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Original poster

DS is going for a tonsil & adenoidectomy in the morning - he'll be ok won't he? What to expect?

42 replies

zephyrcat · 28/03/2007 10:51

3rd time lucky! DS is going in to have his tonsils and adenoids out tomorrow morning and we have to stay overnight. Last time we went in we got as far as getting the cream on the back of his hand and we were sent home again because he had a cold!

There's so much going on with us at the moment I'm an emotional wreck so what should I expect?

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Original poster
zephyrcat · 28/03/2007 10:52

He's only 2.9 so just a liitle lad!!

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Original poster
zephyrcat · 28/03/2007 11:33

bump

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princesscc · 28/03/2007 11:37

Ah bless! I'm sure he will be fine. Such a quick and easy op for the surgeon. I seem to remember my niece having it done at 3.5 and just before she went 'under' she was desparate to tell her mum something, but went to sleep before she had time. Later that day, she said, 'I remember what I was going to tell you mummy, I was going to say, its not working!' Good luck hun, try not to let him see you are stressed about it.

AnAngelWithin · 28/03/2007 11:38

just wanted to say good luck. I hope all goes well. x x

SSShakeTheChi · 28/03/2007 11:39

Will you be there when he comes out of the anaesthetic? I found that a bit harrowing. He will have some pain swallowing, won't want to eat. Icecream is the best.

SugarmagEatsMatzah · 28/03/2007 11:40

sorry - no real advice but bumping for you

I had my tonsils and adenoids out when I was 9 or 10 (a LOT of years ago! ) so I don't remember much. I know I was in and out of the hospital the same day. I remember being very ill from the anaesthesia for a few days but I also get sick from codeine and diamorhpine. I remember I had a very sore throat for several days. And I remember that after it was all over I never got another throat or ear infection again. Seriously.

Good luck!

mumto3girls · 28/03/2007 11:40

Both my dd1 and dd2 had this operation at about your ds's age. They also had grommets inserted at the same time.

They were both absolutely fine but I was suprised at how differently they reacted to the same treatment. Basically DD1 drifted into a serene state as soon as she had the cream on hand and was wheeled down to theatre on a trolley - I left her at the lift doors...(then sobbed my heart out til I saw her again). When they nrought her back she quickly went to sleep again and stayed that way apart from intermittently waking for a sip of water...

DD2 refuse dto get on the bed, wouldn't be carried down to the lift by anyone but me, clung to my arm like velcro when I passed her over outside the theatre doors..screaming like a banshee and getting hysterical. I managd to keep calm when they took her off me then collapsed into tears...
When she came round the nurse came to get me as she was screaming the minute she woke up and disturbing the others in the recovery area!!..they allowed me to carry her back to the ward where she played with toys most of the afternoon, whilst scowling at all nurses..
They both had cornflakes for breakfast the next day and dd2 ate a bag of doritos in the car home!!

Best of luck, he'll e fine and it does make a real differnec to their lives afterwards..

Original poster
zephyrcat · 28/03/2007 11:41

Yes I'll be there when he comes round. Do they genrally sleep most of the day after having a GA?

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Original poster
zephyrcat · 28/03/2007 11:42

I'm wondering if I might have to send him in with DP in the morning. I just know I'll spend the whole time in tears!!!

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mumto3girls · 28/03/2007 11:44

My throat was killing me with all the hard swallowing and fale smiling I did whilst waiting for them to go...then I cried like a looney til they came back...but you will be fine and he will feel much better!

By the way they don't give them soft stuff to eat now or iccream. They give them toast and cornflakes as they say it helps the throat heal quicker...

Original poster
zephyrcat · 28/03/2007 11:45

Toast? Ouch!!!

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mumto3girls · 28/03/2007 11:50

Honestly my two really didn't seem that bothered...they drank alot of water, but seemed to immediately eat as normal.

BTW in answer ot your GA question, dd1 slept all day and straight into the night...dd2 was runing around alot, but did sleep heavily through the night...

grannycracksopenabottleofwine · 28/03/2007 12:05

my dd1 had this op and grommets inserted, but she is 22 now, so it was some time ago! however one thing we didn't expect was that her voice sounded different after the op, definitely a pitch higher. her adenoids had been massive 'though

Original poster
zephyrcat · 28/03/2007 12:09

I was wondering if his voise would change. He has quite a 'blocked' sort of sound if that makes sense?! The reason he's having them out is because his tonsils are so big they cover the whole of his throat so I wonder if his adenoids will be too....

