Child's Tonsilectomy tomorrow!

[shrinkingbee]

Hi all,

Just looking for any tips or support as my 11yo child is having their tonsils out tomorrow. He is anxious (as am I) fully understand that it is a very common op but if anyone has any advice to speed up or help recovery/pain relief, I'd much appreciate!

I have popped to Tesco today and stocked up on calpol, an ice pack, yoghurt, smoothies etc.

Thank you

I had this done and got Quincy it was awful just keep 100% on top of the pain relief for 5/6 days wether or not he thinks he needs it

ice cream is not great, stick to not too acidic lollies, dry toast soup

Hi, I’m a paeds nurse. It’s very common but he’s still your child so don’t feel bad for being anxious :) tips are to ensure you stay on top of pain relief for a few days- you will likely be discharged with paracetamol, ibuprofen and depending on the hospital/doctor maybe a small amount of morphine incase it’s needed later on once home (once it can be painful as anaesthetic has worn off) but this varies. Also, those foods may be soothing but he will be encouraged to eat something more “rough” in hospital such as toast- this actually helps to prevent a post tonsillectomy bleed, it’s no longer the advice to stick to soup, ice cream etc! Hope this helps x

DD had hers out last year aged 18 - the first 5 days were rough if I’m honest but 100% worth it to get rid of the constant tonsillitis. By day 10 though she was completely back to normal and felt well enough to go out partying with friends!

We went privately - Advice from DD’s fantastic ENT was to eat and drink as normally as possible which definitely helped her recovery a lot. He actively encouraged eating junk like burgers, pizza, chips etc to get the jaw + throat muscles moving as this helps with pain. He also told us to bring some chewing gum into hospital for the same reason. Rough food is important too to prevent bacteria and scab buildup at the back of the throat as this is what often causes bleeds/infection. Be careful of ice cream, yoghurt etc as dairy causes the mucous to thicken and makes things more uncomfortable - ice lollies are best!

We invested in a jaw ice pack which really helped with the referred ear pain from her throat around days 3-5. Would definitely recommend buying one!

Can your DS take tablets? We had stocked up on liquid Calpol/Nurofen but DD found that these actually stung her throat quite badly. Pills were easier. Set timers on your phone for medication - we alternated between paracetamol and ibuprofen every 2/3 hours to keep on top of things.

My DD had this at 5. I’d heard horror stories about crap pain relief on the NHS so we went private. Had 5 days of oromorph and then 2 days of paracetamol. She had absolutely no pain afterwards at all! Encouraged to eat normally - sandwiches. Crisps, chips etc. it’s worrying the op is tomorrow and you have t been told this information.

Our son had tonsillectomy and adenoids removed to cure his sleep apnoea which was becoming really alarming and it worked perfectly. He was in hospital for his 6th birthday.
Home from school for a couple of weeks, staggered ibuprofen and paracetamol for 5 or 6 days I think then only as required, which wasn’t very often.
Best thing ever. Changed all of our lives overnight. None of us had been able to sleep properly for years, he had permanent dark circles under his eyes and the surgery completely eradicated the condition.

Fully agree with this. Paracetamol and ibuprofen alone definitely isn’t enough! DD couldn’t have done without the codeine and diclofenac in the first few days. Pain management is so important for recovery - I can’t believe in this day and age the NHS prescribe so little after a notoriously painful surgery.

Noted about the yogurt & ice cream.

Really worrying now about pain relief afterwards - would it be possible for the consultant/surgeon today to prescribe anything stronger than paracetamol is that worth asking? Or how would I go about getting this?

Thank you all for your replies

Both ds had it under 5 with crommets and adenoids as well. Both bounced back really quickly. Were fine with calpol and wanted to eat as were hungry!!! We were out of hospital within 24 hours. Have the treats and ice lolly is good but also encourage normal eating. It also changed both ds lives having it done so well worth it.

Hi there
My son had it done in Feb along with grommets and adenoids. I didn’t sleep the night before due to be worried and found the day of the op hard. He on the other hand aced and loved all the nurses.
Managed totally fine on liquid calpol and ibuprofen. Just taste test the ibuprofen, the flavour nurofen we had a spicy edge to it so he found that painful. I bought a cheap chemist équivalant and that was fine. Do ask the consultant if they can write something stronger up or if not you could call GP the following day if they are really struggling depending on how easy it is to get through to your GP.
We are so glad he had the surgery. Been life changing for us. Wishing you all the best for today x

It’s fairly age dependent re: pain relief - the younger they are the easier/less painful recovery is. At 11 I’d say your DS is likely to be in the borderline age group, worth asking the consultant if anything a bit stronger could be prescribed just in case.

Bit of a disaster - lots of vomiting blood since the op this morning and he's taken about 4 hours to wake up... low pulse too. It's the worst watching them suffer.

I have asked if there is anything stronger meds wise I can take home I haven't heard back just yet.

Sorry to hear that. How are things now? X

My DS had his out at 11yo. Defintely important to keep on top of pain relief. We needed to go back in to get something stronger after a couple of days.

Hope your DC is doing better after their op. I think the anaesthetic can make them a bit sick especially with lots of blood from the op in the stomach. Hope they’re on the mend soon. It is awful as a parent watching them in pain so sending you an unmumsnetty hug too

I had mine removed 44 yrs ago when i was 6. I remember the jelly, blancmange and marmalade sandwiches mum made me.

no idea on pain relief but some kind of fluorescent liquid no doubt.

Thank you all for the support

We are still in hospital, surgeon wanted us to stay in overnight as DS still vomiting bright red blood throughout the day until about 5pm. He was zonked, fast asleep all day and couldn't really be woken easily (from recovery at 10:30-5:30pm!) His pulse has also been very low but they have assumed it's naturally on the lower side due to the amounts of sport he plays!

He has been switched to Oramorph and still complaining of pain

You're so right - I'd switch places with him in a heartbeat, it's horrible seeing them suffer but at least the hard work is done and just time to rest up.

Thanks for saying about the pain relief too, as the recovery progresses... I believe we wil be sent home with Oramorph too for day 3-5 when pain gets a bit worse.

I hope your son improved overnight and I hope you're OK too. It's horrible seeing them on pain and not being able to do anything but comfort them.

Hope he’s on the mend
OP and back home with some of the good stuff for pain. Has he stopped vomitting?

Thanks for checking on us!
We're still here. Lots of vomiting bright red blood today, he passed out beforehand. Been in a lot of pain, nil by mouth as surgeon wanted the option to go back down to theatre if things didn't pick up. Luckily the ENT team used a solution in the back of the throat to seal (?!) the bleeding which seemed to work and introduced Cyclizine (anti sickness) tranexamic acid (reduce bleeding) and pain relief all via IV which seems to be working a lot better.

He unfortunately had to be re-cannulated too. I feel like the worst Mum, he was complaining of pain around the cannula entrance, I said you'll be fine, then ten minutes later the nurses noticed swelling and discolouration around the site. Oops!!

Sorry to hear that he’s having a rough time OP. DD had issues with bleeding too and we ended up having a midnight A&E trip on day 2 post-op.. Thankfully the hydrogen peroxide gargle worked for her like it has done for your DS and we were able to avoid a return trip to theatre. After that she never had any further bleeds and a relatively smooth recovery so fingers crossed that he will be the same.

IV pain relief is so much better than oral, DD highly rated the IV paracetamol 🤣. At least there’s a silver lining to still being in hospital!