Preparing your child for surgery.
Hearing the words ‘your child needs surgery’ is understandably daunting for caregivers and having had both my children needing surgery at a young age, I have walked this path previously. Prior to working in private practice I spent time at Monash Children’s Hospital and The Royal Children’s Hospital, and have a passion for supporting children within the acute care setting.
One of my personal beliefs is, ‘knowledge is power, and preparation is key’, so I am hoping to impart some knowledge that will help support you and your child through their surgery.
Understanding the Procedure
It is helpful for to have a good understanding of what to expect following your child’s procedure. Now this does not mean, and I repeat, does not mean, jumping on Google or every parent Facebook group and searching for information about your child’s surgery and their expected recovery process. The key here is to ask your surgeon for specific information about the surgery and their guidelines for recovery. They will be able to provide you with printed information for you to review and ask to follow up questions from.
Planning for going under Anaesthetic
Depending on your anaesthetist, they will want to talk to you a few days prior to your child’s surgery. If your anaesthetist does not contact you, reach out to your surgeon and/or the hospital to ask to speak to an anaesthetist to develop a plan to support your child going under anaesthetic. It is helpful to know how they usually support children going under anaesthetic so you can provide feedback on what you think will work best for your child. For example, do they put a scented texta or lip balm in the face mask for your child to smell while they are going under? Can you bring in your child’s favourite scent? Or do they encourage your child to ‘blow up the balloon’ or ‘count to 20’? Can they bring in a special toy to snuggle? Knowing the technique, they will encourage your child to use is helpful so you can practice at home in a safe, calm space. I found practising with a child’s asthma spacer mask at home helpful so they experience what it feels like to breath with a mask on their face, covering their nose and mouth.
A wise anaesthetic nurse once told me, “children tend to wake up the way they go under”, so if you can support your child to go under anaesthetic as calmly as possible, it is likely to help post operatively as they are coming out of anaesthetic. But be kind to yourself, this is likely new territory for yourself and your child, and despite your best efforts, sometimes things do not always go to plan. This is why I encourage you to consider making a Plan A, B, and C with your anaesthetist prior to the surgery so you know that you have plenty of options up your sleeve as needed.
It is also helpful at this time to consider who will be supporting your child in the operating theatre when they are going under anaesthetic. Are you comfortable supporting your child? Or does your child have someone else close to them that can join them?
Preparing your child
You, and only you, know your child best. Have a think about how much information it will be helpful to share with your child. Are they a child that likes to know all the details? Or are they a child who will feel overwhelmed and anxious if they know too much? Finding the ‘sweet spot’ can be tricky here, and you may need to be guided by your child’s own curiosity about what is going to happen to them.
I have found it helpful in the past to use a book about hospitals to walk my children through what to expect in different parts of the hospital, for example, waiting at reception, going into pre-surgery, what an operating room looks like, and where they will be staying afterwards. I have used the Usborne ‘Look inside a hospital’ book with both of my children (great for toddlers- upper primary school aged children in particular). Or your child might be particularly interested in their anatomy and what is happening in their body, so a book all about their body may also be helpful (Professor Astro Cat’s Human Body Odyssey might be a fun book to consider for this!).
If your child prefers more literal information, a Social Story may be more appropriate as part of their preparation. You may wish to consider speaking to your child’s health care professional (if they are linked in with one) and/or the hospital, to see if you can access photos of the hospital that can be used to incorporate into the social story.
You may also wish to enquire with the hospital as to whether you can do a tour of the hospital facilities prior to your child’s surgery so it feels more familiar on the day. And if your child is attending the Monash Childrens’ Hospital or the Royal Children’s Hospital you may also wish to ask if your child can have access to their professionally trained Play Therapist team to support your child during their stay (both pre- and post- operatively). The Royal Children’s Hospital Toolkit for Parents also has some helpful videos you may wish to watch with your child. I encourage you to watch them by yourself first to determine whether or not they will be helpful for your child to watch.
Professor Astro Cats Human Odyssey Book
RCH Preparing your child for a General Anaesthetic
See our next Blog on preparing for After Surgery