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Original poster

Huge tonsils.......

39 replies

zephyrcat · 25/11/2006 18:32

I had to take ds to a day assessment for something similar to an asthma attack. Before we were allowed to leave we had to see the regiustrar who checked him over and when she looked down his throat she made me look and said that his tonsils were HUGE. (We were asking her about him dribbling so much still at 2.5)

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this said to them/what the implications are/been to ENT etc etc.

DS is not eating properly lately and I can count on one hand the meals he's eaten in the last few weeks on one hand, so I am v interested to know if it could be an effect of having such big tonsils restricting his throat/swallowing...

OP posts:
madmarchhare · 28/11/2006 21:44

Zeph, he's not the best and always tends to do better with 'easy' foods such as spaghetti, soup etc.. always though it a phase/age/not much of an appitite you know. He does gag easily as well if too much in.

No problems with speech.

madmarchhare · 28/11/2006 21:47

Noisy breathing sometimes when hes asleep too.

Ive mentioned it to DH a couple of time but he doesnt seem to be going with me on this one, so I keep dismissing it.

Troutpout · 29/11/2006 00:14

She's 3 zcat.
She had her tonsils and adenoids removed in September.
Her tonsils had been huge for over a year. Adenoids were huge too. She had a deep throaty voice (although i wasn't aware of it at the time!) No dribbling though..but she did gag easily. No eating probs.
Just apalling sleep apnoea and snoring and totally restless sleep.
L

marthamoo · 29/11/2006 00:17

Troutpout > come and tell 'em how I am gorgeous and French on my thread.

Bluebear · 29/11/2006 00:23

Zephyrcat - My ds had the dribbling! - he eventually got referred to ENT (but after several visits to GP) - and we realised that he also had sleep apnoea (he snored v loudly and was always tired during the day), and that his tonsils were affecting his ability to swallow (he would eat rice and veggies but wouldn't swallow stuff that 'balls up' in the mouth eg. bread),
He was eventually referred due to the dribbling and also because he had very little speech at 2.5yrs - it turned out that his adenoids were also very large and were blocking his eustachian (?SP) tube so he also had chronic glue ear.
Once ENT person put all the pieces together ds was put on the urgent operating list and had his adenoids and tonsils removed and grommets put in, within 6 weeks.

A neighbour's child also had the large tonsils/poor swallowing thing - he continually choked on food (eg. cut up grapes) and also had the snoring/sleep apnoea. Also cured by tonsillectomy.

Bluebear · 29/11/2006 00:25

Just thought I'd add, my dd also has HUGE tonsils and snores a little bit, but no dribbling or problems eating.
And plenty of times different GPs said to me that large tonsils are prefectly normal ENT consultant was shocked at how long we had been trying to get a referral!

Bluebear · 29/11/2006 00:29

Have you seen the 'bandanna' bibs? We used to use them on ds, otherwise he would soak a t shirt in 20 mins...they don't look too bib like which is a blessing as they get more aware of their appearance.

fortyplus · 29/11/2006 01:25

I used to have gigantic tonsils that met in the middle! The doc wouldn't let me have them out even though I had tonsillitis constantly until I was about 18. Then suddenly it stopped, even though my throat still looked as though it had 2 walnuts meeting in the middle.
When I was about 38 I had a sore throat that was just UNBEARABLE - couldn't swallow so had to go to bed (couldn't sleep) with a tissue to soak up the dribble. YUK!! The same thing happened again a few months later - I was desperate.
Then a while after that I had a slight sore throat so I looked in the mirror expecting to see a speckly mess. Much to my surprise, my tonsils had shrunk away almost to nothing. I've never had a sore throat since - about 7 years now. How weird is that?

eidsvold · 29/11/2006 02:48

my dd1 had huge tonsils BUT no bouts of tonsilitis.. however her tonsils were causing hre to have sleep apnoea episodes and so she eventually had them out at 3 1/2 along with her adenoids - her sleep has improved out of sight - she has had a massive growth spurt, her gunked up ears etc have sorted themselves out too.

I would ask for a referral to an ent specialist just to put your mind at ease. No harm done to be referred.

Original poster
zephyrcat · 29/11/2006 10:02

Wow I haden't reailsed how common this was! Interesting to read about gunky ears too - his ears are always a bit waxy/runny. He did have glue ear but at his last hearing test they said it had gone. When I last saw the HV I asked her about his speech and she called the speech therapist in to see him but his speech is brilliant so that's one good thing!!

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Original poster
zephyrcat · 29/11/2006 10:03

*hadn't realised

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Original poster
zephyrcat · 01/12/2006 14:17

Little update.... had to take ds to the doc this morning (took dd yesterday with ear infection) He's caught the cold from her and is in extreme 'man flu' mode! Doc was lovely, she's going to ring me when she finishes work this afternoon and see how he's getting on. Because he's so tired from not eating properly the cold has really got to him so she mentioned getting him in this weekend, getting a drip into him to boost him up a bit ( ) and having his tonsils out sooner rather than later.... half of me thinks yes, good, get it done and get him better and the other half thinks No! leave my baby alone!!

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madmarchhare · 01/12/2006 14:21

Oh your poor DS (and you of course ).

Like you say though, the sooner the better.

Original poster
zephyrcat · 02/12/2006 11:58

What a disaster that was!! Got ds to the hospital paed assessment unit at about 6pm. Had to sit and wait for a doc to look him over... couple of hours wait .... his temp kept spiking so the doc went to talk to the registrar and said we had to wait for the regitrar to see him. (pm the assessment ward closes so we were sent down to the paed HDU playroom so ds would stay awake while we waited. By 10:30 ds was falling asleep so they let me take him to a bed on the ward and sit with him.

1:30am the registrar appeared!!!!! Couldn't really talk to her because ds and others were sleeping. She couldn't look at his tonsils because it was dark and he was asleep. She told me they only usually take tonsils ut if had lots of tonsilitis. I told her he wasn't eating. She suggested I could wait til the morning and see someone but she'd rather I go home, let the cold pass and then be reviewed in 2 weeks

So at 2am this morning ame and exhausted ds got a taxi home. What a waste of time!!!

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