they receive anaesthesia---did you know you can pick the theme on the walls?), and a recovery room and the waiting room parents are in while kids are in surgery. I highly suggest doing this if you are nervous. It is important that you are calm, matter of fact and well informed on his day of surgery so that he views it has just a routine matter you will all handle easily together. At 10 years of age your son should have received very direct information from the surgeon and should have been encouraged to ask his own questions. He may have a chance on the day of surgery depending on the schedule; he/you will definitely speak with the anesthesiologist in the kid-waiting room before you are taken back to induction. Your son's procedure is a relatively simple one they have seem 100s of times, so you could ask surgical questions here, too, if all else is unavailable. Just tell your son it is a very quick procedure, tiny little cut is required,go to a web site to view a graphic but not photo of what is happening, say that you will be right there when he wakes up and that when he wakes up he will not be in any pain (this is guaranteed by the way they manage pain meds for patients leaving the OR). At home he'll need to take his medicine and not play sports for 1-2 weeks. That's it---if he is very precocious and has read ahead and truly understands procreation (which few 10 yr olds do), you can briefly say that he is lucky to have this surgery now so that he can have children later. No more detail. Likely he will first receive anesthesia by mask-only. He will be able to choose the flavor he smells in the mask (bubblegum, licorice etc). IV lines for kids at Childrens are usually placed AFTER they are unconscious via mask to avoid extra trauma and drama...parents are usually the worst! You will be with him in the induction room, so he sits with you, breathes the gas,(appears to instantly pass out--prepare yourself--it is odd to watch your child appear to collapse but he is just fine), is transfered to a gurney and the next thing he knows, you are next to him in recovery. His last memory will be sitting with you in the induction room and he may not recall that either. Later he and you will definitely be glad this is being corrected before puberty! Good luck with this added parenting experience.

We have not gone through this type of surgery - but my daughter did have surgery at Children's Hospital in July - also by a pediatric/urologist - she had her kidney removed (resulting from a sledding accident) - she was 6 1/2 yr at that time. We were honest with her and told her everything that would happen and how long she might have to stay in the hospital, how she might feel sore, etc... She did great - the first few days were hard, but as she started to feel better her attitude completely changed. She is all better now. I think as long as you tell him as much as you can so that he does not have surprises, you'll be in good shape. Good Luck!

Check webmd.com and make it a learing experience for both of you. Tell him the truth about the surgery, recovery and pain so he can know what to expect. It won't scare him, but he needs to be prepared about it and explain that the doctors will stick a funny straw in his arm and give him medicine to make the pain go away. Also, ask the surgeon if there are any books or websites he recommends as well. Good Luck, hope he gets better soon