My Daughter Is Having Her Tonsils and Adnoids Out!!!

My daughter (4 y.o) and my son (7 y.o) both had their adenoids removed on the same day in March this year. Play up the good parts like popsicles after and special pajamas they will wear. I didn't tell my kids until a few days before. I didn't want them to get anxious. The anesthesia is the hardest part for the parent. It is a bit scary for the child. They do get to choose the flavor they want the mask to smell like, so play that up too. They were both eating and playing by the end of the day like nothing happened. When I ask them about it now they do not really remember anything. They did not have their tonsils removed but the friends I talked to who went through it said that recovery took longer. I hope this helps you. Good luck with everything.

Hi. My son had his tonsils and adnoids out two years ago. He was also 4 years old. I was amazed at how easy the whole procedure was for him. They put him under anesthesia with me in the room and then rushed me out to start the operation. i was a little upset becuase they really rushed me out of the room but the operation is so quick I guess they do not like to have them under anestiea for long. The hardest part was when he came out of it crying and a little confused. I know it sounds weird but i took pictures of him in his nightgown and afterward in the bed because i take pictures of everything and this was a big event in his life. It was so hard to see him in the hospital bed, but it makes you appreciate having a healthy child.
They let him come home early the same afternoon. His recovery was fine. He wanted to eat real food right away but i restricted his diet as directed. He loved hanging out and watching tv. And he was up and around the next day!
It will be tough to get your daughter to take her meds when her throat hurts. You should talk it over with her doctor and see what your other options are.
Good luck. Your daughter will be fine.

Hi amy,
My daughter had both her tonsils and adnoids out when she was four. My daughter was over it the same night. she could not eat solid food, but ice cream, a freeze pops were her friend. I gave her soup in a cup with soft potatoes and she was fine. don't worry so much. If she sees that you are scared, it may make her scared. she will be ok! W.

my son had his adenoids out when he was 4 an di have friends whose daughter had adenoids and tonsils out and they did fine keep in mind after having then out she will have very bad breath.... for several weeks it is how they cauterize the area from the adenoids. certainly staying at the hospital is a great idea hse may want to bring a specail lovey for after the surgery good luck mother of 13 11 8 and 1 yr old my 11 year old has had several 4 surgeries in his short life so far....

Hi Amy. My son just had his out last month. He is so much better now. He used to snore like a grown man since he was a baby and now I have to check on him because I can't hear him breathing. He also used to have to breath thru his mouth. Not anymore. He was in pain for almost 10 days after the surgery. And he didn't like the pain meds. (He is usually VERY good about taking meds). Don't worry about her not eating either. He lived on popsicles, yogurt, and pediasure for the whole recovery period. It is tough after the surgery, but well worth it. I'm going thru it next month with my almost 2yr old. Good luck to your daughter!

