OT - Tonsilectomy?

[Aneille]

My DD turned 6 last week and is getting hers out tomorrow morning. You guys are making me nervous!

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[HardShell]

My dd just had hers out on Friday...

It's a small world (after all)! -- my twin 2yo daughters both just had theirs out Friday as well (tonsils, adenoids, and ear tubes).

+1 on hydration afterward -- most important!

+1 on the smell

One of my twins vomited several times on Friday after coming out of the anaesthesia -- the other never vomited at all. Go figure...

Best of luck!!!

 

[2 Little Mermaids]

As a nurse I thought that I would chime in. Yes there will probably vomit which will be brownish in color (old blood). And as the previous poster said make sure nothing given is red in color (juice, popsicles or tylenol) that make be mistaken for blood. Now watch for bright red blood vomiting and fevers which are not relieved by meds. Keep pushing fluids. And IV will be started in the OR and they should apply a cream on the hand prior to going to the OR (numbing cream) You should be able to walk them down to the OR and if the child is freaking out the parent will be able to go into the OR and the child given gas to relax them. (that is what they do in our hospital. Hope I didn't scare you too much. Good luck!

 

[MOREMICKEYFORME]

When my son just went in, they gave him some sort of gas thru a mask to make him sleep before inserting the IV. It was really cool.
They asked him what his favorite food was and he said root beer. Then they said they had root beer gas. Then he said no, that he liked root beer floats better. The nurse said she had vanilla ice cream gas too, so she combined the root beer gas and the vanilla gas and my son had a root beer float to make him go to sleep. It really did smell good!!! I am glad they did this because he didn't have to see the IV going in- that would have really freaked him out!!

 

[Tink-aholic]

I had mine out at 28 and it was worse for me than childbirth. If your DS is younger, it is absolutely better to do it as a child!

I didn't really eat much for over two weeks, and vomited for an entire day after surgery. I wish I had some liquid tylenol instead of the narcotics (so make sure you have that on hand -- not ibuprofen).

One thing I remember most clearly was the healing process. Because your throat is dark and wet, the "scabs" never really harden. To me, they were like great big raw pieces of dough hanging in my throat. Even grosser was when they started to come off and I swallowed them! Yuck.

Good luck.

 

[MomTo4+more]

If you are at a children's hospital they should have Child Life staff. Child LIfe is great!! They are experts at preparing children (and parents) for medical procedures. You can call and ask to come out a few days before the surgery and they will show you the anasthesia mask and let your child smell the different scents they can use. They can show him the hospital gown he would wear and the masks and surgical clothes the doctors and nurses wear. They can show him the rooms or pictures of the rooms he will be in. If you have other children, they will prep sibs too. they may even give him a Shadow Buddie - a little stuffed boy that goes with him through the procedure. They put the medical equipment on the shadow buddy too if that helps your son feel more secure. I highly recommend it!

When my son had his tonsils out at 3, he did great! We stayed in the hospital for two nights after the surgery because he has sickle cell and they needed to watch him more carefully. They supplemented his eating and drinking with IV fluids because staying hydrated is essential. Maybe you could get your son a special cup with his favorite characters on it to entice him to drink more.

The advicce others have offered seems to cover it! I hope all goes smoothly for you son.

 

[monorailsilver]

I had mine out in 1977/78, LOL! My mom swears I wanted McD's on the way home from the hospital.

My ds had his out last summer, about a month before we went to Disney.

He had sleep apnea, snored & had horrid breath. Now he sleeps soundly, doesn't snore & he just has normal morning bad breath like the rest of us.

He was just under 5. He was about 38 lbs when he had the surgery & got down to 32 lbs with in a few days following.

Our ENT wanted him to stay overnight since he was so little. I am glad we did since he got the IVF. I only wish the nurses gave him IV pain meds but they forced that horrid Tylenol #3 down his throat & he threw up nearly every time. I thought they were going to give him the IV pain meds by what they said one time but they didn't.

He had a T&A so the first few days he was weak from not eating but we kept making him take sips of drinks every so often. He wanted the end of a watermelon so I bought one & that was his personal meal for a good day.

He hates soup & has dairy allergies so that complicated what to give him food wise (he also is allergic to egg whites, tree & peanuts).

He mustered up some energy to go for a bike ride & he normally would ride a good 2 miles, he got to the 1/2 mile mark & we put him in the bike trailer & towed his bike back home.

I let him play out on the waterslide the following week & just fed the kids popcicles all afternoon. It was actually nice since he was not loud for a good week but then that voice came back.

