Partial tonsillectomy?

[luvestodizz]

Anyone have experience with it? We took my 5yo to an ENT and he said he is a good candidate for this. His adenoids are enlarged, his tonsils, less enlarged. My DS often gets a wheezy cough and has to use a nebulizer.His thorat is often very red, but he has never had strep. Last month he was having apnea episodes. He always snores but when he gets sick you can hear his breaths stopping. He moves all over the bed when he sleeps too. HE was on prednisone a few weeks ago and since then I haven't heard the apnea. He snores and mouth breathes but it's not as severe. I don't want to put him through unnecessary surgery but I don;t want him suffering with this. He also gets very bad seasonal allergies that require the nebulizer. The ENT said the surgery should help with that too. We have a date scheduled for surgery but I'm still not sure what to do.

 

[krcit]

So would he be taking just the adnoids and not the tonsils? Both of my daughters had their tonsils and adnoids out because of repeated strep and it's been great.

 

[golfgal]

Just do the whole thing and get it over with. It is about 15 minutes of surgery to do both and while every surgery carries risks, this is a pretty low risk surgery overall. Also, after the surgery, I would highly recommend seeing an allergy/asthma specialist and have him evaluated for allergies and asthma as his symptoms are spot on for both.

 

[disneymom2evie]

My 4 y/o daughter had her tonsils and adenoids taken out a week ago yesterday, and we're both miserable. She's finished a bottle of her Tylenol w/ codeine so far and the pain is still here. She hasn't hardly eaten anything. She is sick (I guess it's a cold) so every time she coughs, she cries from the pain. I'm praying this gets better. I am ready to have my girl back. I'm going to be SO mad if she gets sick all the time and still has her sleep issues. She's missing school and dance classes. She's marching in parades in 2 weeks, if she can get better.

 

[golfgal]

My 4 y/o daughter had her tonsils and adenoids taken out a week ago yesterday, and we're both miserable. She's finished a bottle of her Tylenol w/ codeine so far and the pain is still here. She hasn't hardly eaten anything. She is sick (I guess it's a cold) so every time she coughs, she cries from the pain. I'm praying this gets better. I am ready to have my girl back. I'm going to be SO mad if she gets sick all the time and still has her sleep issues. She's missing school and dance classes. She's marching in parades in 2 weeks, if she can get better.

Have you checked back with her doctor? Most kids bounce back faster then this. I would think that the dr would want to know that she is coughing because that can loosen stitches and cause bleeding. I would call to double check.

 

[EdiePA]

DS #2 had this done when he was three, after repeated ear infections and three sets of tubes. They just removed the adenoids -- he was home the same day and no problems with bleeding,etc. Plus, he never had another ear infection.

His voice went very low after the surgery. He'd talk and adults would be looking around trying to see "who said that".

Edie

 

[minkydog]

My son Christian had his adenoids removed when he was about 9, due to chronic sinus infections. He hasn't had much strep in his life, but sinuses--ugh. They were just nasty. So he had sinus surgery to clean things out and fix his nose, which had been fractured at some point in time. While they were in there,they took out the nasy infected adenoids.

Since having this surgery, Christian has been very healthy. He may have 1 or 2 upper respiratory infections or an ear infections every year. He does snore. But he went from taking antibiotics almost non-stop to antibiotics 0-1 time per year.

 

[babyrich]

I am "much" older now; but when I was 2 1/2 I had my adenoids and tonsils out. The doctor told my mother they were so enlarged they could have fit in my 6 year old sister. I used to have a tent over my crib with oxygen. I have no memories; but my sister tells me my mother spent many a night sleeping bent over in my crib to make sure I didnt stop breathing. Once everything was removed, I had no more problems.

 

[lsyorke]

DS had his adenoids removed when he was 3 for constant ear infections. They didn't do the tonsils at that time because he never had strep. Yup...4 months post adenoidectomy his tonsils were a mess, which required a second surgery to remove them.

I would never allow one without the other at the same time.

 

[kidshop]

It's a tough call, but I say if they are already doing surgery just take everything out.

You want to avoid a second surgery in the future. It's better just to get it all over with. My dd had her tonsils out one at a time a year apart, and that was just stupid. But I agreed at the time since it sounded good to avoid complications and keep the 'normal' tonsil. The risk of another surgery is greater than the risk of tonsil removal, IMO.

 

[disfan07]

I had my tonsils and adenoids out when I was 12.

I had strep 5 times in 3 months. My ENT decided to take out both my tonsils and adenoids. In the past 9 years, I've had strep a handful of times but getting my adenoids out didnt seem to do anything. I get sinus infections 4-6 times/year which always leads to an upper respiratory infection and an asthma flare up.

From what my doctors have said, my situation is pretty uncommon though. Most of the time, having adenoids removed helps with sleep apnea, snius infections, etc. It just didnt work for me.

That being said, if you are going to do one, I would just do both at once. It would be worse to have to go back for a second surgery.

Has he been evaluated for asthma? If not, I would have him evaluated for asthma as well but not until AFTER the surgery. Having enlarged adenoids and tonsils (adenoids especially) can lead to a false diagnosis of asthma