Are you about to go through a surgical procedure? Depending on what type of procedure you will have, you may need to take some time to recover afterwards. If you have children, it may be difficult to make time to let your body rest and recover.
Nevertheless, it is very important for you to take time to heal from your surgery. Any major medical procedure, although necessary, can cause major disruptions in how your body functions, and it’s important to follow your doctor’s instructions to make sure you heal completely. To help you make time for your recovery, here are some tips for managing your children during this difficult time.
Make a Plan
Before you have the procedure, meet with your doctor and develop a plan for your recovery. Your doctor will be familiar with the type of procedure you’ll be having and will be able to tailor your recovery process to suit both the procedure and your needs. Your doctor may help you work out a pain management regime or may give you specific recommendations about activities or tasks you may perform.
Tell Your Kids
Once you have a plan worked out with your doctor, you should tell your children about it. Use age-appropriate language to describe what will be happening to you and why, and tell them that you’ll need some time to rest before you can feel completely better. That way, your children will have an idea of what is going on. You can even explain your recovery plan to them and assign them tasks to help you around the house so you can have more time to rest.
Play Some Board Games
While you’re resting, you can still have plenty of family fun time. You can move a card table into your bedroom and set up some cards or board games that you can all play together. Activities like this require minimal physical activity and are opportunities for low-key bonding experiences. Also, games like Monopoly, Chess, Clue and Stratego help teach logical thinking and strategy and are great ways to nurture your kids’ minds.
Enlist Some Help
It’s also important to know when enough is enough. You cannot expect to be able to entertain your kids all the time and still get enough rest to recover completely. At this point, you can ask a close friend or family member to help you with some of the childcare. Depending on how much rest you will need, you can even ask someone to stay in your home and manage the children.
A Final Note
The experience of going through surgery can be extremely stressful and it’s okay to be nervous. The best thing you can do is have a clear understanding of what you are getting yourself into and be familiar with every step of your treatment. This is also a good way to avoid having to file for medical negligence compensation. Get well soon, and remember that information is power.