Kid's dealing w ith parent's WLS

My surgery is in just under 3 weeks and I've got a million questions going through my mind, seems I come up with new ones every day!  *lol*  My latest one is this:   I have a 7 y.o. son and I haven't told him about the surgery yet, I plan on waiting until the week before so he doesn't have much time to worry about things.  I'm not planning  on going into detail about  it, just telling  him  I'm going to the hospital to have a "booboo" fixed.  Once I start to lose weight, will he notice??  Will it  have any weird/negative effects on him??  Anyone out there have any experience with this??  Any suggestions as to making  this as easy as possible for my little boy?? Thanks.  :) -Flo cross-posted on Main Board

Flo: It might be exciting for him to know that you're about to lose weight and that you're doing this to be healthier.  Keep it simple, but this may be a good way to ally with him as you go through your post-operative weight loss.  What do you think about that?  In any case, good luck! 

My daughter was 11 when I had my surgery.  I told her a few weeks before that I was going to have it done.  I didn't want to worry her, so I really didn't give her any of the details about what "could" happen.  Just that it would be such a life changing thing for me.  I had to explain to her that I have taken care of everyone else for so long, it's time to take care of myself. 

It helped alot that my hubby brought her to see me the next day.  She saw that I was ok, walking, talking, sipping, and just being myself.  I wasn't in that much pain.  She was ok with it once she saw I was ok.  Just be honest.  It's fun to have my daughter (who is now almost 13) comment on how good I look. :)

I have three kids:  15, 13 and 9.  The night after my first doc appt we had a family meeting.  We discussed that I would be having surgery to lose weight and that I was now on the pre-op diet.  We discussed what that meant and how my eating habits and theirs by default would be changing.  They asked questions - my 9 yo daughter was more concerned about my being in the hospital and not at home for 3 days!  We explained that Dad would take them to see me at the hospital. That was one month ago.  Now the pre-op diet has become a family game - what is Mom going to eat today!!  When I get home from work, the first question out of their mouths is what did you have for lunch.  And when we go out to dinner, the game becomes lets see if the wait staff will let Mom order a kids meal or who will order the kids meal for Mom. They are as excited as I am about the whole process.  9 yo daughter asked me the other day if I was going to be as skinny as Katie, our niece-in-law, who in my opinion needs a couple of good sized sandwiches.  My reply was I hope not! I think your son will notice the difference and certainly your eating habits will be a great example for him.  My 13 yo son is overweight and since we started the pre-op he has dropped a couple of pounds. Most of all, be honest with your son.  Kids sense when we are hiding something or holding something back.  They often know what is going on before it is discussed. Good luck on your surgery. Deb