Experience of child tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy?

[bobstersmum]

Ds will be 6 in a week and his consultant has decided today that he needs tonsils and possibly adenoids out. He has had approx 3 winters of tonsillitis, and he has a constant feeling of something stuck in his throat which upsets him as he worries about swallowing. Ds wants them out. However, the leaflets they have given me have really worried me as it goes on about possible haemorrhage within two weeks following surgery. I had mine out as a child and was fine but dh had his out and did bleed a lot.
Can anyone reassure me, or help me decide whether to go through with it please?
Any input welcome.

My son had his tonsils and adenoids removed at 2.5yrs and whilst it was a rough 10 days, it made an absolutely huge difference and am so pleased we went through with it. Obviously there is a risk of bleeding, but he would have pre op bloods done to check there were no clotting issues. My son in now 4.5yrs and his adenoids have regrown (didn't know they could do that!!) and he will be having them removed for a second time

DD had both hers out at 6( she’s in her 30s now so I’m talking a long time back). She was a bit rough for a few days (in terms of sore throat) but it was so worth it. She slept better (we used to hear her snoring from downstairs) , ate better and didn’t have to keep suffering the constant awfulness of tonsillitis. I used to get it every few weeks as a child and still remember how ill I felt each time. I missed a crazy amount of school over the years too. I think all information and consent forms have to point out every possible complication but it’s a very safe surgery.

DS was 8 when he had both his removed and his nose cauterised at the same time. The possible side effects (of any operation) are scary but complications are very very rare. For us there was no question of not having the op, despite DS never having tonsillitis (just large tonsils that started to bleed).

Everything was very straight forward and DS was eating a sandwich and bag of crisps 2 hours after surgery! He was also home the same day. The worst part was approx. 4 days later as the scab started to form and he found that quite painful but that only lasted a couple of days. The other bonus is that he no longer snores!

To put your mind at rest my housemate had hers out years ago when we were 18 or 19, she did have a bleed afterwards but it was easily treated (I can’t remember how), she only needed one more night’s stay and she was fine .

Dsis and I both had ours removed as well , mine at 6 ,

Sorry posted too soon, sister was 18 or 19, we were both fine .

Ds 8 had this done in July. He had literally every complication going but that is incredibly rare.
After all of the drama the change has been amazing. This is first winter where he hasn’t been ill. He sleeps better. He speaks more clearly. He’s doing better in school.
It’s a real game changer and drs are so reluctant to put people forward for it it must be necessary.

Had both my tonsils & adenoids out at 6 & was fine. Only complication was needing some adenoidal scar tissue cut out when I was 10.

Consultants will always err on the side of caution, so they're not going to recommend it unless they feel the benefits very clearly outweigh the risks.

Absolute game changer for our kid, and only a couple of days of the recovery where the pain was quite rough.

Ds1 had both tonsils and adenoids out age 3 as he had obstructive sleep apnoea. He was sore for about a week but quickly recovered. He coughed up a little blood once or twice during the first 24 hours but nothing more.

Definitely a good idea to have them out now.

My poor sister had to wait till she was 30 & suffered infections & tonsil stones for years.

The complications are nausea & vomiting, bleeding & infection.

I had this done when I was 4 & had the vomiting after but barely remember it.

I remember finding hospital exciting at that age though.

My DS had his tonsils out when he was 2 and a half. He had a haemorrhage afterwards and had to have a second operation. At the time it was very scary, but the consultant who did the second operation, when I was panicking, reassured me that there was really no drama, it was just bleeding and needed re cauterising. It's rare but they still treated it as very simple and routine and he was home and better in 24 hours.

It was absolutely the best thing we did from him. He had it done for sleep apnoea but had also had bad tonsillitis. He'd spent the first two years of his life being constantly ill, what with that and reflux. He was a head shorter than the other children of his age. 0.4th centile. He has basically never been ill since and he's now 10 and one of the taller boys in his class. Even with the complication, I've never regretted it for a second, just been grateful we were able to have it done.

If you are worried, one thing I'd say is that the original surgeon said to me, complications are rare but if there is even a little bit of bleeding, get it checked out at A&E. I found just a little spot of blood on his pillow at 6am on about day 4. It was tiny and I felt like I was overreacting, and the first A&E doctor didn't know what he was talking about and tried to send us home. When I insisted, they sent me to a different hospital that had weekend ENT doctor on call. They knew there was an issue and they dealt with it, but I'm glad I followed the first surgeon's advice and took him when I saw that initial blood.

Thanks for starting this thread Op and to everyone who shared your experiences and stories. My son will be having both done sometimes next month when he will be 3. Last year alone he had 10 infections. It was a miserable year.

My DD had both sets out aged 3. We stayed in overnight as she didn't recover as quick as expected from the anaesthetic, a few days back at home and absolutely back to her usual self. Her adenoids grew back (they don't fully remove them , just cut most of them away so they can regrow) so she was back in the following year to get them removed again. Another stay over due to anaesthetic, again a few days at home back to her normal self. She suffered with sleep apnea and these ops have been a god send. Other kids who had same ops were discharged same day. From what I've been told, generally the recovery is easier the younger the patient.

