Breast Augmentation: Preparing Your Family

Depending on the ages of your children, your breast augmentation probably will not be that great of an issue, and, in fact, you need not give details of the whys of the surgery to little ones, you need only to prepare them for the day that you will be seeing the doctor and will be out of commission for a few days. Unless they prod you for specific details, keep them to yourself. Older kids, teens perhaps, may ask questions about your decision to change your body, and your plastic surgeon can certainly guide you to a counselor to help you choose the right words for this conversation. There are a few steps to take to prepare your children both emotionally and physically for the changes they are about to experience.

For the most part, you need to think of preparing your children and family for your recovery time. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that because you are electing to undergo this operation, that you don’t need or deserve the right to recover properly. You are having surgery. Treat it as such, and prepare your home and your family for the period of time during which you will be recovering and resting.

It is likely that you will be able to schedule your breast augmentation while your children are in school, and you will therefore be home and in bed recovering when they arrive home for the day, but you will in no way be able to take care of them in any capacity on the day of nor should you attempt regular homemaking activities in the days following. Arrange for your spouse, partner, or a babysitter or friend to assume any and all of your responsibilities for several days following your breast augmentation.

To get a good idea of adjustments that need to be made, in the weeks before, concentrate on every movement that you make in your home as if you were a child. Consider moving snacks to a bottom cabinet so that kids can grab their own munchies, and wash, dry, fold, and put all the laundry in a place where each child can reach everything that he or she needs each morning. You may even want to stock up on new socks, underwear, hair barrettes, toothbrushes, toilet paper, and other consumables. Think like a mom. What is it that is always holding you up in the mornings? Are you always looking for clean matching socks or gloves, or do you have one that cannot reach the hook where her coat and backpack are hung? These are the little adjustments that can make or break your recovery period.

It may seem like overkill to have to consider such small details when you are preparing for recovering from a breast augmentation, but making these little preparations ahead of time will save you a lot of reaching and stretching and therefore a lot of pain. And, your children’s new found independence may continue throughout your recovery and on into regular life, perhaps making breast augmentation surgery the best decision you have ever made.