Feedback on Removal of Adenoids and Tonsils

My son had this done at the same age and we were told at most it would be a one night stay so that's all we packed for. Luckily people brought us toys and books so we could entertain him because he ended up staying there for 3 days! He refused to drink so we had to use a medicine syringe to keep liquid in him and every time he ate for the first day he vomited. The medicine they give only kept him mellow for so long and he wanted to get up and play no matter where he was. Once he was tired of being in the hospital he started drinking and all was well again. This was a perfect time for videos, books, anything calm, although it was hard to convince him of that, lol..

I don't think it's common for a stay that long, just a heads up that it's possible.

Hi S.,
My son had his T&A (as they call it in the medical field) removed in June. He was 3 1/2 at the time he had a friend who had them removed the following week.

Plan that the first few days will be rough. We were told to give tylenol with codeine for the first 24 hours at the exact time (or even 15 minutes earlier) just to keep him comfortable. This worked (although consitipated him, so have some prune juice on hand!). By the 2nd day, we were able to switch to regular tylenol and used the codeine only at night.

Night time was hard on him since you don't swallow when you sleep, so your throat gets really dry and when it gets dry, they don't want to swallow (even though this is what will make it feel better).

I was also told by a nurse friend of mine to offer as much gum as he wanted since the gum makes you salivate more and thus swallow more, its keeps your throat wet and able to heal with less pain. The big thing is drink, drink, drink keep him hydrated. He won't want to drink, so this would be the time to pull out some new cool cups or something to encourage more drinking.

Make sure he las a good amount of "quiet" activities: movies, coloring books, activity books. Leap Pad was a huge hit after surgery. I think I remember that even though he felt better by the 3rd of 4th day, we still had to keep him from running around. He didn't get that. We kept him on soft foods though for a good 10 days. His friend who had hers out the following week was eating grilled cheese (not recommended) by like the 3rd day. I only say that to show you that there can be very different post surgery reaction.

The hardest thing for me was having them take him away when it was time for surgery. I bawled like a baby when he turned the corner. The younger they are, the easier the recovery.

Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am not by any means an expert, but just a mom who recently went through this. :-)
B.

Sorry I don't have personal experience but thought I would pass on this little bit of information from another mother who's husband is also a Pediatrician. Her son had swollen adenoids and because the surgery is so invasive and therefore traumatic, they chose to give their son a spray which helped keep the swelling down. You may want to ask your doctor about it or get a second opinion. From what I understand, this will usually resolve itself so temporary treatment is not a bad idea. Wish I could remember what the spray was called but cannot...

Also, another mother I know actually had surgery scheduled for her son too and backed out at the last minute to try other options. She ended up doing a lot of homework and discovered some allergies that her son had that caused his adenoids to swell and nose congestion, etc. Slight change in diet and allergy medication for seasonal allergies helped him tremendously and he has since outgrown the adenoid problem.

Good luck! Always remember to get a second opinion before undergoing surgery, especially for your child!

HI S.!

Try www.mannatech.com. My mom beat cancer with this stuff and my daughter has the same probelm your son has with her throat. they wanted to take hers out also and she started taking mannabears - kids vitamins - and got over it. If you want more info after viewing the website - i'll give you my mom's info.

Thanks!
L. Kay

Both of my daughters had their tonsils and adenoids removed. It sounds serious and like anything, its probably more scary for Mommy than the patient! But, both the girls came through fine. Have lots of popcicles and ice cream on hand. Their dr gave them a little coloring book to color in how many glasses of fluids they drank a day, etc which really helped them to get the proper intake. It will hurt at first for them to swallow, but you have to remind them that if they do it, it won't hurt later on.

On the long term....my girls were both almost to the point of having tubes in their ears because of so many ear infections and illnesses. Since they've had this surgery, we go to the dr. maybe once every other year! It really did make a different on their illnesses. Also, my oldest daughter had huge adenoids and tonsils so it was affecting her sleep as well. Now, she's the late sleeper in the family!

All in all, if it's really necessary, you will be glad you did it...and that he's so young. Mine kids were older and if they are younger when it's done, it's really a lot less stressful.

Good luck and I will be praying for a quick and easy recovery...for both of you!! LOL

My son is 5, and just had his tonsils and adenoids out 3 weeks ago. The first day was rough, and so was the 4th, since the liquid vicodin upset his stomach and he became dehydrated from vomiting. We ended up in the ER, but only stayed for 6 hours so they could replenish his fluids. He is doing great now. His voice changed as a result, but they said that should go back to normal (it got higher). We were scared about the surgery too, but it was nothing compared to the open heart surgery my daughter endured earlier this year to close some holes in her heart. We are all doing well now, and are happy to kiss 2007 goodbye! Good luck to you...

