My daughter is getting her tonsils/adenoids removed thurs

[We_love_WDW]

Can you recommend what I should have on hand...what drinks, foods, etc. What worked for your child? Also do you have any ideas of a toy or surprise I can give her after the surgery? Thanks

 

[iwrbnd]

My daughter had hers out at 2 yrs old. You really need to push fluids. My daugher wouldn't drink and almost had to be re-hospitalized. Have all her favorite drinks on hand.

I would recommend a toy that she can lay in bed and watch. We got my nephew a wind-up toy that went up a ladder and down a slide. He watched it over and over again. After the first day or two she'll be able to play with any toy.

Good luck! It's rough but you'll make it!

 

[FINFAN]

oh, my DD did the same thing( she was 10 at the time)....so sore to swallow meds she was given an 8 hour window to get fluids in her or be admitted! I don't want ot scare you I thought we were an isolated case as everyone I had talked to did not run into 1/2 the trouble DD did, so really, your DD will more than likley be in the percentage that is fine, no issues...anyway...You may not like what DH did to bribe her to swallow....I was in the kitchen washing a small syringe we were using to drop water into her mouth and I hear him saying "please just try a few sips of water, if you do we will get the dog you've been wanting"
AAAAACCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!
I threw the kitchen towel at him, saying "NEVER barter with live animals!", but lo and behold, in a few hours she waa able to swallow a single spoon of jello, then 2-3 sips of water and a liquid dose of her meds,,,since the promise was made ( and to be fair we had been talking about a dog for about a year off and on)and each day she got a LOT stonger as we reminded her that she would have to be pretty darn recouperated to go puppy shopping, that and we had a brithday trip to Fl planned in 3 weeks to see her grandparents.
Bottom line, that was the turning point, I would say 5 days from then she was really back on her feet, just minimal soreness. We took her puppy shopping, saw one we liked, but were heading out of town but I'll be darned if the pooch wasn't still available when we got back! And that my friend, is how Blaze the Bichon joined our family.

I would have ice cubes frozen ahead out of juice, we crushed those up and the cold helped, jello, pudding, milkshakes or smoothies,,no fruit seeds tho, have her phone nearby if she texts...DH had hers out before that was an option for her, lol....basically anything you can put in a blender to liquify. As far sa a gift, heed my warning, do not go the pet route ( tho DS made out like a bandit, he got the dog too and didn't have to suffer at all)

 

[tinkerbell198530]

don't be supries if her adoneds have to be removed twice that is what happend to me. Go figure mine grew back I am not sure if it is posable with tonisals

 

[Sparx]

I had a tonsil/adenoidectomy and tubes put in my ears in kindergarten. I remember my mom stuck popsicle sticks in pudding cups and froze them.

As for a toy, how about a lot of her favorite movies, so she can lay in bed and watch them?

 

[tinkerbell198530]

once my mom gave me a stuffed cat to keep me comany when she could not and that was a big help along with a fave tv show or move maybe even a book

 

[stnet]

My daughter was 5 when she had hers taken out. Lots of her favorite drinks and ice cream, popsicles, pudding and jello. We would also warm up chicken broth and let her drink it - she really liked that a lot. For the first couple of days she slept a lot and then after that lots of movies in bed with our portable dvd player. She also played with her hand held v-tech once she was feeling better. I was a little surprised at how long it took her to recover - they told us one week out of school - we had them done on Dec. 17th and I was surprised at how yucky she still felt at Christmas but within 10 days she was much better!! Good luck!! Praying that everything goes well for y'all!!

 

[Miz Diz]

My dd had hers taken out at 4. She was actually better the day of surgery than she was the next day. The doctor said it is not unusual because after surgery, she still had some numbness. So, if your dd is like that, take advantage of that day and get her to drink as much as possible. The day after, my dd would not eat or drink anything. I had to beg her. I bought her gatorade and other favorite drinks, popsicles, jello, chicken noodle soup. She ate and drank very little for about 5 days. It was tough getting her to drink.

I bought her a leapster because she could lay in bed and play it. Another idea is some of the crayola wondercolor things, since they don't stain.