He had them out in early July & we went to Disney early August & he had no problems. The ENT said he'd have more energy which we did not see possible but my then 7 yo & then 2½ napped during our mid day breaks (7 yo hadn't napped since she was 3 & 2 year old for a good year). He did not nap. He was full of energy. The only day he did nap was our last full day when my dh popped a Bendadryl into his mouth on the way to Tomorrowland since he was getting some hives from touching milk.

 

[Aneille]

Well we are back from the hospital. She was in the operating room at 8:45am and was back from the recovery room around 11am.

She did great.

We arrived around 7:15am. They took her vitals, set her up in a nice room so she could watch tv etc. It was a 2 person room and she had it all to herself until around 1pm.

Around 8am we went down to the pre-op room. She got some tylenol. They had her pick out her mask and choose a flavor. She also got to decorate it with stickers and then practiced with it. They explained what would happen. It was very busy down there.

While in the pre-op she colored, played with some toys etc. Then we headed off to the operating room. She sat up and I held her hand while she used her newly decorated mask on the table. And they told her a nice story to help her relax and off she went to dreamland.

We headed to Starbucs and when we got back she was out of ER. Recovery was fine. They gave her some morphine because when she was waking up she said her throat hurt and she had some silent tears. But she was fine. One hour in post-op and we were back in the room.

We waited in her room for awhile. My DD doesn't eat a lot, doesn't drink all that much either especially if shes not feeling so good. But she had some popsicle, pudding, ginger ale and finally we were let go. While in the room she read, watched tv, did puzzles and played games. She was back to climbing all over the place about 2 1/2 hours after the surgery even with the IV in. She stayed in her room until 3:00. So about a 5 hr recovery in the hospital total from surgery to discharge. Total time: 8 hours in the hospital. Luckily we live close by.

They sent her home with tylenol and codeine and an amoxicillian script.

We will see how tomorrow goes. It was a long day but she was well cared for and is feeling fine now. We went food shopping and she's back to fighting with her sister over the Wii. I figure tomorrow will be a bit worse but I am hoping it will be okay.

 

[Leajess99]

I am so glad your dd seems to be handling teh surgery so well and I hope she heals quickly.

My 6 year old dd will be having her adnoids out as well as anouth procedure done to make sure there are no other issues causing her problems. I am very nervous but it is the best thing for her at this point.

 

[MomofM&M]

My DD had a T and A at Cincinnati Children's when she was 3 years old. Child Life was great and she got a tour of the OR before the surgery. They were redoing the OR at the time but we got to go back with her, met the anesthesiologist, and watched her pick her flavor of sleepy medicine. DD had to stay overnight in the hospital due to age but she woke up from surgery starving. She had been NPO since the night before and her first meal was at 5pm. She had macaroni and cheese, peas and jello. All her favorite foods and she finished it all. The ENT resident who discharged her laughed and said, Well, I guess she's not in too much pain.

She had the "dragon breath" which we were warned about. Most Tonsillectomies are done with cautery and the scabs that are left eventually peel off and are swallowed. The throat usually hurts most when the scab starts falling off. That's why the ENT will recommend lots of fluids to keep the scabs moist and less painful. This was 4 years ago but I think it was about 3-4 days after surgery when the pain got worse and then DD refused to take the Tylenol with Codeine because of the taste. We tried Lortab Elixir and that seemed to help. I think the biggest thing that shocked me was DD's new voice. It was so much higher since her tonsils were muffling her voice before. Didn't know if she was whining from the surgery or if it was her new voice. ENT nurse reassured me it was her new voice. I don't recall anyone mentioning that to me. The best is now she sleeps so comfortably at night. She no longer tosses and turns. Sharing a bed with her in a hotel used to be torture. I think she sleeps better than me or her dad now. Good luck!

 

[HenDuck]

The one thing that I was not prepared for was the horrible smell that came out of his mouth after surgery. It was alarming at first. Nobody had warned me so just passing it on.

We called it "dragon breath".

Jamba juice was all DS ate for a few days - with a spoon, not a straw.

We also alternated between Tylenol and Advil, every 3-4 hours, for the first few days.

DS had his adenoids out at the same time.

 

[QVCshopper]

I just found out my DD5 needs a 2nd tonsillectomy. The first one she had was an intracapsular (partial) tonsillectomy, which leaves behond 5-10% of the tonsil tissue. Now, that little amount is giving her tonsillitis. So, they want to do a full tonsillectomy. Any experience with a full one--as far as recovery time and bleeding?

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I'm glad I found this thread, my 12yo DS is getting a tonsillectomy, permanent ear tubes, and his adnoids scraped (they'd been removed, but they can grow back) next Friday. I've already done my grocery shopping for him, but after seeing that list I definitely need to go back and pick up some gatorade, that will definitely encourage him to drink since we don't usually have it.

They're doing it outpatient barring any complications, he has to be there at 7:30am and she told me he would be home before noon.

