Parents with multiple children! Any tips to get through the recovery period?

[silkouj 76]

I am not nervous about the surgery, but nervous on how to manage the kids afterwards. Thankfully I have a teenage daughter thats very helpful but she has a ton of school work every day. What kind of things did you do ahead of time to make this recovery period easier? I've so far laid out plans for the kids to be picked up to/from school from neighbors. I would appreciate anything you could think of. My kids are 15, 7,7 and 4. My surgery will be sometime the end of October.

Edited September 25, 2015 by silkouj

[James Marusek 5,244]

Bring them into the process. Educate them on why you are undergoing surgery, the risks involved, the benefits. Make them part of the solution. They will have many fears and you need to put that to bed (resolve). They will need to perform a greater amount of the work that you normally perform until you are back on your feet. If you attend bariatric surgery meetings pre and post op, you might even bring you 15 year old with you when you attend one of these meetings.

[Amylou 206]

My kids are 10, 4 and 2. I was home for 2 weeks in June and their normal lives continued as if I was at work - meaning they all continued in daycare. Mornings and evenings were tricky for my husband as I wasn't driving for the first week but I'd still get up and help him get them all ready and then I'd go back to bed. My mom came over every day to help me during the day and keep me company.

My younger two were the ones who didn't understand what was going on - still wanted to crawl all over me and be picked up. After I showed them my tummy - with all the bandages and bruises, they were much more gentle with me. 3 months out, they still don't get why they don't see me eat or why I rarely sit down at the dinner table with them. Someday they will though.

I think your kids are old enough to at least help each other if you can't.

[PaulaWodzisz 9]

My kids are 9, 7, and 6 and they were pretty helpful during my recovery. They knew what was going on and came to see me at the hospital. My littlest one spent lots of time in the hospital, so she knew mommy was sore. I was also really crabby when I came home and that was harder for them to adjust to, but they did. I did overdo it a few times and trust me...you will know when that happens. I took naps every day too and that seemed to help.

[Beachsprite 118]

My kids are 1 4 and 6 and by day three I was back cooking etc i was back to work end of week 1, week 2 felt well and back to normal. Kids went to kindy and school daddy dropped them off and picked them up. Over all once off the pain meds after a week and remembering not bending over and pick things up it was easier than expected.