Hi Debs
Good luck with your op.
I guess Ive been incredibly lucky - I had my Bypass on 16th April and having been overweight in various degrees for the whole of my 47 years, everyone I told - family, friends and work have been nothing but hugely supportive and complimentary. Today is my first day back at work and my boss has been so lovely!
I can only speak from my own experience - I had my bypass on the NHS, lapriscopically, was only in hospital for 48 hours but spent a mandatory 24 hours in ITU which was fabulous (can highly recommend it!!!). The pain was minimal (I dumped pain killers after 5 days) and I am going from strength to strength.
I cant advise you what to say to your children as I have none but they will need to understand that Mum wont be able to eat all the foods she could before and what she does eat will be much smaller quantities - however on the plus side, she is going to lose her excess weight which will make her really happy and get loads of energy so she can keep up with them!
Hope this helps!