3.5yo DD nasal and has large adenoids - am I foolish to wait?

[Lioninthesun]

About 6 months ago I went to an ENT specialist on NHS and they said DD has enlarged adenoids but that they wouldn't do anything about them until she is at least 4/5yo. She snores, is tired in the day but refuses to nap, is a mouth breather and was very dribbly at the time. The main thing for me is that she was falling behind with speech and language development compared to her friends. However, I thought I would have to heed the advice.

Now though I am wondering if I should pay out and go private - her language is very nasal and she always looks tired in the mornings after a night of snoring. She is still delayed in language and her nursery picked up on this (although they aren't great as only when I said I think it is her adenoids for the fourth time did they suddenly say "Oooh I think it might be...ADENOIDS!" - which made me feel I was banging my head against a wall!). They had bought up the delay and said they were concerned as she might need SALT.

Am I being pfb trying to do this before she starts school? I have looked on NHS adenoidectomy web page and it says there are few risks and it can be done in 30mins and the patient can go home straight afterwards. Why were they reluctant to carry this out 6 months ago? Am I missing something? I am feeling a bit angry that I have just sat about waiting as the months she could have been catching up and expressing herself clearer tick by...

My son had his adenoids out at three and half years old as well as grommets. It really improved his quality of life as well as language skills.

The operation was about 40 minutes and ds has to stay in hospital for at least four hours or until he had used the toilet. I think the worst part for ds was the nurse suggesting that he should wear a nappy for the operation. i think the nurse was taken a back by how angry ds was. Ds was given a pessary for pain relief during the operation.

We arrived at 6am and was home by early afternoon. He was happy to play and only needed a small amount of calpol at bedtime.

Thank you for your response! Did you go private or NHS if you don't mind me asking? Also did you notice an immediate difference with the language? DD is very nasal and I wonder if it will be something needing to be re-learnt and caught up or if it is just there, under the surface.
Also do you remember if they are ok to swim a few days afterwards? Thank you!

We've got an appointment with ENT early next year but we may not be so lucky.

I was going to push - snoring at night/ mouth breathing/lots of dribble constantly/ tonsilitis several times (but not the 101 times a year that reaches their limit) Tired and ratty in afternoons/ waking a lot at night....

BUT we dont have speech/language problems which i thought would take precidence....

Ho hum. We cant afford private.

I just called our private hospital to put feelers out as to cost etc and they don't do pediatrics, so still have no idea!

My son had his operation on the nhs 9 years ago at the age of three and half. He was not allowed to swim afterwards because he had grommets.

We did notice an immediate difference, but I don't know if that is down to the grommets or adenoids. His speech took about 3 months to get to an age appriopiate standard. Certainly removing adenoids helped with snoring and general health.

Private Paediatric ent does exist. Our local bupa hospital does grommets. Would you be prepared to travel?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childrens_health/a646751-recommendation-for-ENT-specialist-in-London-Hertfordshire

This is an old thread but you might find it interesting

Thank you! I'll have a look at that thread now

My brother was partially deaf due to
Glue ear (I know not adenoids but all sort of similar). My mum who was a health visitor at the time said it absolutely changed his life and if she could have turned back the clock to do it earlier then she would as it really delayed his speech etc.

I really think it's so important for young children and also she's less likely to remember the soreness etc if she's younger. I don't think there's anyth to be gained by waiting (except for a few £!!!).

Hmm, they are pretty far from us. I don't suppose you have any idea of the cost? I'm going to try to ring the local hospitals tomorrow and see if they can offer anything but it took us 4 months to get the referral to ENT last time, so ideally I'd like to do a direct consultation rather than book in for that again and then wait for an operation appointment on top! If that means private then, depending on cost, I think we would go with that.

Thanks Mrsmorton I was worried I was being paranoid when I took her the first time and then they reassured me she would grow out of it and it was fine to wait. Now though I really can't see that waiting is doing anything for anyone other than not having her on their books because I haven't made a fuss. The language is so bad that I'm still having to translate her at times and she is missing linking words, which I think could be to do with not hearing them. We never had a hearing test at the ENT and she just looked in the ears, up the nose and asked me symptoms. I wish I had asked for a hearing test now as well. She is also quite prone to flinging her head around and getting disorientated and falling over, which at the time I thought was just part of being 2 but at 3.5 it's making me wonder if the dizzy thing is an imbalance.
The main thing is I don't think something is right, so I feel I have to make a fuss this time. Or go private!

