6 Year Old Getting His Tonsils Out...

[Kit'smommy]

My just turned 6 year old DS, is getting his tonsils and adenoids out in one week and is getting tubes put in his ears at the same time.

I am very comfortable with his ENT, and I know he really needs the surgery, but I am worried. He knows he is getting the tubes (poor child can barely hear at all right now), but doesn't know about the rest. He is a worrier, and DH and I have agreed we are not telling him in advance.

Any tips or advice? Virtual hugs are appreciated...

 

[chskover]

My oldest daughter was 5 and my youngest daughter was 3 when they had the whole package done on the same day. It was not much fun. I know cool things and ice packs really helped. They are now 23 and 21. Good luck and just hold your guy as much as you can.

 

[DonaldDuckFamily]

My 4 year old DS is having his adenoids removed Friday because ENT said they are extremely large. We elected not to have the tonsils done because ENT said that 1 is normal size while the other is bigger than normal, but he has seen bigger without being removed and no issues. We leave for Disney 2 weeks after surgery. Recovery is suppose to be 1-4 days. He never really had any issues except always breathing his nose, continuosly congested and snores loudly. His pediatrician thought it was first allergies, but all those tests came back with nothing.

Hope everything goes well for your DS.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

My 12yo DS just had his tonsils and adnoids out and tubes put in last Friday. For the first two days he was absolutely miserable, the only thing that soothed him were ice chips, and I made ice chips out of Gatorade. Popsicles were too syrupy, he did not want them at all. Be prepared for your son's reaction when he comes out of the anesthesia, I have one son that would just whine a litte, unfortunately my 12yo yelled and cried and fought the nurses, there were 4 of them holding him down when I got to him. It also helped him to bring a special stuffed animal to calm him.

I understand that you know your son, but I disagree with your decision not to tell him about the tonsils at least when it's close to the day of the surgery. I think that's going to be very confusing to him when he wakes up in so much pain in his throat when he thinks just his ears are going to be touched. Plus when he finds out he will mistrust you and the doctor every time he goes because he won't believe you when you tell him what they're going to do or that something is or isn't going to hurt. That's just my 2 cents, but I have alot of experience with this. My now 10yo DS had leukemia when he was 2 to 5 years old and this last surgery was my now 12yo DS's third set of tubes. With each and every procedure I explained to my boys what was happening to them in age-appropriate terms, what would and wouldn't hurt, and things they could do to help it not hurt (for example after the tonsillectomy he needed to drink alot, talk , and rest and he would heal faster).

 

[Kit'smommy]

I understand that you know your son, but I disagree with your decision not to tell him about the tonsils at least when it's close to the day of the surgery. I think that's going to be very confusing to him when he wakes up in so much pain in his throat when he thinks just his ears are going to be touched. Plus when he finds out he will mistrust you and the doctor every time he goes because he won't believe you when you tell him what they're going to do or that something is or isn't going to hurt. That's just my 2 cents, but I have alot of experience with this.

I appreciate your candid opinion, and I also somewhat mispoke on the first post. We will have a discussion with him the day he goes into surgery, but not before. We are waiting until that morning to discuss the tonsils/adenoids. We have been in and out of hospitals for various things in the last 3 years and it has always worked out better to tell him just before than to leave him with a ton of time to work himself up about the procedure. He is very trusting of both us and doctors at this point, but he will literally make himself sick with worry.

The gatorade idea is a great one as he never will eat anything overly sweet when not feeling well.

 

[Hannathy]

I understand that you know your son, but I disagree with your decision not to tell him about the tonsils at least when it's close to the day of the surgery. I think that's going to be very confusing to him when he wakes up in so much pain in his throat when he thinks just his ears are going to be touched. Plus when he finds out he will mistrust you and the doctor every time he goes because he won't believe you when you tell him what they're going to do or that something is or isn't going to hurt. That's just my 2 cents, but I have alot of experience with this. My now 10yo DS had leukemia when he was 2 to 5 years old and this last surgery was my now 12yo DS's third set of tubes. With each and every procedure I explained to my boys what was happening to them in age-appropriate terms, what would and wouldn't hurt, and things they could do to help it not hurt (for example after the tonsillectomy he needed to drink alot, talk , and rest and he would heal faster).

