General anesthetic recovery times for teenager

[StickyTick]

My 14 yr old had a small procedure on his groin (undescended testicle), under general anesthetic for about an hour. After 2 weeks staying at home, he was back at school but off PE. Next week (wk 4 post op) he's off to Spain on a 6 day school trip. He won't be able to swim/canoe, but we think hiking will be ok.

NHS staff knew about the trip, and don't think it will be a problem. But, after being back at school 2 days, he's now back home, tired.

He's not typically a skiver.
Am I right to be so surprised by his slow recovery? He's pretty fit. Will he turn an energy corner before Sunday's trip departure?

I had my tonsils removed at 14. I had a post op infection and was back doing normal activities on week 2 of of my 2 weeks off school.

I wouldn't say that it is related to the general anaesthetic he could have picked up a viral illness though. At 16-17 I had a virus that wipe me out. I came home every day from school for about a month and just slept. I was tested for glandular fever and anaemia and everything was negative.

I had some wisdom teeth out and other dental work under general at 16 and it was a good 2 weeks before I stopped falling asleep at every opportunity. It really did affect me quite badly.

My 5 year old had a genealogy anaesthetic a few weeks ago and she was back to normal the next day 🤦🏽‍♀️ maybe it's more the after effects of the procedure as opposed to the anaesthetic.

General... Not genealogy

Everyone is different of course but I have had quite a lot of operations under GA and definitely wouldn't say I was still feeling any particular tiredness after a month, even after quite big operations, apart from one occasion when I had a post op infection when I still felt terrible weeks after. Might be worth getting him checked over at the GPs if you can get an appointment before he goes, just to check there's nothing else going on.
That said, I think a lot of teens are tired by this stage in the school year even if they are perfectly fit and well - mine certainly always were! But I think it's probably worth getting someone to check him over if you can (though I appreciate it's easier said than done these days unfortunately.) He's acting out of character, sounds like it's taking him longer to recover than the hospital staff suggested he would and he is going to be out of the country without parents so I don't think you'd be unreasonable to double check. Hopefully it's nothing, but no harm in being cautious.
Is he definitely covered by travel insurance in the post op period, just in case he needs anything whilst he is away? If the school are providing the insurance I would check. Presumably he has a GHIC card and I believe we do still have a reciprocal arrangement with Spain that should cover emergency care but if he needed tocome home early or anything it might leave you significantly out of pocket if the insurance doesn't cover him.

Toddlers bounce back within a couple of hours. After a good sleep. Teenagers take longer, but shouldn't take that long. It's only minor surgery.

That's raised some issues re insurance, I hadn't thought about. Mostly, cos I wasn't expecting him to be off school still.
Thank you.

I don't know how the group insurances that schools arrange for trips work really, but certainly in my experience of personal travel insurance with pre existing medical conditions you would definitely be expected to inform the insurers of recent surgery prior to travel. Some would increase the premium and some would refuse cover. I would definitely check. Hopefully all will be well but the last thing you'd want is for him to have a problem and then discover he isn't properly insured. My youngest child has some long term health issues so I am a bit paranoid about such things!

Why are you assuming it's the general anaesthetic, rather than tiredness related to the operation/recovery? I'd assume the latter! Both my DC have had operations under GA and been fine after 24 hours, but recovery from an operation can take a while. It is trauma to the body and everyone reacts slightly differently.

Is it possible he has an infection, or an unrelated virus he's picked up at school?

My 2 year old had a GA and was back to normal after an hour 😵‍💫

I think the surgery has taken a lot out of him. Can be normal to be exhausted. Is he still in pain? Is he sleeping at night?

It does depend on the person.
Ds takes days to recover. He's normally still dozing and throwing up on the ward when children after him (with far longer operations) are dancing round.