Amy:
My oldest son, who is 5, just had his tonsils out in April. He too had a tonsil that blocked half of his throat (he had a 4 1/2 on his right side and a 3 on his left- where 1 is normal and 5's are touching). Our son had a turned tonsil which is a lymphoma risk. We watched it for almost two years with the ENT and researched the procedure before deciding to have surgery. Here is the one thing I wished someone had told me- when they warn about your child bleeding, it is not just a little bleeding, it is a lot. Trust me, I know. My son had his surgery and everything went perfectly. He recovered in typical fashion and we did everything as ordered. He did not do anyting to raise his heartbeat, he rested and had lots of liquids. On day 5, he threw up twice. In between throwing up, I told him to rinse his mouth out by swiching water in his mouth and spitting it out. When he did this, I noticed a tiny bit of blood. When I called the nurses (the number they gave me to use if I had any questions or concerns after the surgery), I explained that it was a one inch yarn sized piece of blood. They said to go to the emergency room. We dropped our other son off at one of my sisters and then went to the local ER. We waited awhile and were finally seen by the on call doctor who then had an ENT come take a look. After 4 horus at the ER, we got the green light to go home. Two days later, my husband and my two sons and I were having dinner. My oldest son was just playing with his food and not eating. He said his throat hurt so my husband and I told him to take a drink of milk thinking his throat was just dry. He took a drink and pointed to his throat (which he had done pre-surgery when he had too much in his mouth). We told him, as we always had in the past, to go spit what was in his mouth into the garbage can. He left the table and walked into the kitchen and screamed "there's blood!" We all ran into the kitchen and my son was bent over with his mouth open and blood pouring out. My husband took my younger son and told me to take our older son to the car. I grabbed a bowl for him to spit/bleed into you and scooped my son out and rushed outside. My husband had strapped our two year old into his car seat and I told him to just open the hatchback (we have a minivan and always keep the back down for our dog) because I wanted to hold my son for fear that he would pass out from the loss of blood. Luckily, the hospital is less than a quater of a mile away from where I live. My husband pulled into the ER parking, jumped out yelling "we need help!" I held my son in my arms and rushed into the ER. Our hospital (Winchester) was fabulous. My husband ran up to some people who were talking and explained our situation. They took us right into the triage and less than 7 minutes later, our son was up in the OR. I had called one of my sisters to come take my two year old and the hospital staff were wonderful in getting our car seat out of our car (of course we had no idea where it was since we just left it at the ER enterance). They also collected all of our son's clothes which had been stripped off of him between triage and the OR. Our son had to have anesthesia intravenously because he was bleeding in his throat and he obviously had eaten within 8 hours so we had to beware of naseua. Thank God, he was fine. I mention this story not to dissuade you from having the procedure but rather to give you information about the "bleeding" they tell you can happen. I thought that any bleeding would be like it was in our first experience, where it was a little bit and we somewhat casually went to the hospital. I did not expect the second scenario where we rushed out of our house at 7:00 p.m. with our child blleding profusely! As an aside, in our rush,w e left our entire home wide open- our gate, our back hall door, and the kitchen door. Someone commented we were lucky noone broke into our house. Our response was that if someone walked in, they would have seen the blood and run out of the house! Another lucky thing was that our dog did not leave (or at least if she did, she came back by midnight- the time when my husband returned to our house). We ended up having an additional week of recovery for my son so that his total recovery was three weeks instead of two. Again, I say this not to discourage the surgery but to give you information on what may happen. My husband and I thought we had researched the side effect thoroughly but we did not understand that the "bleeding" could be in this manner. Our son had under gone anesthesia before for the removal of a nevus at 6 months old so we knew he could tolerate anesthesia. One thing that made me feel better was when I asked the doctor how risky the anesthesia was and he responded that the riskiest part of the procedure to remove the nevus was putting our son in a car seat and driving to the hospital! That put it in perspective for me.

Good luck with the surgery!

My daughter had her tonsils and adenoids out (as well as ear tubes put in) when she was 20 months. She had the same issue of obstructive sleep apnea due to tonsils that were so big they were "almost kissing." Believe it or not, kids recover quicker than adults. That's great that they are willing to keep her over night--Nina was in and out in 5 hours! They want to make sure they are taking in at least liquids before they discharge. An hour after the procedure, Nina had eaten an entire Italian ice! The scariest part was when they put her to sleep, but it wasn't as hard as I'd built up in my head. It was quick and she recovered quickly. She rested up the next few days but was probably 100% again in a week.

The hardest recovery is on YOU--so bring some comforting people to keep your mind at ease before you get to go back in, then hold her when she wakes up (she will seem weird and probably be crying--NOT because she is in pain but because she feels funny from the anesthesia). I held Nina for 20 minutes of crying, then she slept in my arms for about an hour before waking up and eating the ice.

Good luck! I'll be thinking of you that day!!