I had my tonsils out privately. My NHS GP referred me and I had consultation plus op, an overnight stay and I don't recall a follow up. It was about £1800 and this was about 12 years ago.

That's my experience. I didn't see if you've asked your GP for a private referral? They may know someone.

Yes, he referred us to the specialist who said that she does have large adenoids but they wouldn't operate until she is at least 4. DD is in 5yo clothes now and I can't help thinking she would have grown out of it if she was going to. She will be at school when she is 4 and I really don't want this language delay to be ongoing until then!

Thanks for the idea of cost. Crikey! I've emailed a private hospital near us asking for a breakdown of costs for an assessment and possible operation if needed. I'll see if it is a similar figure !

That's was an NHS referral tho?

Yes, expensive but I was in a bad way and deep into my undergrad studies so I had to be able to time it right. The biggest expense was the anaesthetist which surprised me but I had excellent excellent care at a convenient time (easter holidays).

No swimming afterwards for a long time I think. Worth it though.

Ah I wondered about the swimming as she is doing lessons every weekend, but we have the break for term time. Not sure if I am being overly optimistic about getting it done in early Jan so that we don't miss as many.

I will let you know what comes back. I am wondering if I should try the GP again and push a bit more or if they will just refer me back to the same opinion. Hmm.

Really? How long afterwards? (We would be nhs so not able to choose!) I was thinking of starting my little one with lessons but might leave it if I will have to wait anyway!

It used to be months and months but probably less nowadays

I think that there is some confusion between a grommets op and removal of adenoids. I don't think that having adenoids on their own removed is a reason for stopping swimming for a long period of time. I had my adenoids removed as a child and it didn't stop me from going swimming for months.

However advice changes all the time and you are best to ask your consultant. Not being able to go swimming is a small price to pay for the ablity to hear.

Well we have a GP appt for Monday for a referral. I felt bad saying it was urgent and explained what it was for so we shall see how long this wait for ENT will be.

I was thinking perhaps a week or two off for swimming?

Ah I think you're right, the longer time off is for grommets.

My neighbour is a nurse, her DS was going to have grommets which the Mum wasn't keen about so she took dairy out of the DS's diet and he had a chopped up clove of garlic in honey every morning on a teaspoon and it worked. The child did not need grommets and was no longer deaf and full of congestion and catarrh.
Might be worth a try.

Yep, might be worth a try but don't let your child develop speech difficulties because you haven't got enough garlic.

You could ask your GP about herbal medicine to help, if you're that way inclined.

She loves garlic and will eat the pickled cloves whole, so sadly am pretty sure she's eaten enough to do any good it could. She also loves lemon and honey drinks and has had those fairly regularly for the last year and a half too, without any change.

My dad had adenoids out and he thought it could be hereditary, but either way I do think an op is the best way forward seeing as I have waited this long already with no change.

My son is now 5.5years old abd he had his tonsils and adenoids out just after his 4th birthday.

He used to pause in breathing when sleeping, snore, dribble, abd gave trouble with his pronunciations. He was tierd all the time and wasn't very lively. He also had trouble swallowing certain foods.

It was the best thing for him his life changed instantly. He recovered well and was Stuffing his face a few hours later! He now speaks fine, sleeps well and has bags of energy.

I dunno why they wait until there 4, I started seeing the consultant when he was 3.5.

Xxx

Thought I should update. Dr yesterday said he will refer her to have a hearing test and write to the local pediatrics development services for an assessment. He said he thought we had a better chance of getting the response we want from ENT if we did this rather than just going back to them. Seems like a waste of money to me - he asked her to sing Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer and could hear it straight away! Sad that you have to waste NHS services to avoid offending a department by suggesting they got it wrong... So looks like we'll be a few months off resolving this.