Tonsillectomy preparation advice

[Tonsillitismummy4]

Calling all mummy's who have children who have had a tonsillectomy.

DS is 4 and due to have his tonsils removed as he suffers incredibly bad with tonsillitis. We are very happy he is going to have the surgery as each time he had tonsillitis he gets it more severe.

My question is how do I go about preparing DS for the operation and trip to hospital? Are there any books people would reccomend I buy to read to him?

Thanks in advance

Hi my dd had her tonsils, adenoids and grommets all done age 4yo!

Not sure how much you can prepare them tbh without scaring them, might be worth getting a toy drs kit (if you haven't already) so he can play with pretend injections etc. With my dd they did a brief session with a play therapist before she went down to theatre.

I would also make sure you are well stocked with calpol and neurophen as their throats can be really painful for a while afterwards. Make sure you have plenty of foods and drinks in that they like to tempt them to eat with (its really important to get them eating to avoid infections.) All ideals of healthy eating went out the window for a few days and dd lived on skips and yogurts!

I bought dd a gift for being brave that she liked having and kept her occupied in hospital and we were well stocked on dvds to watch when we got home. She needed a good 2 weeks to fully recover, which was much longer than I had anticipated.

Good luck, although it was tough at the time the benefits have been completely worth it.

DS had it done privately at age 3.

They let me climb on his gurney as he came around. So we snuggled up and that was helpful.

I got from the GP before the Op a very large quantity of calpol and ibuprofen on prescription (free) even tho it was private. They were fine about it.

You need to set alarms in the night and wake to keep the meds up. Don't let it wear off at all for at least 3-4 days.
Pain really is no gain here.

We snuggled with books and films a lot. I slept on a mattress on his floor for two nights.

They bounce back quickly. Good luck X

My dd had hers fine in the summer. No real prep you can do, but get plenty of stuff in as you have to keep them in for 10 days after and no visitors incase if infection.
When they first come around is the worst be prepared I wasn't ! I also second making sure they are fused up in the medicines. It may seem a lot but it's a lot of pain. I didn't understand how much until my friend had hers out recently, she cried for her mum.

Thanks you for your replies it's nice to hear off people who have been through the same situation.

I've googled and found a children's book about having your tonsills removed which I was contemplating ordering however some of the reviews said it was very 'American' and some parts irrelevant.

Has anyone read any of the books?

DD2 had her tonsils and adenoids out last July at 4.5yrs. I got this book from Amazon beforehand as it specifically dealt with tonsillectomies due to sleep apnoea (DD's problem). It was very American but I just altered some of the wording where appropriate.

i got mine out in my early 20s, avoid smoothies & orange juice at all costs, the acidic fruit almost made me pass out from pain! dairy made me very congested which was not pleasant either. def do not let the pain killers wear off for the first few days. ice packs under my jaw also helped. plenty of cold as it can hurt when the throat dries out too much. toast hurts but it helps with the healing tmi as removes the old scabs