I was as scared as you when my son had his out in January (i was 7 mos pregnant at the time!). My husband and I really didn't want to put him through it but we had a sleep study that showed he was stopping breathing 15 times per hour, very scary! The recovery was tough, a good week of tears and grouchiness, but well worth it. They say getting your child to drink afterwards is the biggest thing to help them heal and it is so hard because their little throats hurt so much. It goes fast though and he sleeps/eats so much better. He has also put on like 4 pounds and grown about 2 inches. The pedi says he's actually getting rest now so his body can grow instead of always working on breathing.

Hi Amy,
My daughter just had her tonsils and adnoids out in February of this year, she was 5. She also had extremely large tonsils, they did an xray which showed enlarged adnoids as well. She also was having issues with snoring and sleep apnea. We were referred to Mass Eye and Ear, and she had both her tonsils and adnoids removed. I was very nervous also about the anethesia being a nurse burt she did extremely well, sleepy after. Her surgery was a 7am and we were suppose to stay also, but ended up leaving at 4pm in the afternoon she was doing so well. She did have pain postop and they had only prescribed her liquid tylenol every 4 hours, I had wished she could have taken something a bit stronger. Also as hard as it is, try to encourage fluids (pops, jello etc.) Over all she did extremely well and I'm sure your daughter will. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions. H.

Hi Amy,
My daughter had her tonsils out right after she turned 4 and my son had his out just before his 6th birthday. It can be a bit scary to think about, but you are right it is a simple procedure and you will be SO glad you did it. Both of my kids had severe sleep apnea, never had strep and one ear infection each. My daughter was a serious snorer, especially for someone so little and cute! :) As for what to expect...well, the anesthesia can be a little unnerving. The kids look like they are in such a deep sleep. Sometimes they do jerk or jump or fight the feeling of the anesthesia a bit, but it is short lived. It helped me to stay with them while they went out and I put my head close to theirs (helped hold them down a little) and sang their favorite song quietly into their ear while they fell asleep. Coming out of the anesthesia can be tough, or not, depending on the kiddo. I had both extremes, one woke up and hung out till we were reunited and the other cried and cried. My best advice would be to be as patient as you possibly can. It may take a while to settle, but she will be ok.
Post surgery, I think the most important things that worked for us were... absolutely give the pain reliever exactly as they prescribe, missing a dose will set them back and it will be harder to relieve the pain... have PLENTY of popsicles, pudding, jello, ice cream, soup anything that goes down easy... be patient your child may not want to eat for a few days. Don't force it, just keep her hydrated. She didn't eat for a few days and started very slowly. She only lost a couple of pounds, but it looks like alot on a little body. The one thing that happened that no one said anything about was my daughters breath. It was terrible. Her breath got so bad I called the doctor, he told me that because she wasn't eating anything nothing was moving past the scarring to rub against it and that was causing her breath to smell so bad. That's why you really need to encourage the drinking and eating. My daughter also refused to talk for a quite a few days. She is a very chatty little one so it was kind of sad that she didn't want to talk and made me a little nervous, but all she needed was time to heal.
So hang in there and remember... the doctors and nurses give you their phone numbers so you can call them - don't hesitate to call them if you have any questions or concerns. Bring a new/special coloring books with special crayons or markers or new books to read to keep her busy while you wait to go in or go home - that really helped my kids.
Good luck, take care
M. O'B

Hi,
I am a stay at home mom to 3 wonderful children, a daughter that's 5, a daughter that's 3 and a son that's 10 months. Exactly one month ago, my 3 year old daughter had her tonsils and adenoids removed because of sleep apnea, hearing loss and constant throat infections. I was very nervous about the whole process and my husband and I talked about not having it done but realized it was crucial to her well being that she have it done. She did great! The surgery took about 30 minutes and recovery wasn't bad either. She also stayed over night at the hospital so they could monitor her sleep and she did fine. As far as pain medicine, she took it for one day after her surgery and then didn't need it. She didn't complain of pain and we found that the medicine altered her mood and made her very mean. So we just continued with her antibiotic and did not need the pain meds. although every child is different! My daughter was out on the swing set 2 days after surgery, it was very hard to keep her quiet. Just stock up on lots of popsicles, water, gatorade and my daughter ate a lot of mac and cheese because it was nice and soft going down. Keeping your child hydrated is the most important thing especially since she's having it done at a hot time. She sleeps much better now, does not complain of a stuffy throat and even talks differently. It was well worth all the worrying. She just had her post-op check up 2 days ago and is all heeled and has no fluid in her ears so her hearing should be back to normal and she will have a hearing test in a couple of weeks. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any other questions, everything is still very fresh in my mind since surgery was only a month ago. Good luck!!