Do they still send them home in a jar?!

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mumto3girls · 28/03/2007 12:19

DD1's voice was the same, but DD2 always sounded a bit blocked and had a gruff voice...it definitely changed, but she's still kept a very loud voice!!

SugarmagEatsMatzah · 28/03/2007 12:34

My mum thought it would be cool to see them after - I remember the doc brining them into my hosp room in a jar. My first reaction was to think what a wierd mum I had. My second reaction was to throw up.

toadstool · 28/03/2007 14:21

I had it done aged 5 and remember it all vividly as a good experience - parents waiting in ward when I came out of the op, nice anaesthetist, etc. I've always had a nasal voice, so not much impact there. One outcome: I still can't stand the taste of strawberry ice cream (only thing I ate for a day or so)!

Dad12 · 29/03/2007 11:40

Hi Zephyrcat, by now your DS will have had the op...I really hope it all went well.! Thing is my own DS (aged 2.3) is up for same sort of thing..adenoids out at Epsom and St.Helier. I'm abit worried (loads worried really) I would really love to hear how it all went for you and how your little boy is doing now.Thanks so much.

Original poster
zephyrcat · 02/04/2007 15:24

Hi Dad12. DS is doing ok, thank you. It was harder than I thought, to be honest. He didn't come round from the anaesthetic to well (everyone is different though, some of the children were as if nothing had happened!) He was screaming the place down and they kept telling me off for letting him scream as it would affect the wound!

He was in overnight and had a rough night as it seems to hurt him a lot more at night when his throat is dry. He was allowed home the next morning as long as he could eat some taost. (I don't think that's the same for adenoids though.)

I keep meaning to look up how they do the adenoids. He kept rubbing his nose so as if he had an itch right inside.

4 days on, he's still not himself. He is quite content to lie on the sofa and sleep on and off, and as soon as the medicine wears off it is obviously still quite sore

His voice has changed too... he had quite a boyish voice and now sounds like he has sucked the helium out of a balloon!!!

They will be fine though, as I say, it is different for everyone. Apparently he will be like this for around 2 weeks so be prepared for it to be quite a drawn out recovery.

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Dottydot · 02/04/2007 15:35

ooh - I'm glad I've read this thread - we're just in the middle of having to decide whether ds2 should have his tonsils out. Went to the GP last week who is happy to refer him to ENT as his tonsils are also enormous.

Did you find your ds snored a lot and coughed at night - this is the main reason we're thinking about it - he's so tired during the day (he's 3 next week) and we think it's because he never gets a proper night's sleep - he asks to have a nap every day and has 12 hours sleep every night but is still really lethargic.

Original poster
zephyrcat · 02/04/2007 15:41

Hiya Dottydot

DS did snore quite a lot - they were more concerned about that causing sleep apnoea although I never noticed it on ds. He just snored and would breathe quite loudly through his mouth at night. He also got to a point where he wasn't reaslly eating much of anything - meats etc and we thought that might be because it was difficult to swallow because they were getting in the way.
Apparently tonsils grow a lot more in the next few years so we were also worried that they were so big, if they got bigger he'd be in serious trouble if he ever got tonsilitis!!

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Original poster
zephyrcat · 02/04/2007 15:43

Forgot to say that he also sleeps 12 hours a night and could happily sleep for another couple of hours in the day if we let him fall asleep - I think, as you say, they don't get a full night's sleep, bless them! Hopefully this will have resolved it.

Oh, the other thing is they only decided to do his adenoids once they were in theatre, they said they wanted to see if they were big too first.

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AnAngelWithin · 02/04/2007 15:47

hiya. hope ds feels better soon x x

Dottydot · 02/04/2007 15:54

It's awful listening to ds2 breathe when he's sleeping - he does tend to hold his breath or seem to not breathe for ages.

I've been worried about him having a GA so we've said we'll wait until he starts pre-school in September and see if he can cope with it.

Was your ds's hearing affected? The GP reckons ds's might be.

It's all adding up to a tonsillectomy soon, I think...

Original poster
zephyrcat · 02/04/2007 15:57

Hiya AAW

His hearing was affected at one point because it gave him glue ear but that seemed to correct itself, although he does have very waxy ears so will be interesting to see if that stops.

I was really worried about the GA. The consultant told me that they don't generally operate until they are 3 or over because of the GA but they wanted him in. Was v scary!! It was all fine in the end though, I think he was probably just terrified when he woke up more than anything.

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