Surgery at Children's- any tips

[Anonymous]

My daughter's having surgery on her urinary tract at Children's and it requires an overnight stay. Anyone have tips for me about how to prepare her and how to deal with being there overnight? We are reading her books about it. But other than that, I'd love any suggestions.

[Anonymous]

My sister had jaw surgery and my mother stayed with her as much as possible, party to keep her from feeling afraid and party to make sure that her antibiotic drip was replaced when it was needed.

[Anonymous]

When my DC had a surgery at Children's there was a chair-sofa for a parent to sleep in the same room. I am not sure if all the rooms have those but it was definitely a very thoughtful arrangement and we always had at least one parent there at all times.

[Anonymous]

Bring a pillow and blanket for yourself. The best meals at Childrens (for you) are breakfast and lunch, dinner is just a small rehash of lunch.
You can bring snacks for yourself and your child and keep in a cooler or in a fridge which they will tell you where it is.

When I was there with my child (most recent is 6 years ago), they did not feed the children on time. Like lunch was 1:30 when I had a kid who was hungry at 11:30 or noon. Getting food on time for my son was pretty hard. I ended up buying mac and cheese from the cafeteria downstairs at an appropriate time, bringing to room and he ate that when it was lunchtime. When they came by at 1:30 or 2:00 pm with his lunch, we took some for snacks later in the day. For some reason lunch was the worst in timing. I can't remember how many times I had to get my child's meal in the cafeteria if we wanted him to eat at a reasonable time. They have hot dogs and other stuff kids like in the cafeteria. My child was not on any eating restrictions so I could do this. He was in for multiple days EEG.

[Anonymous]

They have space for parents to stay over night in the room. Both DH and I stayed. For us they had someone come out about every hour during surgery to give us an update. Our child was uncomfortable post surgery so I cried but the nurses were all very helpful and got the pain under control quickly. They used to have a program where parents who had the same diagnosis/surgery wrote a letter for parents who are about to have surgery or just got the diagnosis so you can look into that. All in all they do this everyday and it shows. You are in good hands. Best wishes for a Quick recovery.

[Anonymous]

Just finished a stay with my toddler. For the food, they let you order from a menu when you want it, so as long as you get the order in around 45 minutes before you need it you should be okay.

Push back on the nurses who want to do tasks in the middle of the night that are not necessary to be done then so your child can sleep. Don't let them turn bright lights on. Stay on top of the pain meds too. Some of the nurses will bring it on time and others will not.

This probably won't apply to you, but don't let them put the IV in the thumb-sucking hand. That made my toddler very mad!

[Anonymous]

I was there 6 years ago for 5 days with my daughter, but she was a baby so it may be different. There was one chair in our room that converted to a bed for me. The room was very small. I would bring extra clothes for you and snacks. I ordered off the menu and it was fine but you were on their schedule. I wasn't really thinking about bringing things for myself and small comforts would have made it easier. Also, I got a horrible headache while I was there, probably from stress and didn't want to leave my child to go buy something for it. Don't forget your basic toiletries. Honestly, all of the staff were considerate and wonderful. It was 6 years ago but she was in last year for one day as an outpatient and they were still great. We have had very good experiences at Childrens. I hope the surgery goes well and your daughter recovers quickly.

[Anonymous]

My daughter had kidney surgery there about 4 years ago. Do they still do the tour? About a week or so before the surgery, we went to Children's to take a tour. They showed us around and explained what was going to happen. At the end of the tour, the children were able to pick out a toy.

I spent the night with my daughter. They had a tv in the room with movies. I don't know what triggered this memory, but the other day my DD recalled the time we were in the hospital bed together and watched Nemo. I remember the days after the surgery being rough on her but all these years later she had the positive memory of watching Nemo in bed with her.

[Anonymous]

Definitely bring food, also an iPad if you have it in case your room doesn't have a tv or it isn't working.

We just found out after 5 years of visits to Children's that they have "child life specialists" who can come bring toys, talk to the kids about being in the hospital, etc. There may only be one per day so maybe that's why we had never heard about it. But they were great at distracting my son during an outpatient visit, so if you think that would be helpful you could ask about it.

[Anonymous]

thanks so much. These are really helpful- I hadn't thought about most of this. We did have a child life specialist at a few of her outpatient appointments and they were super helpful so I hope we will see them before the surgery too. thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just finished a stay with my toddler. For the food, they let you order from a menu when you want it, so as long as you get the order in around 45 minutes before you need it you should be okay.

Push back on the nurses who want to do tasks in the middle of the night that are not necessary to be done then so your child can sleep. Don't let them turn bright lights on. Stay on top of the pain meds too. Some of the nurses will bring it on time and others will not.