I agree with 100%

I am a RN and I really hope you don't lie to your son. It really puts all the nurses and doctors in a very bad spot. As a health professional one of the hardest things to deal with is when families lie to patients because it never works. They know!!! He is going to know they did more than tubes he isn't dumb, how are you going to explain it then? He will remember this everytime from now on when he has to get anything done, anything. Plus you can't get to every single person he may come into contact with to say don't say tonsils. Kids handle procedures best when they have been dealt with truthfully and honestly. You don't have to go into great detail, just be matter of fact but please reconsider not telling him. You could tell him the day before if you think it will worry him too much to do it sooner.

 

[Hannathy]

You must have been responding the same time I was. Glad to see you are telling him. You may want to think about doing it the day before as he gets older or else he may start getting in a "tizzy" the day of any procedure worrying about what you are springing on him at the last minute.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I appreciate your candid opinion, and I also somewhat mispoke on the first post. We will have a discussion with him the day he goes into surgery, but not before. We are waiting until that morning to discuss the tonsils/adenoids. We have been in and out of hospitals for various things in the last 3 years and it has always worked out better to tell him just before than to leave him with a ton of time to work himself up about the procedure. He is very trusting of both us and doctors at this point, but he will literally make himself sick with worry.

The gatorade idea is a great one as he never will eat anything overly sweet when not feeling well.

Oops, sorry I misunderstood.

 

[starsweeper]

My son (3 years, 5 months) had his adnoids and tonsils taken out last Tuesday. Our doc recommended getting both out because we would likely be back in a year to get the tonsils removed if we didn't. He felt very poorly for a couple days, but was able to eat almost anything he wanted right away--which really surprised me. He is still having some pain 1-2 times a day. We were given a loratab elixer that he took regularly for the first 4-5 days and then we started slowly backing down on it. The main thing if you do the tonsils is to keep him hydrated or the throat feels worse.

I would be honest with him. You don't need to go into great detail but prepare him for what will happen. For example, we told our 3-year-old the doctor would make him go "night-night" and put an "owie" in his arm with medicine. We explained the doctor was going to take his adnoids and tonsils out of his mouth so he would be able to breathe better. We warned him he would feel bad after the doctor was done and would have a sore throat, but in a few days he would feel much better.

 

[Kit'smommy]

Oops, sorry I misunderstood.

No problem, I didn't explain very well...

But I do know this is the kid that cried for 3 days over a flu shot. And wouldn't eat anything for 3 days because he was worried over a flu shot. And wouldn't sleep for 2 nights over a flu shot.

He already knows he is not going to feel well or be able to play hard after his surgery and I am always honest over what is and isn't going to hurt.

 

[balletmom97]

Both of my kids were able to take a pre-op tour a day or so before their surgery. They dressed them in scrubs and showed them step by step where they would be and what would happen (age appropriate), gave them a list of the flavor additives available for their anesthesia and a "post-op popsicle". We also got to take home a certificate for being brave and pic of them in the scrubs.

You might ask the hospital if that is available, and if not, see if they have a child life specialist who will help do something similar. It was a great experience and it really calmed the fears of my kids.

We also accumulated a little stack of wrapped"quiet" gifts for them- craft kits, video games, books...most were not more than $5 (video games being the exception). We doled them out when they were not feeling well enough for normal play, but well enough to be bored. Trying to figure out what might be in the packages took their minds off the upcoming surgery.

The biggest tip comes from my m-i-l-- don't say it won't hurt! When my b-i-l woke up, his first words to his dad were "You lied to me!".

