5 year old having tonsillectomy- any experience?

[bapplebanana]

Hello, DS is having tonsillectomy, adenoids removed and grommets in on Friday morning. He will be having two weeks off work for recovery, DH works from home, and as a teacher I'll be going back to work on Monday.

I was hoping to hear from other people who have children who have had this procedure- how long did it take for your child to feel 'well' again? I'm already anxious to be leaving him on the Monday.

We have been told to try and get DS to eat as much 'regular' food as possible, to help his recover.

Both ds had this done both by age 4. Elder ds had sleep apnea and recurrent ear infection and younger Ds constantly had ear and throat infections. Both recovered very very quickly, just 1 night in hospital. They were sore but had lots of treats and regular food within a day. They had lots of ice lollies!! For both it changed their health for the better. Elder ds could hear, younger ds stopped needing monthly antibiotics. I am sure all will be fine, may need cuddles but they bounce back very fast.

I remember having my tonsils out when I was 12. I was pretty sore but don't think my recovery took too long what I do remember was a much smaller child possibly about 5 eating popcorn in the ward very soon after his surgery. I think the nurse said that smaller children recover much quicker. Now this is many many years ago but the memories feel
Very clear to me.

My daughter had tonsils and adenoids out and grommets in a few months ago, also age 5. She felt unwell after the anaesthetic but was almost back to herself the next day, just took a while longer to build her appetite. We did keep on top of pain relief during the day though and she did wake unsettled in the night for ten days or so, presumably as the pain relief had worn off. We took a mix of foods to hospital with us and she just ate what she felt like. It felt like about ten days before she was fully recovered but she was ‘almost normal’ even up to that point, just a bit up and down sometimes. Hope it goes well for your little one

Following as my five year old is having the same done in a couple of weeks! Feeling so anxious about it all.

I had mine removed when I was 5, many decades ago when parents were limited to one short visit a day, no toy or play room just lying in a hospital bed for a week.
Medical practice has moved on and improved since then, your DC will be fine. The best bit was getting ice cream to eat afterwards. Best wishes .

6 year old ds is 10 days post op. He had tonsils and adenoids removed due to sleep apnea and constant congestion.

First few days were a bit rough, but he didn't complain once, would only tell me he was in pain if asked, but could clearly see from the look on his face that he was in a lot of pain. Keep up with pain meds, I found ds ate much better about 30 mins after a dose of ibuprofen. He hasn't needed any pain medication for about 3 days now, and eating as normal

Dp and I had to go back to work on day 4, but luckily my mum was around to watch him for us. He has become extremely clingy though, and very emotional, but reading about it online, this is can be normal after an anesthetic.

DS2 had his out when he was 3. The first few days were rough and you really do need to keep on top of the pain meds. We let him lounge around on the sofa watching crap children's TV. They do bounce back quite quickly and then the issue became keeping him amused whilst he recovered.

The difference it made in the long term was huge. DS2 went from small, pale and listless to something akin to Tigger and moved up over a centile in height in the next few years. He was around the 50th centile and he's now mid teens and about to hit 6' (if you'd seen him before the op you'd have never believed he'd end up that tall).

One thing we did find with DS2 was he ended up needing a small amount of speech therapy as the repeated tonsillitis had affected how he learned to form sounds. Part of the issue might have been blocked ears but it was also a mechanical problem probably because the pain and swelling made moving his mouth and tongue difficult.

@Sewingbea09 a little update for you to settle nerves- DS had tonsils and adenoids out this morning, now back home. He was emotional and very sore after the op when he first woke up, his mouth and throat were dry which made it all worse.

He was quick to sip water, and then within an hour was eating ice cream. He had some more pain killers and was sat up playing on I pad, eating crisps, toast, sweets, fruit, drinking squash. He got a bit lethargic and moany noises again when it was coming up to medicine time, but has perked up again and is now home on sofa watching tele with his brother having an ice lolly.

I was surprised at how quickly he was able to eat, he's a fuss pot generally anyway, so f my DC was okay I'm sure yours will be absolutely fine

Oh that's brilliant! Thank you so much for the update. I've been so worried about it all. Amazing he's home and eating quickly!

I hope he recovers quickly xxxx

Just posting here as I was looking through these boards a few weeks ago in advance of my DS's surgery (adenoid and tonsil removal). He is 3. He had the coblation surgery, which can minimise risk of bleeding and speed up recovery.

His admission was at 745AM, so he fasted from the night before, water until 730AM. He was taken up to theatre around 930, so we played and coloured and sang until then.

I sat him on my knee while he was put to sleep (mask) and sang in his ear. He stayed completely calm. I was able to be with him in the recovery ward when he woke up. A few minutes later he became quite upset and the nurse recommended trying to get him back to sleep, which he did quickly. He then slept another 90 minutes, and woke up ready for his tuna sandwich which he favoured over ice cream! He ate a muffin, some watermelon, apple, crisps and yoghurt pouches as well.

We were discharged and home in time for a big bowl of pesto pasta and a water fight with big brother.

We kept on top of pain killers, alternating Nurofen and Calpol. We also kept on top of offering drinks and food so that his throat didn't dry out and the scabs came off more easily. He loved pesto pasta, Frubes, and crisps. Wasn't that interested in ice lollies or ice cream, but did offer regularly. He ate most of us his usual meals as well, maybe being a little more picky than normal for the first few days.

He woke once per night for the first few, and seemed to be in the most pain then, but cuddles and meds sorted him out. From night 5 he slept through again.

On day 4 (counting surgery as day 0), he had a hard few minutes, running around holding his mouth and asking for medicine when he wasn't due any. I gave him some pizza a few minutes later, which he GULPED down, and when I looked into his throat later, I noticed a lot of scabbing had come off. This happened a few times over the next few days - short bursts of pain followed by really clear progress in terms of his healing.

By day 8, we were reducing meds and by day 12 he wasn't taking anything. It's now day 15 and you'd never know anything had happened, bar the fact that:

his sleep apnea (which was severe) is now completely done - he slept silently and deeply from the first night post-op!

he is currently having a growth spurt and eating us out of house and home!

Totally worth it, and the recovery was easier than I had anticipated. Hope whoever is reading this experiences the same.