Hi Amy,
My son too had his tonsils and adenoids out for snoring and sleep apnea. He too had never had an ear infection or sore throat. He was just over 3 at the time (now almost 6). I was nervous about the anesthesia and tormented myself if we were doing the right thing. The neck xray said that his tonsils were not quite occluding his airway. I have to tell you he came out of it fine! He did throw up twice in the PACU but it bothered us more than him. The PACU nurses were awesome too. Right on top of his pain med and had the throw up cleaned and his johnnie changed before we could blink an eye. We did buy him the book Good-Bye Tonsils by Juliana Lee Hatkoff and Craig Hatkoff and read it to him everynight the week before his surgery.
The surgeon had said that he might stay the night but he was fine within 3 hours of being on the pediatric floor and we were discharged. I would definately recommend that you stay on top of the pain medicine. I woke up during the night to make sure that he got it every 4 hours. He fought me every time about taking the medicine but it helped so much and he was relieved after he took it. I would say that my son wasn't quite himself for about a week after the surgery (a little lethargic, zero appetite).
We, as parents, torment ourselves over the right thing to do for our kids. We want to protect them and take of them. Good luck in your journey and I hope that our experience will help you and give you some piece of mind.
~A. S

Hi
My 4.5 year old daughter just had the same surgery on May 14th and she also had her tongue tie cut. We are from Andover and we had it done at the Lawrence General Hospital and everything went wonderful. The day of the surgery wasn't any fun because we had told my daughter the absolute truth of everything that was going to happen and she didn't even want to leave the house that morning. But, we got her there and they even let me go right into the O.R. with her because she would not let go of me. I layed on the table with her while they put her to sleep-I was comforting her and the nurse was comforting me because it wasn't a fun thing to watch (not that I want to scare you)but, it was about a 30 minute process and the doctor came to get me and I went into the recovery room with her. We were more nervous about her tongue tie because there was a chance that she may not talk again and would need speech. So, we were extremely nervous. I walked into that recovery room and she was yelling at the nurse that she needed to find her mommy and go home. Oh I was so relieved!! My daughter did not spend the night in the hospital we went home about six hours after arriving at the hospital. She ate lots of ice pops so stock up on them and really follow the directions because I had heard horror stories about recoverys and bleeding so I made sure she ate ice pop after ice pop and gave her the pain medication religiously every four hours for three day's. Her recovery was perfect. I didn't let her do any normal activities for two weeks-and I think that was harder than the surgery for her and I. But, I wanted no complications so I was strict. Everything turned out wonderful and she sleeps so well now it is unbelievable. As far as advice on giving the medicine to your daughter because she doesn't like it I really don't have much becuase my children have never faught me on taking medicine. I know the pharmacies now flavor it so try that. Just make sure you get it into her and try to do it for three day's like I did because we had a perfect recovery. My son who is 6 years old is going on July 9th to have his adnoids out and I am not nervous at all now that I went through that with my daughter-he is only having the one thing done so compared to her it will be a breeze and only two day's recovery!! I wish you all the luck in the world and I will be thinking of you that day-just remember to be strong for her-I held all my tears back until I came out of the O.R. and saw my husband. Everyone told me it was an easy procedure but I was still a nervous wreck and you will be too and there is nothing any one can say to you to stop that because this is your baby girl and you always want to protect her and make her happy so just go with the flow and it will be over before you know it. Again, Good Luck and I hope this makes you feel a little better. Andrea

First leave the tonsils if theres no problem with them. My son had "sleep apnea" or "peroidoic breathing" from the time he was born then at 3 1/2 had his first double ear infection. We had him checked out and decided to remove his adnoids. The doctor told me he was almost 100% blocked which is why he snored. Now he sleeps so soundly. Thats just my experience and advice from my doctor you have to evaluate your daughters condition and see if it fits to. Good luck.

