Preparing Your Child for Surgery It can be quite scary to consider going into surgery yourself, no matter how needful it may be. However, preparing a child to go through something that you perceive as scary can be even more challenging. If your son or daughter needs electro surgery, you will understand the importance of preparing him or her for it so that they do not get too upset. By preparing your child, he or she will know what to expect and they can prepare mentally. When children are less upset, they tend to deal better with the recovery period and they may even heal faster. However, it can be difficult to know how to properly prepare your son or daughter without adding to their concern.

Help Your Child Understand The most important thing to remember as you attempt to provide this preparation is that you will need to tell your son or daughter what is going to happen in a way that your child will understand. If you use large medical terms and make it sound complicated, your son or daughter will probably feel more overwhelmed and concerned without gaining more of an understanding of the situation. By preparing your son or daughter properly, you will also be able to prepare yourself. Many parents feel guilty for making their child undergo surgery, no matter how necessary it is. The first thing you will need to help your son or daughter understand is why the surgery is needed and what will happen during the surgery. It may help to take your child to the hospital so they can see what it is like.

You Will Be Right There

Be sure to show them the toy room that they will be able to use while they are recovering as well as other things that will help their stay be more pleasant. As you are explaining these things, you will want to make sure that you properly understand how hospital procedures work so that you do not promise things that are not true. In the past, children and parents were separated for long periods of time while the child recovered in the hospital for days. However, today many of the procedures have been shortened to the point that you will be able to bring your child

home the same day they receive surgery. In addition, your son or daughter may never know that you left the surgery room. You will probably be able to stay with him or her until he or she falls asleep.

Then, you will be able to return to be with him or her before he or she wakes up from the anesthesia. Be sure to ask your doctor if there is anything else that you should know or that you should make sure that your son or daughter knows before the operation.

Your Child Will Be Safe In the past, anesthesia was one of the biggest concerns that parents had. However, many modern advancements have made anesthesia much safer than it has been in the past. If you are still concerned about it, make sure you talk about the risks with the anesthesiologist so that you can find an option that you feel comfortable with. Many hospitals also choose to reduce the anxiety in a child by allowing a parent to stay with him or her during the night. If your child will be staying several days at the hospital, you may want to make sure that you can stay as well. Depending on the surgery, your child will be able to either play with toys in bed, visit the play room, or choose from a selection of movies and video games to play in the days of recovery following the operation.

Understand for Yourself Once you understand what will happen, it will be easier to resolve many of the anxieties that your child may have. When you begin explaining the reason for the operation to your child, you will want to make sure that you do it in words that are easy to understand and which are nonthreatening. You will definitely want to avoid phrases like “the doctor will use a knife to cut you” or “the doctor will sew you with a needle.” Instead, try to leave the details out by simple saying, “the doctor will fix the problem.” It may also help reduce your son or daughter’s anxiety levels to explain that many children have this problem and that the doctor can fix it. Emphasize that the other children have also had to go to the hospital to get it fixed and that they have felt much better after they went to the hospital. However, you will want to tell your son or daughter as much of the truth as you can about the condition. Otherwise, your child may not believe that their condition is not worse than it is and that the trip to the hospital will be worse than you make it sound. If your son or daughter feels like he or she cannot trust you, it will add to his or her fears and anxiety. However, with proper preparation, both you and the child can make it through the operation with as low levels of anxiety as possible.