Advice please! DD 2½ yrs referred for urgent tonsillectomy! Am v worried!

[aznerak]

Hello

My DD is 2½yrs and for the past 5 months or so, has been incredibly congested at night and when lying down in general. This has caused her to wake up every 15-20 mins panicking she can't breathe. Needless to say, she is always tired (as am I!)

I put it down to hayfever and went to the docs a few weeks ago to see what they thought. I asked to see my GP who is male and incredibly good but stupidly forgot my DD is not good with men she doesn't know. Needless to say, she would not let him examine her so he gave me some mild antihistamine for her.

It worked in the sense that it made her drowsy but ultimately, the problem is still there.

So, she went to see a female GP today and of course, she was like an angel. When she opened her mouth for the GP to check, the shock in the GP's eyes was there for me to see. She said she had never seen tonsils that size in a child under 4, let alone a 2½ year old. She said that they weren't at all inflamed, but if they were, they would probably touch they are so big.

So, she has referred her for an urgent appointment with the paed. ENT clinic to have an urgent tonsillectomy.

Am I being totally pathetic about being so worried? She is only 2½yrs and very little for her age - she only weighs just under 11kg. Will the GA be ok? Will they keep her in overnight?

Anyone been in the same boat? Any advice??

Thanks for reading - I know its garbled but am being over paranoid mummy x x

bump... please

I don't have direct experience, but I remember from previous threads on MN that small children seem to recover from tonsillectomies far more quickly than older children or adults. If they are interfering with her breathing then she does meet the criteria for having an urgent tonsillectomy.

Thanks Lemonaid. Without sounding stupid, any idea what "urgent" means? I know all health care trusts are different, but what does that rougly mean? Days, weeks, months???

I don't know. My sister (older teen/young adult at the time) got hers within a couple of weeks, I think, but her background was diferent (she was having it for recurrent infections and repeated quinsies). Perhaps they'd do it sooner for your DD as they don't need to wait for any infection to be eliminated first? But I'm just guessing, really.

My ds has just had this for the same reason. He is 3.5. He also had sleep apnoea and hypoxia (not enough oxygen at night because can't breathe properly pass tonsils).

I would highly recommend having it done. Apart from anything else, tonsils that big will be seriously impairing her ability to eat (may be partly why she is so small), and can also block eustachian tubes (they tested my ds's hearing and he had 40dB hearing loss in each ear because they were so gluey because his tonsils were stopping them from draining properly).

Operation is fine - 2.5 is younger than they ideally like but by no means unusual, they are usually done first thing and out by mid-late afternoon, and recovery (ie sore throat) varies from a couple of days if just tonsils to about a week if they do adenoids at the same time.

My ds now sleeps soundly and properly, is much much less tired during the day, is eating much more, can hear properly (they did grommits at the same time) and has grown an inch. He only had them done 6 weeks ago!

Good luck

Mine had it done privately within 3 weeks (we had the insurance) but he would have been urgent on the NHS (Swindon) and done within 3 months I think.

Trusts DO vary enormously though. Your GP should be able to tell you what the wait time is for you.

My niece had her tonsils removed when she was a similar age, though she had a history 3wkly infections. She was operated on very quickly after she saw the dr.

The op was no worse than a bout of tonsillitis and it's tranformed their lives as she is a different child now she is no longer battling with infections.

My brother had his tonsils out at that age too. He was fine.

at under 11 kg - I hope she thrives after the op.

Thanks for all yr messages. She isn't thin - she is just very petite and in proportion. She still wears age 12-18 months and in some cases, 9-12 months!
I think the GA worries me most. What are the risks at that age? Can you stay with them? If not, how long are you away from them?

Thanks again xxx

you stay with them as they go under, then you leave them until the op is over, they are in recovery and coming out.

simple tonsillectomy (ieno adenoids or gromits) is a 10min op. Then maybe another 15-20 mins until you are called to recovery. halfan hour, max

remember they do weigh children to work out what anaesthetics to use. and they operate eg on babies all the time. for a straight tonsillectomy she'll have a very light anaesthesia - I really wouldn't worry about it, honestly.

My DS is having a tonsilectomy asap as he to has enormous tonsils but it is a family thing we have all had the same problem hence we are a tonsilless family!

DS also had a GA a couple of month ago. You will be allowed into the anithsetic (sp?) room and you only have to leave when she is asleep. They will give her a pre med to make her drousy before she goes down if you ask.

Obviously there are risks at any age but she will always be being monitored by a team of specialist anethatists (sp?) so she will be fine, as soon as she is in recovery they will bring her round then call you down.

You will cry it is sad to see your child go into theatre but every parent does its totally normal but do remeber the surgeon working on her will be highly trained and will ahve preformed this op so many times before he could probably do it blindfolded!

I hope she gets on ok and has a speedy recovery!

Okay. Thanks for all your support and everything. I will just wait for the appointment now and deal with it as and when.
xxx

Best of lucky, aznerak, that it all goes well and solves her problems and improves her health!

Hi Aznerak, there is no need to panic at all and in fact this is fantastic news because some people struggle to get the tonsils removed for years struggle with problems of illness constantly. I have put my honest advice below which I hope will prepare you as a parent ;0)

My DS is 3 and in April I had an ENT surgeon remove his adenoids and tonsils because they were inflamed/enlarged. He was sick every 3 months with tonsillitis and terrible ear infections with burst ear drum as ear/nose/throat all connected so had grommets inserted at the same time.

