Surgery Expectations

My son also has a history of fluid in his ears and frequent ear infections. I think you should be commended for addressing the problem so early and helping your son have a normal development.

My son had his tonsils and adenoids removed when he was four, and from what I understand the recovery can be much easier just having the adenoids removed because when a child has their tonsils removed it hurts to swallow as they have open sores in their throat from where the tonsils were removed. My doctor also said that when children are younger, especially one your child's age, they bounce back very quickly. Here was our surgical procedure:
- the hospital told us to arrive at an hour and fifteen minutes before the scheduled surgery. They checked in him and had him change, brought him a huge stuffed teddy bear, and then gave him some medicine to help him relax and it also made him sort of silly. I told him that he was going to go to sleep soon and that I would be there when he woke up. I was allowed to walk with him on the rolling bed all the way up to the operating room.
- the surgery itself was very quick, and the doctor came to give me a good report as soon as the surgery was finished while my son was asleep in the recovery/observation room. They said that he should be waking up from the general anesthesia in the next few minutes and then they would come get me to see him.
- this was initially the hardest part because when my son came to he was disoriented, in pain from the surgery, and scared because I wasn't there right away, and totally hysterical. I am told that this is what to expect and this is what is a normal reaction, and even though it is hard on the parent, nearly every child reacts this way.
- After about an hour, they had us go to a recovery room until they were sure that he was able to drink and go to the bathroom and then we went home.
- Once home, we had to give him Tylenol every four hours so that he would be comfortable. Again, I suspect that the discomfort after only having the adenoids removed is much less than also having the tonsils removed.
- If you can arrange for some extra help, family or friends or even some household help during the week after the surgery I would recommend that because I did not anticipate how physically and emotionally draining the recovery would be for both me and my son.
- During his recovery, I basically just devoted all my time to him. He needed to be held all the time, and he needed constant reminders and prodding to drink. During the night he would wake up from the pain medication wearing off and I had to give him medicine every four hours. However, he recovered quickly and soon was back to his old self. He wanted to jump around and stuff, but the doctor said to limit his physical activity during the first week so that his blood pressure wouldn't go up and cause more bleeding.

I don't mean to scare you about the surgery, rather just give you a full description of our experience. Going into it I felt so relieved when the procedure itself was done, but didn't realize the difficult week that was ahead of us. Thank goodness my mom was around. She would come over and just was the dishes, chop up a salad for us to eat, and read stories to my son while I jumped in the shower...

Sorry this is so long, but I lastly just want to affirm some of the other suggestions. When a child has been on repeated doses of antibiotics, all of the "good" bacteria that help with disgestion and help keep yeast levels in the body balanced are also diminished. It is really important that you give your son some probiotics to replenish the good bacteria that he needs in his body. And I do not mean just yogurt with probiotics. There are some very good probiotics made by Kirkland's or Kirkman's and another one by . You can just open the capsule and mix the powder into his food or drink. Ironically, many children are given antibiotics for ear infections, however a study was conducted at Harvard University that concluded that up to 70 percent of ear infections are caused by yeast buildup in the body and in the ear. And that is actually a cyclical problem that is only made worse by antibiotics.

Also, if you have had your son allergy tested, it is worth asking for another allergy test done. There is a blood test that tests for up to 100 hidden allergies. Initially my son did not test positive for any allergies using the skin test, but after the blood test, all of the dairy foods showed up as sensitivites as well as nut products.

Since removing dairy and nut products from his diet 4 weeks ago and giving him probiotics daily, nearly all of the fluid in his ears is gone and he has his full hearing back, and no more ear infections. A month ago his ENT tested him and he could only hear at 50% in one of his ears and 75% in the other, had fluid in both ears, and had had a series of ear infections. We agreed to give him 2-3 months before agreeing to have tubes put in to see if I could take him to an allergist and pinpoint what might be the underlying cause of the fluid buildup in his ears. He was just seen again last week and had another hearing test done to monitor his progress, and it is really amazing that these small changes have resulted in a total turnaround!

My son had his tonsils and anoids removed on 2/22/05, he was 3. He coped really well. He isn't a big medicine taker, so he took almost no pain meds after the surgery. He was back to his old self in no more than 3 days. I think the younger tehy are the easier it is, since they don't really understand the pain. When my son came home the day of the surgery, he mostly slept. Good luck.

my son had the tubes put in when he was 17 months. The surgery literally took 15 minutes and everything was fine. The only thing that is hard is when he comes out of surgery and is in recovery my son cried and cried and cried 1) because of the anesthesia and strange environment and 2) because he had not eaten since midnight. Looking back it really was a very simple procedure, we of course, were all worked up over it but it was not a problem at all. We live in NW Indiana and had the procedure done at UIC so he slept all the way home and most of that day. He was up and running around like normal by the evening and the next day. He also had some hearing loss because of his ear infections - by six months post surgery his hearing had returned to "normal" he is now 28 months and quite the chatterbox at or above the normal range for his age (I've had him checked several times)

Good luck to you! Its much harder on us as moms for our babies than it really is. We had a wonderful (if you can call surgery that) experience and I would do it again if I had to.