This probably won't apply to you, but don't let them put the IV in the thumb-sucking hand. That made my toddler very mad!

Perhaps you should have started the IV yourself, or let your nurse know exactly which vein they should use that wouldn't interfere with your snowflakes precious thumb sucking since you seem to be of the opinion they don't know how to do their jobs...oh wait, I bet you wouldn't know the first place to start.

[Anonymous]

I haven't been to Childrens, but my daughter was admitted overnight to a different hospital. bring CHARGERS for absolutely everything that comes with you, iPad or whatever device you have (remember, wifi can be spotty anywhere, even where it has worked before, so bring things that don't require wifi too)

My advice would (again) to remember to pack for yourself - bring at least a change of clothes for you and maybe two - my daughter was admitted from the ER so we didn't plan to be there - her IV came loose overnight so at one point we realized that it had been leaking into the bed for about an hour. It was all over my clothes - just saline, so not a big deal, but the only clothes I had with me were wet. It would have been really nice to have another set of clothes along

If your child is a picky eater, you might want to bring a few of their favorites - yes there is food available, but it's guaranteed not to "look right" and as others mentioned it might not arrive at quite the right time. It would be nice to have a stash not only for your child but also for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished a stay with my toddler. For the food, they let you order from a menu when you want it, so as long as you get the order in around 45 minutes before you need it you should be okay.

Push back on the nurses who want to do tasks in the middle of the night that are not necessary to be done then so your child can sleep. Don't let them turn bright lights on. Stay on top of the pain meds too. Some of the nurses will bring it on time and others will not.

This probably won't apply to you, but don't let them put the IV in the thumb-sucking hand. That made my toddler very mad!

Perhaps you should have started the IV yourself, or let your nurse know exactly which vein they should use that wouldn't interfere with your snowflakes precious thumb sucking since you seem to be of the opinion they don't know how to do their jobs...oh wait, I bet you wouldn't know the first place to start.

wow, what is wrong with you? reducing stress on hospitalized CHILDREN is very important.

[Anonymous]

I work there...

Arrange for a tour or watch this http://childrensnational.org/specialty-care-patients/preparing-for-your-visit/virtual-tours

Bring warm clothes. It is always cold

Bring chargers. We have random charging stations, but you will want to charge at bedside.

Bring lovies for your kid - blanket, stuffed animals, etc. While you are at it, bring a pillow and blanket for yourself. We have them - but yours are more comfortable.

Bring snacks. We now have Dining On call so you can order what your child wants http://childrensnational.org/choose-childrens/deciding-on-care/amenities/food-and-drink-amenities/dining-on-call.

PP is right - breakfast and lunch are okay - but expensive. Dinner is miserable. Take advantage of UberEats or Postmates for delivery. They will deliver to the front desk.

There are a lot of Child Life Specialists - at least one for each unit. They can bring toys, games, electronic entertainment to your kid's room. If your child can go to the playroom, there is one on each unit. If you don't see a Child Life Specialist - ask your nurse to page them.

Remember that kids react very different to anesthesia and can wake up screaming bloody murder. This doesn't mean they are in immeasurable pain - but rather the effects of the anesthesia. Just something to be prepared for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work there...

Arrange for a tour or watch this http://childrensnational.org/specialty-care-patients/preparing-for-your-visit/virtual-tours

Bring warm clothes. It is always cold

Bring chargers. We have random charging stations, but you will want to charge at bedside.

Bring lovies for your kid - blanket, stuffed animals, etc. While you are at it, bring a pillow and blanket for yourself. We have them - but yours are more comfortable.

Bring snacks. We now have Dining On call so you can order what your child wants http://childrensnational.org/choose-childrens/deciding-on-care/amenities/food-and-drink-amenities/dining-on-call.

PP is right - breakfast and lunch are okay - but expensive. Dinner is miserable. Take advantage of UberEats or Postmates for delivery. They will deliver to the front desk.

There are a lot of Child Life Specialists - at least one for each unit. They can bring toys, games, electronic entertainment to your kid's room. If your child can go to the playroom, there is one on each unit. If you don't see a Child Life Specialist - ask your nurse to page them.

Remember that kids react very different to anesthesia and can wake up screaming bloody murder. This doesn't mean they are in immeasurable pain - but rather the effects of the anesthesia. Just something to be prepared for.

New Poster here: Thank you for this response. Full of good tips. As is the IV - Thumb sucking tip that is really good info.

Not Children's but our son had an overnight stay at Georgetown - and I agree that stuff for you is really important - a change of clothes is really key. Our son was admitted through the ER so I didn't have anything but a change of clothes would have been really awesome to have. Especially after he threw up all over me.