My DS has this at age 5 and the effects of the op were a total game changer - the 10 days or so afterwards are tough but we've not had to deal with any tonsillitis or sleep apnea since. It's been life changing for him.

Thank you everyone for your replies, it has made me feel more positive about it. Can I ask what pain relief they are given to take home?
Adobe, good luck please let us know how it goes.

Both by ds’s had the same operation and both were fine. Eldest ds was deaf and had sleep apnea, he also had crommets fitted and the change in him was amazing. He could hear, and both of them stopped having the awful recurring infections. Pain relief wise we just had calpol etc. It is painful and can take a few weeks to get over but for us it changed their well-being greatly.

They were very specific about painkillers. There was calpol and ibuprofen as well as oramorph for day 3. They were really on top of making sure the painkiller regime meant he was never in pain.
Ds had had a near permanent sore throat before so wasn’t in that much pain and taking much less than they prescribed. Even when we went back in as an emergency they were bang on top of painkillers.

Dd had both out in April last year she was 4. I actually started a thread to cos I was scared.

But she went down to theatre had them both out, came back to us, was very dopey.
She had 1 blood clot that she managed to spit out and was fine, dh wasn't as soon as he saw the blood he passed out and had to lay down on the bed next to her had to eat scratchy foods.

But now her speech is a lot clearer, no more trips to doctors. She actually made it a full term at school with no days off.

The leaflet they give you always have to tell you the worst but it will be better in long run.

I was that scared I was up all night the night before tempted to not take her.

My daughter got her tonsils out at the same age. The operation itself was fine, felt like forever to me but she was away from me for 35 mins. I was with her when she went under and I picked her up from the recovery room. We were in and out on the same day and she was ready for home a few hours after she'd wolfed several bowls of cereal down .

The best pain relief advice I was given was to wake them to give them the painkillers so that she had pain relief through the night. My kid was fine, no complications at all, no bleeding, bored of it all after a few days. She was in such pain before she had them removed, she was wiped by normal busy weeks etc in school. I didn't realise how much it affected her and us until a few months after they were out.

DS has them both out this summer aged 4 (sleep apnoea) and it's been great since, he sleeps so much better and also eats a lot better.
Post op he had paracetamol, ibuprofen and oramorph (in hospital). We had to stay over night as we're an hour away from the hospital. He had an IV during the night as he wasn't drinking but was okay the next day.
Hardest part was keeping him 'quiet and sedentary' for 2 weeks after and away from other germy kids!
I think DD2 (2.5) will need the same op as she's started snoring and having trouble swallowing too

The painkillers given are just a bottle of calpol!!
So you keep on top of calpol and ibroprofen at regular intervals.
The worst bit for me was trying to get the anaesthesia into my ds.
He freaked out at it all, we then had to come out of theatre and have him have some pre- med - wait then go back in to try have gas, enough to knock him out slightly to inject.he even fought that and had to pin him down- that was the awful part so do prepare your children for an injection .(my ds had had an issue with an injection couple of years before and has scarred him mentally I think ) so that it was truly horrific.the fact I was also on own with him doing all these due to ex dh not even being interested enough to take day off) meant I was a weeping wreck after.
So my advice is take someone along !

My son had his tonsils out at about 12. He was given the paperwork talk about 5% sometimes bleed after and, at about midnight in hospital, he called me "mum, trust me to be one of the 5 percent".

We called a doctor who came immediately and gave him some sort of treatment. He was fine! They wouldnt let him leave hospital until he had eaten toast, but I think thats usual.

His next difficult time was about 10 days. I think the scabs start to fall off and it was quite uncomfortable again for a day or so. I think he had two weeks off school (although some of his was school holiday).

It was really worth doing though as he repeadedly got tonsillitis when he got colds and it did away with that.

Hi,
My daughter had hers out when she was 3. After 10 episodes of tonsillitis and a stay in hospital for dehydration due to not drinking on one episode it was a necessity.
Op went fine, we were told to stay in and during the night it did start to bleed so they took her back off to theatre to reseal the wounds. She was fine and the hospital was amazing.
When we had our follow up appointment the consultant said as she is a red head your more likely to bleed 🤔 but to put you at rest the situation was easily dealt with and a couple of weeks post op she was back to her happy self!
Best decision we made to have them out

My son was sent home with paracetamol, ibuprofen and and oramorph for a few days. It's normal for them to seem to be getting much better and then have a real dip at day 3-4 so they gave us oramorph to cover that.

Op, how did your son’s operation go? Hope he’s fully on the mend. My daughter is the same age and having her tonsils & adenoids removed in a couple of weeks, looking for advice on what to expect I came across your post here.

Do you have any advice from your recent experience?