Preparing for Surgery: Talking to Patients and Siblings
It’s easy to get caught up in the phone calls, tests and other details associated with a child’s surgery and forget the emotional impact it can have on patients and their siblings. At CHOC, we are dedicated to creating an environment that allows children to feel like kids while dealing with the very grown-up issue of surgery.
We have developed guides for parents to use when discussing surgery (or a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure) with children of a variety of different ages and their siblings:
- Preparing Infants for Surgery
- Preparing Toddlers for Surgery
- Preparing Preschool-aged Children for Surgery
- Preparing School-aged Children for Surgery
- Preparing Teens for Surgery
- Preparing Siblings for Surgery
In addition, our Child Life Department offers patients a very special pre-surgery tour that allows children to see the surgical unit, as well as any other areas of the hospital they may be in while at CHOC. Reservations for the tour should be made seven to 10 days before the day the patient and family would like to visit CHOC.