If you are calm and upbeat about it, your son will be calm and upbeat about it. Best wishes--

 

[Kit'smommy]

My son (3 years, 5 months) had his adnoids and tonsils taken out last Tuesday. Our doc recommended getting both out because we would likely be back in a year to get the tonsils removed if we didn't. He felt very poorly for a couple days, but was able to eat almost anything he wanted right away--which really surprised me. He is still having some pain 1-2 times a day. We were given a loratab elixer that he took regularly for the first 4-5 days and then we started slowly backing down on it. The main thing if you do the tonsils is to keep him hydrated or the throat feels worse.

My ENT said the same. The tonsils are not nearly as bad as the adenoids, but the doctor thinks they may be causing some gagging issues we have been having. The adenoids are really huge and are causing several issues.

What has he wanted to eat?

 

[Kit'smommy]

We also accumulated a little stack of wrapped"quiet" gifts for them- craft kits, video games, books...most were not more than $5 (video games being the exception). We doled them out when they were not feeling well enough for normal play, but well enough to be bored. Trying to figure out what might be in the packages took their minds off the upcoming surgery.

I already have some much coveted lego kits and a DVD. How long did it take your kids to start feeling better?

 

[balletmom97]

I already have some much coveted lego kits and a DVD. How long did it take your kids to start feeling better?

My son had a very hard time and slept and cried most of the next 10 days, then he started feeling a lot better, very quickly. HOWEVER- his tonsils were huge (golf ball size), so he had a larger surface area to heal. He also had some complications with the anesthesia, so I don't think his recovery can be considered typical.

My daughter was sitting up within an hour of surgery asking to go home. About one week after her surgery, she had two days of "ick"--other than that, you wouldn't have known she had surgery. Much to my dismay, the pain meds didn't even make her drowsy!

I think that if they don't have any other issues (like dino tonsils!), most kids are fine within a week.

We also bought and made some special pjs and a blanket for the hospital and home. We tried to make it an "adventure", rather than a "procedure".

 

[Momvic5]

My older DS13 had his tonsils and adnoids taken out when he was 6yrs old. He had suffered with huge tonsils and throat infections for years. Our Dr. recommended that we wait until he was 6yrs old to have them removed due to possible complications with anesthesia. The ENT that we used sat with my son and explained to him very simply what he might feel after the surgery. He basically said that it would probably feel a lot like the terrible sore throats that he had in the past and that it was important for him to drink cool liquids or chew ice chips to help sooth it. I know he must have been in some pain after the procedure, but he never complained and recovered very quickly. He drank liquids right away and was eating as soon as they said he could. He was a tough little guy. What might of helped him recover so quickly was his new Playstation (7yrs ago) that was waiting for him when he got home.

 

[MSSANDRA]

DS had his at 6 and did VERY well. He was eating by that night and it was hard to keep him from being too active. His hardest day was the 3rd day as I have heard it is for most kids.

I remember having my T&A out plus tubes when I was little and my ears hurt more than anything!!!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

DS had his at 6 and did VERY well. He was eating by that night and it was hard to keep him from being too active. His hardest day was the 3rd day as I have heard it is for most kids.

I remember having my T&A out plus tubes when I was little and my ears hurt more than anything!!!

This is definitely not the case with my DS, but probably because he's older, I've heard it's harder for older kids. My DS wasn't able to eat at all the first day and he cried most of the day from pain. The dr. told me his worst days would be days 4 through 9 when he has to start eating "rougher" foods like toast and he said to expect more bleeding then. DS is on day 4 today and it was painful for him to eat those things, but not enough to stop him from eating. His doctor also said that he has to take it easy for 2 weeks, he can go back to school after 1, but can't do PE.

His ears haven't hurt at all, but they also never hurt him when they were infected.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I also want to mention that adnoids can grow back, this was the second time DS had his removed, the first time he was 9, they were taken out with his second set of ear tubes.

 

[MSSANDRA]

DS's adnoids grew back as well. He had sinus surgery 10 years after he had them out (same doctor) and he said that he had the biggest adnoids he had ever seen even though they had been removed 10 years ago!!!

 

[deva]

Recovery will also depend on the removal method. My DD had the coblation (for both tonsils and adenoids) and I think recovery time with this method is quicker than "cut and stitch". Also no bleeding. Check which method your ENT uses.