Both he and my 10yo DS have had surgeries before and it's kind of hard to tell how the anesthesia will affect them. My 10yo usually woke up crying and yelling for me, but would calm down as soon as I came in. My 12yo would wake up screaming uncontrollably, even after I came into the room (which really isn't fun, as another poster said, I felt like the worst mom in the world for not being able to calm him).

They suggested that if he still has a favorite blanket or stuffed animal to bring that in with us so we'll be bringing his "fluffy" he still sleeps with.

 

[starsweeper]

Oh this is making me VERY nervous. My DS is 3 years, 5months and is having his adnoids and tonsils removed on Tuesday. I knew very little of what to expect after surgery because no one in my family has done this. My DS has lost 2 lbs since last spring, snored horribly and seemed to stop breathing briefly at night sometimes. We firmly believe his breathing has interferred with eating because his appetite surged after being placed on allergy and asthma medications 3 weeks ago. I'm so afraid he will refuse to eat and lose even more weight after reading some of the stories, especially if his throat is so sore for a long time. Also, we have to avoid most dairy because he is lactose intolerant, so ice cream and the like is out for him.

 

[QVCshopper]

Oh this is making me VERY nervous. My DS is 3 years, 5months and is having his adnoids and tonsils removed on Tuesday. I knew very little of what to expect after surgery because no one in my family has done this. My DS has lost 2 lbs since last spring, snored horribly and seemed to stop breathing briefly at night sometimes. We firmly believe his breathing has interferred with eating because his appetite surged after being placed on allergy and asthma medications 3 weeks ago. I'm so afraid he will refuse to eat and lose even more weight after reading some of the stories, especially if his throat is so sore for a long time. Also, we have to avoid most dairy because he is lactose intolerant, so ice cream and the like is out for him.

My DD had her tonsils/adenoids removed at 2.75 and did very well. She was up and running a little the next day. But, it was the newer type of tonsillectomy (intracapsular) which has a speedier recovery. Now, we're facing tonsillectomy #2 (full), so it's something new.

I'm betting not everyone knows which type they have... I wish we had the full back then, but she was so young and I don't think they like doing a full tonsillectomy on a very little child. More risks involve with bleeding/slower healing. (A few pages back someone mentions her twins having tonsillectomies and recoverying faster than their friend--probably different types of surgery). Anyway, best of luck to you. My DD gain almost 10 lbs the year after her 1st surgery b/c she was so sick before it.

 

[krcit]

Oh this is making me VERY nervous. My DS is 3 years, 5months and is having his adnoids and tonsils removed on Tuesday. I knew very little of what to expect after surgery because no one in my family has done this. My DS has lost 2 lbs since last spring, snored horribly and seemed to stop breathing briefly at night sometimes. We firmly believe his breathing has interferred with eating because his appetite surged after being placed on allergy and asthma medications 3 weeks ago. I'm so afraid he will refuse to eat and lose even more weight after reading some of the stories, especially if his throat is so sore for a long time. Also, we have to avoid most dairy because he is lactose intolerant, so ice cream and the like is out for him.

Try not to be too nervous! I think the younger they are the quicker they bounce back. keep on top of the pain meds-they are gross and he probably won't want to take them but they work. My dds both hated the meds but took them and then were able to eat. I swear that the sooner they eat, the sooner they heal! The swallowing aids in the healing. My girls were eating normal foods by the 2cnd day..even chicken nuggets. Good luck!

 

[crysplefty]

My daughter too had her tonsils out when she was two. Her fevers would get up so high she would have a seizure. She did this several times which scared the heck out of me. After going to the doctor about 12 times in a year they finally referred us to a specialist at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. She ate a soft diet which was jello, mashed potatoes, plenty of clear liquids...etc.. they should be giving you a list at the doctors. Also our doctor encouraged us to give her the medicine even if she seemed ok to help her heal and give her a rest.
I am proud to say she never had another bad fever or seizure since her tonsils were out and she is almost 4.

My son has febrile seizures too, so I wanted to make sure you were not misinformed. Febrile seizures are not brought on because the fever is too high. They are brought on because the fever rises too quick for the child's brain to adjust. My son had 3 episodes within 11 months, so his pediatrician sent us to a pediatric neurologist. He now takes valium three times a day when he runs fever to prevent the seizures. We were told by the neurologist that children grow out of it by the time they are school age (4 or 5). He will be 5 in October and has been febrile seizure free for over a year now since he was prescribed valium. I just wanted to let you know incase you have more children after her, since they will be at risk to having them too since it is, in some cases, genetic. Both my husband and his brother had them when they were children and my uncle (mom's brother) had them as well. So far our daughter has not had one, so hopefully, knock on wood, she won't have any.