Surgery scheduled, planning recovery - sahm with 2yo

[H8myguts]

Surgery has been scheduled for May 2nd. I will be having an open operation due to a previous unrelated abdominal surgery. My biggest concern is my little girl. She is 2 and a half and a busy body!! My husband is not able to take too much time off to help me. We live far from family so it isn't easy to have family come help. I have enlisted my mother to come down for approximately 10 days post op though. Is that enough time? Should I be looking for a back up plan for when she leaves? My husbands schedule is not predictable either so I cannot rely on him too much. I just want to know what to expect. Any advice would be helpful

 

[Mehita]

I think you're going to need more help. The first thing that comes to mind is the lifting restriction. My 12 year old son had a resection in January and he was not allowed to lift more than 10 pounds for 6 weeks. The doctors were pretty strict about it too.

Also, depending on your pain meds you may not be able to drive.

My son was feeling fairly normal by day 10, but kids tend to bounce back a lot faster than adults. A full day at school left him exhausted until day 15 or so. I can only imagine how a full day with a toddler might be.

Good luck!

 

[sdexter]

Once I got out of the hospital, I didn't really need any help at home, though my boyfriend had the option to take the time off. I was just so sleepy I figured there was no point in him taking time off just to watch me go in and out of sleep, and get up to walk around the living room. I would definitely be concerned if I had a small child to take care of though. I even had friends take my two small dogs so I didn't risk them walking across my abdomen. You will absolutely not be able to lift her for 6-8 weeks, depending on the doctor and surgery. You will not have 100% of your energy back for several weeks. Is she old enough to understand when "mommy can't" do something? Can you enlist her to be your "little helper"? All kids are different, but remember, if you do too much, you risk a hernia and that means another surgery. That is not good for anyone.

 

[Downnvrout]

I would have a back-up plan just in case you are not able to care for your little one. Everyone heals at a different pace but I strongly caution you to take it as easy as possible. You only have one chance to heal from your surgery and I would want to make sure I had as much rest as I could.