If your son has had repeated ear infections then expect him to act somewhat like that. I can tell you that as child I had FIVE sets of tubes put in and I can tell you that is the way it feels, like an ear infection and a sore throat. My daughter also had her adenoids/tonsils removed and tubes when she was about 10. I suggest getting him a bunch of kids movies to watch (at a lower volume), make sure you have LOTS of cold things to drink. Try and keep things quieter, imagine turning up the volume on everything several notches and that is what it is like. Lots of hugs, lots of love...but who doesn't need that? =)

J. - my daughter had the surgery for tubes when she was 23 months old. She had recurrent infections. The surgery was very quick, but she didn't have her adenoids removed. She was awake in no time, and we were able to bring her home quickly. I don't know how much is involved with adenoid removal.

I will tell you that my daughter's speech improved remarkably fast. We didn't realize how little she was hearing. She is now almost 12 - and one of the most articulate children I have ever known!

Good luck with your son's surgery!

my daughter was 11 month it went so fast when they paged my dh and i had not finished our breakfast yet
adnoids and tearduct unblocked like 45 min or something
recovery was a breeze

I went through this with my best friend and her son. she just doesn't handle this stuff well so it was actually very interesting to be allowed to go through this with her and her son. He handled it so well we were shocked at the hospital they gave him meds to start the process these meds made him very sleepy and very funny. When the surgery was done he was already waking up when they brought him back to us but he was very weepy and crabby that only lasted about an hour.
We took him home and for the rest of the day he had tylenol every four hours and rested He never once complained of pain He was back to himself in a couple of days. Like I said he handled it way better then we thought. I just remembered this is also about how it went with the neighbor boy. The one thing to remember, your son will hear things clearer then he has been hearing. Both boys I know that went through this did not like this. The first day they both went around covering their ears. The toilet flushing at the hospital scared the neighbor boy really bad. Another very interesting thing with both of the boys their voices were different for about a month their voices were higher and squeaky. But it was awesome to hear them both start talking way more and we could understand them clearer.
You will need to get earplugs for the bathtub.
I believe kids bounce back faster so a little rest,tylenol and hanging out with mom will be what he needs most.

My daughter just had her adenoids removed ( she was snoring and had obstructive sleep apnea due to her adenoids). I was terrified to see her reaction to the place and have them wheel her away, but she did so incredibly well. It took about 10 mins and they came back and told us it was done and they would call us back when she starts to wake up. That took about 15 mins and when went back there she was hysterical asking for Mommy, but calmed down when she saw us. We got to watch a movie and she had to drink juice in front of them. My daughter was up walking around (just very tired) that day. The only thing is they tell you there is afoul odor that comes out of their mouth afterwards and it will last about a week. The smell is really bad :( LOL But that's the least of your concerns. It is also very very important to keep them hydrated ( I used Diluted Apple juice and Gatorade) . IF they develop a low grade fever they need more liquids! Except your baby to be a very sleepy guy for a few days....It's so much easier then you really are expecting! Oh and I had top get up every 4 hours to give her Tylenol for the first 3 days. Our surgery was at Lutheran General and they are very nice to the children there.

Hi J.- I am a former elementary school teacher and now SAHM of 4. One of my middle daughter had her andoids removed at age 4. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is for your child to have this taken care of so young. My daughter now recieves speech service for articulation due to all the missed sounds she had due to fluid in her ears- never infections. She did throw up so be prepared! Otherwise it was quick and as easy as surgery can be!
Good Luck
B.

My son has gome thru tubes and adenoids removal. The surgery is literally 6 minutes it goes so fast. He has had 2 tubes sets befor the adenoids were removed. He was great w/all the procedures. After the adenoids he was in pain and had a hard time sleeping for couple days, but he was great after a week. Just follow the doctors directions for the pain medications and that should help him a lot. My son was also 16 months and he is now 2 1/2. But he still has had few ear infections so for us it did not work as we anticipated, but the moms that i spoke w/who went thru similar procedures the kids have been great. Good luck, if you have any other questions let me know. B.

My eldest son had his tonsils and adnoids removed at that age. . He was fine with it. I was the mess. LOL I basically had to make sure that he had enough fluid in him to hydrate, I gave him LOTS of popsickles! Keep em stocked up. Just relax, it will be fine.

Hi Jen,

I wish you can relax about this because it is really such a simple and routine surgery. But again you are a mom with such love and concern for your child so i really understand your anxiety. Our daughter had her adenoids removed early this year and it went well. But my daughter was a little older, she was 6, so it was more easier to handle her because she could tell me exactly how she was feeling afterwards and communicate any pain or sawness she was feeling. I think the most painful part of it was the actual anesthesia(spelling). She had a hard time coming to and gaining consciousness, but the surgery itself did not bother her at all. We also experienced numeruos ear infections and she lost some of her hearing and it was just too painful to watch her miss her fun life because of this fluid build up. So just remember it is for the good of your son's life for him to feel better and to be his regular self. So relax and just be there when he gets out. It should take just a few hours and he should be able to go home the same day.

Hope eveything goes well and your son feels better.

L.