My dd also threw up on the way home from surgery. They gave us a container in case that happened. Thank goodness! I kept that thing under her the whole ride home.

Hope all goes well.

 

[shortbun]

Get her a little bell or something she can use to get your attention without getting out of bed or yelling. NO carbonation, it stings like crazy. popsicles without citric acid which also stings. crushed ice that she can let melt in her mouth-gets fluids and cold into the area to keep swelling down. Whatever you do, do NOT miss or be late on pain/anti inflammatory meds in the first 48 hours.

 

[Ohiodislover]

My daughter is having hers out on Friday. She is fourteen and also having her sinuses done at the same time.

The things that have been suggested, by the Dr, and others:

Gatorade (not red or orange)
easy mac(because you can cook it really really mushy)
instant mashed potatoes (be careful they aren't too stiff)
italian ice (better than Popsicles because of the sucking factor)
carnation instant breakfast

Our Dr also told us no salad, toast, chicken nuggets, raw vegies, whole grain breads for at least 2 weeks.

Good luck to you I am expecting the worst from my moody irritable drama queen teenager.


ETA--agree w/ the bell. Mine has been lying on the couch practicing the ringing and our reaction times for about 2 weeks now

 

[kimblebee]

I lived on slurpees for the first few days. That and tomato soup. After a few days I could handle mac and cheese. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that she will not be allowed to use a straw for drinking. It tenses the muscles in the throat too much. I had a bell by my side in case I needed anything. I was 19 when I had mine out and even though it is supposed to be way worse when you are an adult I don't remember it being too bad. I learned I was allergic to codeine at this time so for me that was the worst part.

 

[Ohiodislover]

I learned I was allergic to codeine at this time so for me that was the worst part.

Oh no--I bet that was awful Well--took your mind off your throat hurting i guess--What a horrible time to find that out though.

 

[kimblebee]

LOL you're right it did take my mind off my throat. Luckily the allergy wasn't life threatening. I just got super itchy and would swell up and get welts when I would scratch. It took probably 6 months for it to be narrowed down to the codeine that I was allergic too. I had allergy tests where it turned out I had slight reactions to basically everything but water. I had to reintroduce all the foods one at a time every week and nothing was giving me the same reaction so the doctor finally said I don't know, I guess it's the pills. I haven't had codeine since then and haven't had any problems so maybe he was onto something.

 

[amyy]

Once when I was in the hospital my father put together a bunch of small gifts I could open at certain times. Something like when I wake up from surgery, 6pm, right before bed, 1st thing in the morning, right before you leave the hospital. It is a memory that will always stay with me and I don't even remember the gifts but the anticipation what the next one might be. I am sure they were small gifts like a comic book, hand held game etc.

 

[PRINCESS VIJA]

We have a snow cone maker that was a life saver! My DD loves ice, and to have that crushed ice was the best thing we had on hand for her.

 

[pilotwife_02]

Poor thing. Everyone has given you good advice. One thing I want to mention it so make sure keep her pain meds in her body at all times during the first couple of days. So if her doctor gives her medicine that says "every 4 hours" wake her up every 4 hours and give it to her. That's the best way to keep the pain under control. It's easier to manage the pain that way then to try to get it back under control once the meds wear off during the night.

Granted I had mine out at age 30 and I know it's a lot worse for adults than children, but it was very painful for me even with my medicine so I made sure I set my alarm and woke up in the middle of the night and took my medicine.

Also, the pain from the surgery radiated to my ears so don't be surprised if she complains of her ears hurting.

The reason why you won't want any toast, chicken nuggets, etc is because she will have scars on the back of her throat from where they will remove the tonsils and you don't want that food to "catch" on it and break the scars open because then she would need to go to the ER immediately!!

I stuck to soup, jello, pudding, ice cream , yogurt, mashed potatoes, flavored rice, anything soft.

Good luck!

 

[Ohiodislover]

We have a snow cone maker that was a life saver! My DD loves ice, and to have that crushed ice was the best thing we had on hand for her.