My daughter went through the same procedure when she was five. It helped a TON. She lost the dark circles under eyes, her temper tampterums (sic) were fewer, and she didn't snore like a drunk old man. Do stock up on ices. You will suffer more than she will. But that seems to be a Mom's lot in life.

Hi Amy! I have 3 boys 12,10, and 5.... My 10 yr old had adnoids removed at 2 yrs old... then tonsils and adnoids ( they grew back) removed at age 8.. my 5 yr old had them removed last June at age 4.5 ... he was at childrens in Hartford, but the surgeon was from Hartford Hospital. he did amazingly well... the pain meds they gave hi to take, he would not drink ( tylenol w/ codeine)... but I gave him liquid motrin or tylenol... he had not much of a voice for about a week... but he was up and running that evening ( they told me it was "day" surgery, and I thought they meant he'd be done late afternoon... no one told me it was "23" hr day surgery, and he was to stay over night... so we waited, he ate popsicles and such and they let us leave at 8pm). The main concern is that they don't break open the stiches... so soft food for a few days ( we did a week) and NO sucking through a straw...He ate icecream, popsicles/applesauce,jello, yogurt,scrambled eggs, grilled cheese ( no crust), we made milkshakes ( really mushy with a spoon,pancakes... and the list goes on.... I'd say the worst part of it all was having him put under... I HATE that part... tehy let you hold them until they go out... and that is scary! He had no ear infections, never has had strep.. but he SNORED so loudly we could hear him at the other end of the house! So it sounds like you are doing whats right for her!
Best of luck to you... and email me if you have any qeustions! ____@____.com.... T.

I had mine out when I was a eleven. I am going to give you the heads up on what I remember.. DO NOT GIVE ICECREAM.. It's makes too much mucus which is hard to swallow. The hospital gave it to me after I came out of anesthsia.. HA.. I thought I was going to choke on it. Ice pops or anything that is not milky.. stay away from pudding as well right away.. give it a few days.. stick to jello, popsicles, broth, my mom made me some fruit smoothies.. which were really refreshing. Not to mention really cool and relaxing!! She is going to have the world worst smelling breath. Get her some childrens mouthwash without alcohol. It's so bad its embarassing. As she begins to heal she is going to possibly cough up the scabs. Sounds really really gross and it is.. its going to look kinda bloody and mucusy.. Dont be alarmed I remember my mother was and it was nothing.. Other than that.. spoil her with the smoothies... They were the fondest moment I have from the whole procedure... Make one for yourself and do the mommy daughter thing.. Make something positive out of it. Maybe even get yourself a cool margarita glass.. She will thank you for it in the long run.. and have something to tell everyone.... I have fruit drinks in cool glasses with mommy..LOL Let me know if I can help anymore.. as I remember the whole procedure.

Amy, we have had ear tubes and adenoids done. We did only tubes the first time & this time have noticed a HUGE difference!! We didn't do the tonsils sicne he hasn't ever had any throat issues.
Our son's 2 surgery was done at children's. They are wonderful there!I HIGHLY recommend going to the tour before, A nurse goes over everything the child will see & experience. They give a tour and give the child a face mask so they can "practice" at home.
Good luck! It is difficult having your child go through all this I know. But in the long run it sounds as if she will be healthier.
thinking of you!

My oldest son (almost 9) had both out when he was only 3 & it was the best decision we ever made! He was snoring & constantly stuffy & had a lot of sore throats, but never strep. They gave him a "special drink" before anesthesia to make him relax, kind of made him seem tipsy..Once he came out of surgery he kind of woke up being scared, but it passed and within a couple of hours he was asking for potato chips!! We gave him the pain meds, but we had a harder time getting him to rest than anything else. He was up and running around within a couple of days..He never gets sick now & sleeps great!! Good luck!!

