open heart surgery for 2 year old

we just found out today that our 2 year old (turned 2 in july) will have open heart surgery most likely in october or november. we had been holding on to hope that this could wait until he was closer to 5, when he was older and bigger and understood a bit more. it was really hard finding out that he’ll need surgery much sooner than we thought but now i want to focus on how to help him get through surgery and recovery as best as we can.

both of our families live out of state and most likely won’t be able to come help. i’m a stay at home parent and my partner works from home. i have a hard time asking for and accepting help but want to make sure i do this for our son. what was most helpful from your support network or what are some things that you especially needed help with during hospitalization and at home recovery? what helped your little one be less scared? what made it less scary for you? what can i expect? thank you in advance, i’m a mess.