Tonsils and Adenoids being removed and grommets fitted.

[TCMcK]

Hi, my son is due to have this operation next Wednesday. Does anyone have any advice/tips please? What is the recovery like? My son also has sleep apnea so I’m hoping for a change in his behaviour & appetite. My son is 8. I Would really appreciate any advice given as I’m a bit worried 😟

My son had this done for glue ear and sleep apnea. He will be sore for a few days, lots of rest, tv or games in bed. Lots of soft food and ice cream. It was so worth it.

I am stocking up on Calpol and ice cream and also making him a goodie bag. We still haven’t told him yet. Was your son happier? My son is so grumpy these days 😞

So worth it. Tonnes of ice cream ice lollies. And painkillers. I hope it goes well.

Massive, massive game-changer - so worth it! Our DS went from tiny height to 50the centile in about two months...the oxygen drops had obviously been really affecting him (and he could actually eat properly, cos he could breathe while chewing!).

Yes, the mood will also improve hugely.

The pain is really awful from day 3 for a few days... don't get lulled into a false sense of security! You'll.need paracetamol AND ibuprofen, doses spaced so you don't get any breakthrough pain. Calpol alone won't be nearly enough. If it gets really bad, you may be able to ask GP about oramorph...

I highly recommend keeping chewing going - it's agony if the jaws seize up. We used bread sticks and crackers to keep munching on.

Hope that's all of use...it will be fairly miserable for the week after, but it's so worth it

Sorry - with the chewing, I meant don't just do soft food - it makes the pain far worse, in my experience. But have soft food at the ready as main meals, I'd say.

God sorry, another PS - please do tell.him - give him lots of time to prepare for it, talk him through the general anaesthetic, cannulation etc, how you'll either see him in recovery or he'll be brought straight up to the ward (he doesn't need to think in too much detail about the op.itself, as he'll be under, but I'd highly recommend preparing him as much as possible for all the other elements).

He has to isolate for 3 days so we are telling him tomorrow. He is so small so I am hoping he’ll grow some more! Did your children improve with their school work at all? Thank you so much for your very helpful advice

Hope it went OK, @TCMcK

Thank you so much for messaging it was awful watching him being put to sleep but he was so brave. We are on day 3 of recovery and he is still on pain relief every 4 hours. I am hoping to just give pain relief as & when tomorrow. It’s been hard watching him in so much pain 😢. The doctor said his ears were full of fluid. So relieved it’s over! Xx

Oh bless you, @TCMcK - I forgot to warn you about that bit (am sadly an old hand - have done four GAs between two kids!!). It can be quite a shock, however lovely the team are.

If I could make a suggestion, keep up the routine on the pain meds, as the pain gets worse around now before it gets better, and you want to avoid break through pain if poss. Are you doing ibuprofen and paracetamol in tandem?

Ps It will be worth it for him!

I’d agree not to overdo the soft food. I was told dry toast.

Yes with the paracetamol & the ibuprofen. I am alternating the 2 every 4 hours. He is a little better today. The doctor said I only need to keep him home for 7 days. Is this right? We had a little walk out yesterday & today. Also his voice has completely changed! Will it stay like this? It’s very squeaky

7 days susprises me - it's been a while, but I thought it was two weeks so as to minimise risk of any infection (a very very quick check of various NHS info seems to support two weeks). I'd double-check that. I think seven days would be pushing it for him to even feel well enough, but obviously best to check with the medics.

Aha, the voice! It's so weird, isn't it? My son also ended up losing his second front tooth a couple of days after the op, so had the weird voice AND a lisp! Don't worry, it goes 🙂

Really glad he's feeling a little better.

I think I will be keeping him off school all this week, I want him to recover properly. I’m hoping his voice will return to normal soon

They did ask me if he had any loose teeth before the operation which he doesn’t so hopefully they’ll stay put 😂

I'm so glad you posted this, OP. Thank you. My son is 2 but has been referred for his tonsils and adenoids out and it's so good to see so many positive responses on here about doing it.

He too had sleep apnoea and he's regularly choking in the night and then vomiting as a result. His diet is terrible, too - we think negative association with food because he vomits so much when he gags.

@TCMcK don't worry, the tooth wasn't knocked during the op, it had already been super wobbly. No reason he should be losing any non wobblers after the op!

@TokenGinger Poor him, that sounds a lot. That's great that you've got the referral early.

DS had it aged 2.5. Made a huge difference to his sleep quality and his glue ear.

He was very sore for five days, but regular pain meds inc at night helped. We went into lockdown a week after so he never went back to nursery.

Ds had it done at 3, massive game changer, he could finally sleep well and eat normally. We had to use paracetamol suppositories in the early stages as he just wouldn’t swallow the liquid and it was causing him stress.

[quote BabycakesMatlala]@TCMcK don't worry, the tooth wasn't knocked during the op, it had already been super wobbly. No reason he should be losing any non wobblers after the op!

@TokenGinger Poor him, that sounds a lot. That's great that you've got the referral early.[/quote]
Thank you ❤️ They have been great at sorting him so quickly. Well, it hasn't felt quick as he's been choking and spluttering and stopping breathing in his sleep since he was a tiny baby, but in comparison to waiting until he's 5 or 6, I'm so grateful he's having it seen to now xx