How long until I can hug my children again?

A lot of that depends on whether you have TEs in place or not.

I didn't do any recon, and it took about 8 weeks before I felt 'normal' again (i.e. had full range of motion and the pain was mostly gone with most movements). I didn't feel physically comfortable doing full on adult hugs until about that time; I was just too sore and stretching my arms out like that was a little painful. As long as I didn't get squeezed tightly by the person hugging me I could do loose hugs without lifting my arms much though.

That's probably a bit different than having kids hug you though; I haven't got kids and am never around kids, but I'd guess after a couple of weeks if they're old enough to understand how to be really gentle, they could most likely hug you without causing discomfort once the drains are out.

While you still have drains it, it'd definitely be uncomfortable to be hugged anywhere around your chest area, because drains overall are just an uncomfortable PITA to have.

As for picking them up, you'd want to talk to your surgeon; I had lifting restrictions for 8 weeks (nothing over 5lb for the first 2 weeks, nothing over 10lb up until 8 weeks), then 'go slowly, starting at 10lb and if that's uncomfortable wait another week or two before trying again' instructions. Just as a weight reference, it was about 4 months or so before I was comfortable picking up our 20lb dog. After 6 months I was back to normal in terms of what I could lift without discomfort, but everyone is different and some people have no trouble lifting 20+lb after 6-8 weeks.

If you have TEs in place, I'm honestly not sure, but I'm guessing someone else who has had them will have better info.

I have grandkids and we had to do gentle hugs. When I had my drain out, I had my 5 yr old grand daughter say, When can I give grammie a real hug......So one the drain was out, we were able to hug all we wanted.

thank you everyone for the response. It's good to have a rough idea of what to expect. The effect on the kids is a bit tough, and I'm trying to keep my brave face on most of the time.

Ravzari-Thank you so much for the info on weight lifting restrictions and better idea for thetime frame. I have a very physical job, and wondered how it would limit me at work as well. The doctors don't seem to give much info before things happen and it's hard to prepare myself like that.

I very much appreciate the feedback you all have given. Thank you all so much

luckynumber47- thank you! That's a great idea!