Tonsellectomy and adenoid removal (and nasal polyps) age six - all info and tips please!

[Hellotodays]

Just that really.
Any advice for before during and after, pain relief, what food to have ready, what and when will they want to eat, how much pain will they be in, activities for the time that they are recovering, ideas for a post surgery gift, the hospital stay, the timeline for recovery, do they need isolation from extended family afterwards?
Also for those who were having it also to improve sleep, how much difference did you notice afterwards in sleep and mood?
Thanks so much for all the help!

Ds (2) had his tonsils removed (intracaspular) in July.

I too was worried but he was running around the playroom 2 hours after he woke up! He ate some biscuits about an hour after waking and ate most of his dinner (had the surgery around 11am). Most of the kids were in for adenoid removal and grommets too and they were acting the same. Ds was a little whingy when he first came around which most of the other dc on the ward were too. He was no where near as bad as when he’s had tonsillitis in the past (where he would scream for hours, refuse to eat and drink).

I was quite surprised as soon as they put the cannula in, they will administer the anaesthetic. They then make you leave the theatre and bring you back when they’re in recovery (they’ll still be asleep)

We left the following morning but the children over 3 were discharged the same day. They will check the scabs before discharging and make sure they can eat. They will give prescribe a high dose of nurefon and calpol which you alternate every 4-6 hours.

The hardest part was keeping him from socialising for the 2 weeks. After day 3, they can go for walks as long as they aren’t around other people. I took ds to the countryside and car rides.

Also they recommend to eat hard foods in order to scratch the scabs and make them heal.

Ds did have a intrecaspular (partial) tonsillectomy where they use a laser. It’s meant to be a slightly tougher recovery if it’s the full tonsils being removed.

All the best ☺️ Also, make sure to let the ENT consultant know if they have any tonsillitis or chest infections during 4 weeks before the surgery. They almost postponed ds surgery as he had croup and a chest infection just under the 4 week mark but the ENT cleared it to go ahead.

Also regarding the sleep, it didn’t improve after 🙃 but ds is being assessed for hypermobility and has allergies/recurrent croup so that may be causing the wakes.

Also, they didn’t remove his adenoids as they said he was too young but the surgeon did comment they were large. So hopefully as your ds is getting his adenoids out too, there will be an improvement! Everyone else I know whose child has had their tonsils removed have said their sleep improved dramatically ☺️

Thank you for all the info. I was expecting to hear there would be lots of pain and no playing after. Also surprised about the hard food. Glad he'll be able to go for works. That's interesting because DS has hypermobility, I wonder if there is some kind of connection 🤔

No worries at all! Hope it all goes smoothly ☺️ I was literally dreading it as he used to suffer terribly when he had tonsillitis. One time he didn’t eat for a week!

Ds has had countless antibiotics for infections so I was expecting the recovery to be tough but he was his usual self. The scabs did take longer than the 14 days to fully come away (around 3.5 weeks but they didn’t cause him any pain and the gp wasn’t concerned). Also, their breath will absolutely stink for the first couple of days so dont be alarmed!

Thats interesting, they might be! Quite a few of the children had allergies. Also I noticed it was mostly all boys 😅Out of around 12, only 1 girl!

I'm glad it all went well for your DS. I'm really hoping it will help DS with his sleep and general energy levels. And definitely for the tonsillitis. He actually does have allergies too, hazlenuts and raw egg. That's really interesting that there is often an overlap.

Gosh this is interesting my son has had his adenoids out then his tonsils (intracapsular) it’s helped his sleep a bit but he also has hyper mobility and allergies (dairy intolerance and allergic rhinitis) he was diagnosed with autism this summer too

Thanks, I really hope you see an improvement with your ds too!

I will say it has helped with his eating (despite still being fussy). He used to gag and vomit often as they were so large. Also, he slept fine after the actual surgery. I ended up not waking him up for the nightly pain relief doses and it didn’t seem to bother him.

It really is interesting regarding the overlap. I wonder if it’s related to sensitive airways?

It’s very interesting! Ds is only 2.5 but I do often wonder if he may have autism. He lines his toys up in a row and very sensitive to noise. Also has a speech delay.

Wow there's really a lot of similarities, can I ask how old your son is and what autism symptoms he has?

Hey sure my son is 9. He had speech delay too although looking back the large adenoids were probably muffling sounds for him. His main symptoms are struggle with change and transitions - a string need for routine, slow processing, very black and white and literal thinking and sensitivity to loud noise xx hope your little guy is recovering well xx

DS had his tonsils partially removed and adenoids fully removed this spring (he's 8), he was sore for a few days but nothing that nsaids and paracetamol couldn't deal with (he was prescribed tramadol too but he only had two doses as he hated the taste) but convincing him to take the meds was difficult sometimes. I was instructed to feed him soft foods for the first week, the surgeon was aghast when I said in the uk they recommend toast!

He stayed home from school for a week then it was back to school but no sports for another week. His sleep improved no end! He used to snore like an old man and now he sleeps silently and solidly.

I had to laugh while we were waiting for his turn in theatre they gave him some premeds which made him utterly loopy then he passed out in the chair, they couldn't even wake him enough to put him in a wheelchair for transfer so had to fetch a bed

Just to add to the above that when mine came round from having T and A’s removed she was unbelievably HANGRY. Obvs they are nil by mouth beforehand and she was furious at the world (and non verbal at the time) and too angry to agree/admit that she wanted food but once we got something into her she immediately calmed down and was basically fine after that!