tonsillectomy

[rubynoodles]

Does anyone have any experiences with tonsillectomy in young children?

My son is 3.5yrs and he suffers from sleep apnea and has constant colds. We've been to see an ENT consultant and he has put him on a waiting list to have his tonsills and adeniods removed. I know I sound stupid but I am really scared, it will really help him sleep better and hopefuly his colds wont be so bad but just the thought of him having to have an op is stressing me out! Anyone else had to go through this??

Absolutely! dd2 had tonsils and adenoids out in January, at 2.2yrs....and I was really scared too: not stupid at all, why would anyone not be anxious about their LO being anaesthetized and operated on?

She had bad sleep apnoea, and is sooo much better now - I was told it was worth it over and over again on MN, and they were all right. Let us know when you get a date, and lots of us will jump on and give you tips, answer questions and hand-hold, if you like. FWIW, summer is a great time to have the op because he's less likely to be postponed due to viral illness - January was horrible from that point of view!

What are you scared about, specifically? Perhaps someone can help with that for starters?

And, there are a lot of threads about this - if I were better at links I'd find them for you. Try a search, should be lots - think the latest to go through it was Roulade, her ds has had his op quite recently.

My DS had his adenoids and tonsils out at 3.3 as well. He's 4.4 now. as with your child he had terrible general health, colds all the time, high temps, awfull sleep apnoe..we got told op was best thing and were so very worried too..tried to talk ourselfs out of it, put it off and so on. An operation for your child just seems one of those worst nightmares. BUT..op day passed, not so bad, he recovered so fast, and now all that cold and temp stress has gone away, he breathes normally at night, has normal colds ( a few days not weeks) has grown a mile and put on weight....all good. worst day by far was the day before the op! then before you know it the day has passed and the sense of relief will bring tears to your eyes. ( well did me!!)

As the other message says, there is loads of really really helful info from others on what to take on the day and after care. For me best tip was make sure you get AB's for after just so no risk of secondary after infection. Also pain-meds must be kept up to the minute for the first week. Weirdest thing was his voice changed. Went up in pitch. Doc. said because removing tonsils changed voice box position(?)

Thanks for the advice really has made me feel a bit more at ease.

I worry about everything and its just the thought of DS going under a general anaesthetic( I keep thinking of all the horror stories ive read in the past!)

Its also the waiting and worrying about the unknown.

Waiting is the pits. I agree, day before op is the worst - and on the day itself, the worst part for us turned out to be saying 'no drink' to a thirsty 2 yr old! The up side was, she yelled herself to sleep and slept through the entire anaesthesia process without noticing a thing.

Afterwards, even though she had quite a lot of pain for a few days (not all do that much, dd was unlucky in that respect) her breathing was so much better that I, too, had tears of relief just from listening to her not gasping for breath....and yes, staying on top of pain relief to the minute makes a huge difference.

The GA part didn't worry me as much as it might have done, because I've had several and don't mind them at all - though dd had extra issues that made her more at risk, and meant she stayed a night in HDU afterwards to play safe. Make sure you have someone with you during the op, so the time passes faster: your ds won't remember a thing but I guarantee it'll be the slowest feeling part for you

Ds1 (3 yo) had this op last week. The actual op was fine and he was tucking into toast and juice on the ward when the consultant came round later on. I didn't find the fasting bit hard as we waited in playroom with masses of toys. Actually dh and I were getting really hungry so that bit was hard but ds was fine. He's still in a bit of pain and a bit clingy a week on. We were told to stay in the house for 2 weeks post op to avoid contact with any infections. That bit is proving tough! Especially as he seems to have gone off TV! His breathing at night is noticably better already although it's probably too early to expect behaviour/energy improvements from better sleep.

DS2 was 4 when he had his out, it was all fine until he wanted a drink after, he asked for orange juice and the gave him fresh orange, he screamed the ward down.

He was a little rough for about a week, and it's helped with his sleeping.

HTH

Its really good to get some 'real life' expereiences rather than just reading advice from the leaflets they give you - thanks all