Adenoid removal - experiences please

[stargirl21]

My 7yr old son has just been put on a waiting list to have his adenoids out. The are huge and cause lots of problems. He's never had anything done before so I'd be grateful to hear your experiences. How many needles are involved? Pre op assessment? What did you tell your child was going to happen? I don't want to scare him.

Ooh- sorry I have no advice, but an place marking as DD1 (almost 3) is about to have her tonsils and adenoids removed so I too would like to hear from others who have been there.

My ds had these out, along with his tonsils and also grommets put in when he was around 6.
I was totally honest with him about what was happening and why. The nurse who did his pre op applauded me for this. They also gave him a little cartoon booklet, explaining in a child friendly way what was going to happen.
When it came to the op my ds refused the needle in the back of his hand and had to have gas which was distressing tbh. After the procedure he had to stay in overnight and was a little uncomfortable and sick a couple of times. The next morning he was up and playing and ate a full lunch of fish and chips!
The transformation was literally immediate. He went from snoring like an old man and gasping with terrible sleep apnoea to sleeping so peacefully. The first few nights I was checking him continually as he was so silent!

My DGS had tonsils and adenoids out last year at 2.5 . He had the needle in the back of his hand. It all went really well . He was the youngest by far in the ward. My DD bought 2 books for him - Usbournes First Experience [[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0746066678/ref=cm_sw_r_fm_api_52YYxb8MAPABR book 1 ]] and a Topsy and Tim book [https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/140930423X/ref=cm_sw_r_fm_api_u3YYxb42154ZR book 2]].
They watched a lot of Doc McStuffins, and bought a doctors kit.
She and her DH were really honest with him that it would hurt a bit but that it would make him feel better.
The worst part was the recovery room.
Its really important to keep up the painkillers too.
It went really well, no problems.
It made an immense difference -just as pinkmagic says. It was like someone had plugged him in to an electric socket and recharged him.
Good Luck

links fail!
book 1
book 2

My little boy (3) just got his adenoids removed at the start of July. Ever since he could walk he was coughing and spluttering and being sick, they said it was because his adenoids were so enlarged they were stopping him breathing through his nose properly. We tried medicine for about a year but wasn't making a great deal of difference, went back to the doctors and decided to have the adenoidectomy. Wasn't convinced it worked at first, he was still coughing and needing the medicine for night. maybe it takes a couple of weeks to settle down. Have an inkling there's something else going on though, possibly asthma but I keep being told they won't diagnose it at this age. I'll see what he's like when the winter comes, it's usually about October when the temperature drops that I notice a difference in his breathing etc

Should of said the actual operation was only about 20 minutes and he was fine straight after it and was eating and drinking right away!

DS1 had tonsils and adenoids out at 2.8yo for obstructive sleep apnoea. At his pre-op assessment the nurses explained to him what would happen (age appropriate obvs). They warned me to keep him regularly dosed on pain relief - alternating paracetamol and brufen - for at least a week.

They said day 5 post-op would be worst as it was healing and starting to scab over. He had to eat a lot of crunchy food to keep scraping the gunk off the back of his throat to prevent infection, so beforehand we went shopping and he got to choose a load of crisps, crackers, breadsticks and and other crunchy food (with a little ice cream!) to eat after.

Getting knocked out wasn't great for him. He had a terror of all hospital staff, so they decided to sedate him prior to going to theatre so they could cannulate him while he was "happy". Only there was a delay and the medazolam wore off, so he was a screeching nightmare. I had to pin him down while they gave him some gas, then cannulated him. That was the worst bit. The surgery took about 1 hour. He slept a lot the rest of the day and he went home next morning, after having compulsory breakfast.

The difference in his snoring and breathing was immediate. Like a pp, I kept checking on him for ages after because I wasn't used to him sleeping so quietly! His recovery went well because we kept to the painkiller schedule and kept him eating frequently.

I can't really help with what to tell etc DS has his adenoids out due to obstructive apnoea last year but he was only 18months old. Practically it was v straightforward, they would have done it as a day case except they wanted to monitor him because of he apnoea. He had numbing cream on his hands before he went in, so he didn't feel the needle going in. He was only in theatre for about 40 mins, and when he woke up it was as if nothing had happened. The next day once we were home he was a little sore but nothing a couple of doses of calpol didn't sort out. By day 3 he was completely back to normal.
It totally cured his apnoea and all the problems from that, and was so worth doing for us!

Good luck :)

My 2 year old has had his tonsils and adenoids out. The only needle was in the back of his hand which they put in either in the anaesthetic room or when they're asleep after the gas. It's not a needle that stays in, it's a plastic tube.

It really wasn't as bad as I thought, he recovered really well, took his medicines and ate and drank afterwards. It's improved his breathing massively and I'm really glad he had them out.

DD (5) had tonsils and adenoids out 2 weeks ago today. Starting a few days before the operation we read the books together that a PP has linked to, as the hospital recommended them. They said for under 5s (she turned 5 last week) just to give a couple of days notice but older kids need a bit more time to get their head round it. For reasons unknown DD is terrified of male medical professionals, i tried to get a female surgeon but without success so she completely freaked out as we went in to theatre as the anaesthetist and all the others were male. She had gas rather than cannula as the anaesthetist said it would be easier after meeting her and seeing her reaction to him at the preop rounds. I have my doubts as the gas took flipping ages to work, she struggled against it for such a long time. the op was fine, only 40 mins til we met her in recovery but the first hour after was quite rough as she was complaining of pain and was very disorientated (the nurses warned the first hour was the worst) . almost exactly as the hour was up she perked up and had 2 slices of toast and a bowl of ice cream. We were discharged the following morning after breakfast and all was fine. I stuck rigidly to the painkillers schedule but days 3,4&5 she was in quite a lot of pain and although I set my alarm in the night for 4 hr intervals to give pain relief, she was waking after 3 and got quite distressed. After a week she was much better and now at 2 I can see in her mouth the tonsil bed is almost completely healed and it's no longer painful.

She had the tonsils out for sleep apnoea and the difference was immediate and remarkable. No more snoring! And for the first time can breathe through her nose when asleep (and awake). I felt bad when she was v sore those few days but it really was only a week in her life and it is so much better now

Thanks all for the info- I am dreading it, but hoping her sleep will improve.