Adenoid removal..any advice?

[chickibud]

My 3 year old has glue ear so needs grommets, but our ENT consultant also thinks it's necessary to remove his adenoids and tonsils at the same time just because he snores loudly at night and doesn't eat very well. I know grommets work well and will improve his speech, but not sure about the others. Just think it's a lot for a 3 year old to go through. does anyone have any advice?

[MistleToo]

They always used to wait until children were 5-ish but things may have changed.

[chickibud]

Hello again,
I've just read about sleep apnoea on a website - seems like this is what he suffers from at night, so looks like the big op will be necessary. I'm just really really nervous about it because he is tiny for his age, and is on top form at the mo. Can anyone put my mind at rest as the op is due to be done on the 5th. Thanks

[jayzmummy]

My Ds1 had both his tonsils, adonoids and grommits fitted at the same time. He was fine and his speech and hearing improved dramatically within days of the op.
Might be a good idea to get some fruit juice...water it down 50/50 and make up some ice lollies...Ds was begging for them as his mouth was quite dry....it ws sore for him to swollow....but that would have been his tonsils.

Im sure he will be fine and by Christmas he will have forgotten all about the op

[honeybunny]

We're facing this with our 3yo, possibly next week. He has some hearing loss and diction issues. Adenoids are positioned close to the eustachian canal where any fluid in the inner ear should drain through. If the adenoids are enlarged grommets wouldnt be enough to maintain a clear inner ear as the glue could still get impeded by the adenoids. Hence why they are often removed at the same time as grommets being put in. Good indication for removal is the snoring.
There is more of a risk of bleeding with adenoids removal, but is only a short 15min procedure. Our ds2 will be a day case only, probably in and out in the morning if he's first on the list, and no post op probs. I'm feeling 100% confident about the decision to put him through this as I know it will make a big difference to his life. He's a sponge for knowledge at the moment and frustrated at times that he cant be understood when questioning things, and this makes him tend towards naughtiness and disruption in pre-school, and I dont want him to get used to being labelled the "cheeky one" at school either. He hates getting eye spy wrong too because he doesnt hear the right letter sounds.

[crimbocrazydazy]

It was this time last year when my DS had his tonsils and adenoids out. His reason was because his speech wasn't very good and he too snored and was congested almost constantly through the winter!!!!

He was in pain for a couple of days after the operation and we relied heavily on calpol and ibuprofen, he was given antibiotics too and generally felt sorry for himself.

His speech has improved, there are certain words we don't understand and he is 3.6 so we are not sure by having the operation it has made any difference as he would have probably got better with his speech anyway!!!

At least you will be able to give him medised which will help him sleep too.

[chickibud]

Jayzmummy - Thanks, will stock up on fruit juice lollies. Glad it was successful for your DS1.

Honeybunny - Hope all goes well next week. Thanks for advice, was tonsillectomy an option for you too or did your ENT feel that wasn't neccessary?

Crimbocrazydazy - surprised your DS didn't haven't grommets fitted.

[honeybunny]

chickibud- tonsils not a problem apparantly. Certainly no history of recurrant infection anyway.
crimbocrazydazy-you may have found that if you hadnt gone through with surgery his speech wouldnt have improved at all, especially if he was as congested as you say. Children can suffer up to 60% hearing loss with ear infections and colds. At 3.6yr I wouldnt expect to understand all that he says either.

[crimbocrazydazy]

Chickibud - they checked to see if he needed grommets but apparently he didn't and yes I do agree that is speech has improved since he had the operation and am glad now he had it done, his tonsils were huge anyway and that was another reason they decided to remove them. DD's are big too but they won't remove hers as she hardly ever gets tonsillitis so they don't feel there is a need and her hearing is fine. Don't think I would want to put her through it anyway as she is scared of hospitals and injections etc...

[Helen38]

My ds (6) had his adenoids out/ grommits in a week ago.
he could hear better when he woke up and was very quickly started to find it easier to swallow which he struggled with before. He has also stopped mouth breathing so doesn't have the constant sore throat he has had forv years. The other thing we have noticed is that his voice has changed, he used to sound quite nasal and bunged up and that has gone.
We are really glad that we have had it done although in his case obviously he is older, we have been being told since he was3 that he would grow out of it and they finaly decided that he wasn't going to.
I won't pretend it was fun at the time and I have still got to have him at home for another week to avoid infection but in some ways I wish that they had offered it for him years ago as the difference has beeen so quick to see and he hasn't finished healing yet.
Oh and he has stopped snoring and breathes through his nose in his sleep which he has never done.

Hope that helps