S.-

My son had his removed last March- He was such a trooper! When they wheeled him away I cried like a baby- He on the other hand was PERFECT! The nurse and doctor were driving the gurney like it was a space ship so he was all over that (he was 3) I will warn you that when he comes to (at least in my sons case) He still had pain medicine in him so he felt no pain at all! He was home for at least 2-3 hours asking for chips and Cheeze-its I was really thrown by the way he acted. When we left the hospital he asked if we could stop at McDonalds! He did really well with it all- The adenoids he had no problems with at all. The tonsils were of course sore. For my son the 4th and 5th day was worse. As it healed it seemed to bother him more. Good luck to you- I really think the whole hospital thing is really worse on us than it is on them- They have no idea why they are there because they at that age have nothing to compare it too. Just be strong and it will all be over before you know it! If you have any questions at all please feel free to contact me-

Jackie

As a nurse and a mother of 2 healthy children, I'm so glad that I had this done for my daughter. After having ear tubes placed in April, her ENT decided that she needed her tonsils removed (and her adenoids while he was in there) b/c they were blocking 80% of her airway! Gosh - that's why she snored! He actually let us make the final decision but urged us to do so - and we did - after hemming over it for a while. Not only does she not snore anymore, but she is able to sleep through the night again which means that she is much more well rested and such a happy little girl again! She kept waking herself up with her snoring and thus woke up 1-3 times a night - didn't get out of bed, but tossed and turned - which meant not a good nights sleep. She came out of surgery a litle sore (ask for pain meds RIGHT away if you think your child is having pain) - and ate 2 popsicles in the next hour! She had to stay overnight unfortunately, as a precaution - recommended by her doctor - but we were completely fine with that! I didn't sleep much with her that night, but she was greatly taken care of. All in all, after all of my babbling, I'm glad that we had the procedure done. She rarely gets sick now and has been 100% happier - no more snoring and no more restless nights! But with everything, make sure you research the ENT who would be performing the surgery and the hospital it would be done at. Hope I helped!

I'm really concerned that all these little kids have to have this done so young! 2 1/2 just seems awfully young to have to remove them. People say they have no functionality anyway but recent research is starting to prove that's not true, they act as a filtering point for germs in the body.

I would find out if this is really necessary. REALLY necessary. And this is coming from someone whose doctor waited entirely too long to agree to do T&A (I was 17 when they did mine, wasn't bad at all but I had strep throat literally all the time so I was used to it hurting). I would hold off for awhile, just drag your feet a little and see how he does in the next 6 months to a year. Just like tubes, it's relief now for a problem they will likely outgrow. My son has had two sets of tubes, they wanted to remove his adenoids but I was against it, just didn't think it was necessary (doctors like surgery, nice and expensive . And lo and behold it wasn't, he got big enough that the Eustachian tubes grew downward like they are supposed to and he doesn't get sick anymore. Nature has a way of working like that...

However if you go ahead and do it, have him drink lots of Gatorade, plenty of ice cream and popcicles. I had heard that because I was so much older than the average T&A patient that it was going to hurt worse, but I was fine, I had more than a few cases of strep that hurt plenty worse. He'll be just fine!

My grandaughter and great nephew both had their T&A's out when they were four. They had it done with laser. They both came out of surgery fine and went home the same day. My great nephew was eating peanuts the next day. My grandaughter is a little more whimpy, but never used any pain meds after the 2nd day. My grandaughter used to have ear infections all the time, but since the tonsils have been out (a year ago) she's not had one ear infection. Good luck.

My daughter had her adenoids taken out when she was 25 months old. She did fine. When they first are coming out of being put under, don't freak out. My daughter was flinging her arms around and just didn't look my little angel. But, after we returned home, she just slept in my lap most of the day. She wouldn't let me put her down. Everytime I tried, thinking she wouldn't wake up, she would wake up and scream and cry for me before my arms were even away from her. I had a 10 month old at the time too, so it was a really rough day. Anyway, one thing I did was at around 5 that night, I didn't give her another dose of the pain meds they prescribed to her. Instead I just gave her Tylenol. Within about a half hour, she was up and out of my lap and playing a little bit. We got home probably at around 9 that morning, so she was on the medication for a total of about 9 hours including the dose she received at the surgery center. So, it may be something you may want to try. She wasn't in any pain at all, and I just kept her on Tylenol for the next day also. I think that the pain med just wasn't making her feel right, and so it scared her a little and she didn't want me away from her, even if she was only sleeping.

my son had breathing problems since birth and a lot of it had to do with his HUGE tonsils. it was recommended that he have tonsils and adenoids taken out at 18 months. the doctor would perform the surgery at an out-patient center, but the anestheologist wouldn't perform the surgery on such a young patient if it wasn't in a hospital setting. well...be put the surgery off 6 months (because he breathed a lot better during summer) and had his T & A removed shortly after his second birthday. thank GOD we waited to have it done in the hospital b/c it turned out that he had difficulty having the breathing tube removed after surgery was over. the T&A removal was flawless, it was afterwards that was the problem. he had to stay 24 hours for observation, but after we left the hospital, there weren't any problems.

my son didn't have any problems healing after surgery...no soreness or bleeding. and he is so much better now sleeping and breathing since he's had them removed.

moral of the story...if you're going to do the surgery, request that it be done in the hospital and not an out patient center in case there are any complications. he may be fine, but its better to be prepared than risk a problem that the out-patient center may not be equipped to handle for such a young patient.

any ?'s...feel free to ask me.
best of luck

Like many others who have responded, my son came out fine from the T&A removal. My suggestion though is to make sure you get an early appointment to have this done. Your child won't be able to eat or drink before the surgery. My son's appointment was in the afternoon. That was a LONG time to withhold food or drink from him, and it made for a very miserable morning. Good luck.

My 3 year old just had hers taken out a month ago, and I was worried too. But it was a breeze!! She had almost no pain whatsoever, and was back to normal in about 2 days! We did them at Children's and had a very positive experience there. They let a parent (my husband, not me!) go into the OR with her, and then as soon as she was asleep he left. The worst part will probably be when he wakes up from the anesthesia, but even that was no biggie for us and our daughter. The younger they are, the faster they bounce back apparently. It has already made a HUGE difference in her congestion level (which was constant) and breathing while asleep. I think you'll be glad you did it, and he most likely will remember very little of it. Good luck!