Hi Amy my son had his tonsils out and adnoids shrunk. My son had them done the summer before he started 4th grade, the hardest part was watching him go under i wouldn't let them take him untill i saw the breathing tube in and hooked up your daughter will wake up crying and be in a lot of pain and every child has adifferent pain tolerance but also it gets worse as they get older the removal part. My son cried a lot when he got out but by the time we got him home he slept most of the night. He took his pain meds twice and that was it, they also said no ice cream, soda things like that the only thing i could get him to drink was root beer soda. The hardest part of all that was keeping a child with ADHD still. They cant run around and things like that. My son went back for his follow up one day before he started fourth grade and the doc said that he would have to stay out for the next ten days it looks like i just did it and he could bleed out. He was fine he stayed with his grandmother during the week i worked, they do this surgery every day on hundreds of kids. good luck to your dtr. and you

My 4 year old son had his tonsils and adnoids out and tubes put in last april, a couple of days before easter. it was the best thing we did. he had chronic ear infections before the procedure and strep all the time, its been over a year, and he hasn't been sick since- knock on wood! stock up on popsicles. the only hard part was waking up from the anestesia- his mouth hurt, he was groggy, and the iv was still in his arm (which he didn't like). they don't put the iv in until the kid falls asleep, which is good. once they took out the iv he was much better. we stayed at the hospital a couple of hours after the surgery, they let us go after he ate a couple of popsicles and went pee. when we got home i let him lie in my bed and rented movies for him. he was back to his old self and celebrated easter running around with his cousins. good luck!

I had mine out at 6.5 back in the seventies.. PIECE OF CAKE!
It will help her alot. I had them out because i had a constant double ear infection. Although I didn't outgrow them until i was like twelve I did at least get some breaks between infections. It seems they are taking them out more for the fact they are infected or what they call PITUITIS.(sp).. does she also have bad breathe? Anyways try and relax she will be fine and pudding and yogurt and icecream are all yummy... along with other soft foods whil eshe heals.. about a week maybe two..

I don't have much advice, but I can share my story which may add to the comforting side of your worries!

My son (now almost 9) had his tonsils and adenoids out shortly before he turned 4 - it was an outpatient surgery so he went home that afternoon, it went very smoothly (one of the most common surgeries) and he was fine. They brought me in with him to the O.R. and had me hold him while they administered the anesthesia and I had to watch him "go out" in my arms - and that was the hardest part. But bringing his "BaBa" (security blanket) was the best, they let him keep it so he woke with something familiar. The recovery period was hard for me too because it took him a long time to come around, but that was just because it took some time for the anesthesia to wear off - so prepare for a couple of hours of VERY sluggishness. But once he came around he was drinking juice and eating popsicles left and right. I also had the surgery on a Friday so I could be there all weekend to take care of him with minimal days taken off work and by Saturday afternoon he was bouncing off the walls and playing like normal. They also put in stitches that would take about a week to fall out and they said he could eat them, that they would probably come out while he was eating and they would go through his system fine, and that's what happened.

Kids get over surgeries much quicker. (A few years later my sister - at age 25 - had her tonsils out and she was out of work for 2 weeks) So you can expect a speedy recovery!

I hope this helps, and don't worry too much, your daughter will be fine, and trust me, the snoring stops and you sleep much better knowing she'll be breathing much easier!!!
All the best, L.

Hi Amy,

My oldest sister just had her son go through the same procedure, he is doing SO much better now and feels wonderful. It was causing health issues for him and at age 6 they decided surgery was the best choice. They were right.
It was an uneventful procedure and he was home the same day. I believe it was much harder on my sister than her son. She is SO happy they had it done. Her son was nervous and apprehensive about it when he was in the hospital but he got through it fine.
Stay strong and positive, your daughter will be just fine.
Blessings.
L.