I took my son for his well check last week. While there I mentioned him snoring. The pediatrician noted his glands were slightly swollen. The Dr. thought I should bring him to see an ENT to have them scope to make sure his adenoids weren't enlarged. I was able to get his appointment quickly. The ENT asked a few questions and examined him by looking in his ears, nose and throat. She said there may be some fluid in the left ear. She also noted the swollen glands. Upon examining his throat, she noted that the left tonsil was "significantly" larger than his right. Left was all the way to the center of the throat, his right was about half that size. She said that they needed to be removed and they would take the adenoids as well. The entire exam probably took 5 minutes. I took him to a very reputable children's hospital. I didn't ask a ton of questions as that point because the Dr. said the word surgery and my son picked up on it. I could tell he was getting more upset by the minute. I researched a bit when I got home and got worried by what I was reading. I found this site to be helpful at setting my mind at ease, but I don't want to miss something that might be a problem. The Dr. didn't scope to see the adenoids or order any other tests. I don't want to not have them removed if this is something serious, but I have a lot of unanswered questions. I put a call in to the same dr. today but she was not in, so I'm waiting for a call back so I can discuss exactly what she is thinking the problem could be. I also explained to her that he has recently developed a "gag reflex" if anything touches him around the neck area. For example the collar of his t-shirt or the strap from his bike helmet. He has ALWAYS liked to wear button down shirts and have them buttoned to the top button, so this development is recent.
Like I said, this site has helped put my mind at ease in seeing other stories of children with one enlarged tonsil and they were fine, but I am just at a loss as to whether the surgery needs to be done. She was concerned with sleep apnea as well, but it seems to me that if the snorning/sleep disruption was the main concern it would be a lot easier to do a sleep study than the surgery.
Any help/advice/comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Sue