I went into the theatre with him when they put him under GA. We didn't explain in any detail to him prior to the op, just that the doctor was going to make him better. He had to lie down on the operating table and then quite quickly they get started. When they put the mask over the child's face to anaesthetise your child try to stay calm yourself and show in your reaction that this is ok even put the mask over your face first to show them its ok. Be aware that your child might not like something being put over their face and seeing your child struggle or go from being awake to asleep like that is a bit strange, my DS went from kicking to snoring in an solid sleep within 4 seconds, its very weird. Just so you are aware.

My ds operation took 45 mins at 8am and he came to in the recovery and reacted by screaming blue murder for his mummy. This is apparently quite normal for little children as they don't know what?s happening so be prepared and don?t get upset by this. Some kids don?t react at all. He was given a sedative and calmed down and slept for about 3 hours. When he woke up he was a bit groggy and watched some tv and we read stories and sang to him. He slowly started taking an interest in a new toy we got him specially. (we took his fave toy and blanket so it was a bit familiar) Within 4 hours of the operation he was up, running around and giggling. We were discharged at 2pm the same day.

He kept a lot of spit in his mouth as it was obviously a bit sore to swallow. He could hear better immediately and his diet went back to normal immediately, he was given ice cream and jelly in the hospital then told to give him soft toast to help 'sloff' off the scabs. It?s better to feed normally and not baby them as the sooner the muscles in the throat start working again the better. The most important things to note are that they are recovering from an op so keep to calm activities for a day or two. The 7th and the 10 days you need to make sure you look out for any bleeding and take straight to doctor if you do as that is when the scabs usually come off and is the only slight risk. We had not one single problem.

The most important thing I was advised is to keep them ?drinking and pain free? my best friend is a nurse with 3 kids and she suggested this. I gave him pain killers every 3 hours and gave him litres of coke to drink even though that?s not usually what he has to drink!! You need to ?flush? out the GA and because their throat hurts they might not want to drink water and juices might burn a bit. Coke or a fizzy drink like lemonade is great because its nice tasting, the bubbles give relief and the sugar gives them energy (don't worry about teeth really it?s just for a few days.)

I would highly recommend the operation and will do it again with any subsequent children. Good luck.

Hi

I hope you don't mind me adding to this thread. I need sort of similar advice. I have registered with mumsnet tonight as I really need advice. My 8 year old daughter is due to have her adonoids removed and grommets inserted on Thursday. She has had 1 previous operation for Grommets insersion when she was 4.5 due to glue ear and 40db hearing loss. she had good hearing all the time they were in (2 years.) her hearing was a little up and down once they fell out but stabilised to good by last Dec. then along comes a severe ear infection (first one ever!) and her hearing goes again. we wait 4 months then see her consultant, as she has bad hayfever she is given a nasel spray to use for 1 month then back for another hearing test. no improvement so we are going for the op. Now we feel this is the right decision as she was already beginning to switch off from the hearing world and we were warned if she didn't get her hearing back this would become permenent. BUT we saw the consultant about 4 weeks ago and within the last 2 weeks her hearing has returned. (although she says she still struggles in a noisy atmosphere or in assembly at school) should we go ahead with the op or wait and hope that this is it and she is finally growing out of glue ear (often spontaniously resolves at 7/8). She has always slept with her mouth wide open and sometimes snores. this is still happening. I would appreciate your advice

Hi KSM

Clearly, I can't help at all or offer any advice but I thought I'd give your message a bump. Mumsnet is the encyclopaedia of everything so you have come to the right place!
Good luck with whatever you decide.
A xxx

Hi, I'm no expert but my gut feeling after reading up on the internet about adenoid removal if your dd is snoring at night then removing the adenoids will help her to sleep better which allows her to concentrate more and also to grow properly. If she is snoring then she is probably not getting very good quality sleep, how is her behaviour?

The grommetts thing, I know they fall out and sometimes need to be put in again. This is obviously why you are being recommended it. You say her hearing has come back (is she telling you this or have you had it confirmed by an audiologist?) I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket with this one as she might be hearing fine for this week but get another infection next week and then you might have to wait months again to get her grommetts again.

My ds had 30db less hearing and was snoring at night, always picking up bugs and had behavioural probs because he could only hear what was being shouted at him and didn't 'get it' in social situations because he didn't know what was going on around him and he was withdrawn and hyperactive. I personally will do the grommetts again later on if they fall out and he has more infections if it will give him a better chance at hearing normally. Thats just my opinion and I hope it helps you to make up your mind. I feel as a parent you need to go with your gut instinct. Do what you think is best for your child.

KSM, We were in a similar situation with our DD who's first set of grommits worked wonders but within 6 months of them falling out the glue built up again, she was referred back to the consultant (at our insistance) as the audiologist said that the level of hearing loss wouldn't affect her at school, however, myself, DD and her teachers all noticed that she couldn't concentrate properly in school or at home and DD was herself saying that she felt like she was swimming underwater all the time with regards to how she was hearing.

We were offered the choice of wait and see for 3 months or another set of grommets with adenoid removal which we went for. She had it done 3 weeks ago and the change is amazing, doing better at school again, behaviour has improved, no snoring and can now eat and breath with her mouth closed.

We feel that the glue would just have built up more again and as her education had suffered we felt that the best trhing for her was to have the grommets. HTH

Hey - just thought that I'd reiterate saffymum's advice about making sure that your daughter eats and drinks normally after the op. My parents weren't told this when I had my tonsils out (norally 20 years ago mind). I lived on ice-cream and soup for a week of so afterwards, only to get quite a serious infection. It wasn't much fun at the time (emergency admission to hospital on Xmas eve anyone?). We were told afterwards that the infection had probably been caused by my not flushing the wound through enough.

On the postive side, I was so much healthier afterwards, even with the drama of an extra stay in hospital.