Oooo--great idea. I need to hunt for ours (I hope I kept it)

 

[aprilgail2]

Our Dr also told us no salad, toast, chicken nuggets, raw vegies, whole grain breads for at least 2 weeks.

:

Its funny how different Dr's tell you different things- chicken nuggets was one of the things that they told us TO give her and on the second day she was eating wendys chicken nuggetes just fine. They told us to try to stay away from all liquid diets and to have her eat sandwichs of cold cuts etc. I only gave her pain meds 2 or three times in the first day or two, after that there was no need for them. In less than a week she was back to normal and 7 days after surgery she was back at school just not taking gym for a week.
People told me so many horror stories when she was going in that I was really freaked out...sure there are worst cases but not every kid needs pain meds around the clock or much worse ones people shared. The hospital had told us before we left no milk or ice cream. When the Dr called my house later that night to check up on her and I told him that my very stubborn child was having issues with not having milk and not drinking much he said "thats nuts, she can have milk and ice cream-they follow "old rules" in the hospital and there is no reason she can't have it"

 

[Kit'smommy]

My child had them out a month ago just after his 6th birthday. Things went well for us and he was home and playing on the floor with his Legos 3 hours after surgery. Day 3 was the worst because that was when his swelling peaked, but he was a new child and off the pain meds completely in around 5 days, except for an occassional dose of Tylenol.

I am thrilled with the results from his surgery as we are having none of the sleep apnea, problems with swallowing, snoring or hearing issues we were having pre-surgery.

We did keep on top of the pain meds for the first few days. My boy has a very high tolerance for pain, but he was miserable, if we didn't dose him regularly on the Tylenol 3. When we missed his pain meds by a little while, it was almost impossible to get a dose in him as he just hurt too much to swallow the meds. When he was on the meds he was comfortable and could eat and drink just fine. There is a wide variation in the amount of tissue that is removed by different surgeons and in individual children's responses to pain.

Also, different doctors give their patients different advice on eating, so I would follow your doctors instructions. We were told that straws were fine (there is no way, he could have sipped out of a glass the first few days without one), that he could eat anything he wanted other than sharp crunchy things like chips, pizza crust, etc, and that red drinks were fine. They even gave him red Gatorade in recovery and when I asked about that, they said I wouldn't confuse a bleed with red coloring if it happened. We were specifically told to get him eating real food, instead of keeping him on an entirely liquid diet as the foods keep the scabs from getting too thick.

We were originally told no dairy, but then they said to give him what he asked for (as long as it wasn't crunchy), even if it was ice cream or pudding. He doesn't like much of sweet syrupy things and wanted American cheese squares, Gogurts, egg noodles, etc. Day 2, he wanted Chick-fil-A ice cream, and when we ran up the street to get it, he decided to help himself to my sandwich! I cut the center of a chicken filet up in tiny pieces and he ate that, a couple of very soft waffle fries and a thing of ice cream. He would not eat even his favorite popcicles at all while he has healing but now he asks for them again.

Good luck to you!

 

[kidshop]

My dd had one tonsil out at age 2 and the other one just last week at age 3 (don't ask!). You know your child and if they are drama queens or suck it up types, so that should give you an idea of how she will do. My dd has a high pain tolerance, but I agree with not missing a dose of meds the first few days at least. Wake her up! I ended up using 1/2 dose of lortab and 1/2 dose of tylenol, b/c dd would be loopy on straight lortab.

Our doctor has no restrictions or foods, types of foods or how to eat them. So dd ate a hamburger the night of her surgery. She never complained her throat hurt until day 5 and 6 and that was brief, but hers was only one side. My dd refused frozen things, but she would eat pudding, cottage cheese, cheese shreds, sliced lunchmeat, soft bagel with cream cheese and cereal in milk. She is also not a big drinker, but I used a big oral syringe to give her water very frequently through the day. You do have to keep up on the fluids, you have to force them if necessary. She liked the syringe and she would do it herself.


We just watched a lot of tv! I couldn't keep her as quiet as I wanted, she has a lot of energy and she just didn't feel that bad.

Good luck!