Post Tonsilectomy Care.

You might just have to play it by ear. He may not feel well enough to go. I am forty and just had my tonsils out two years ago. I know it is rougher the older you are, but I thought I would just let you know what I went through. He will be probably taking a liquid pain med. I guess you could gauge how he does when he has a bad case of tonsilitis to see how he might do. That is exactly what it feels like. Plus he won't be able to eat anything. Not even ice cream, popsicles, anything, just water. I tried to eat those things, even pudding but it burns so badly that I went screaming into the kitchen for pain medicine. I also know of a 9 yr old at church that had a tonsilectomy a few months after mine and they asked me how long it would be before he could eat and I told them for the younger group I think it is closer to two weeks, for me it was three. I told them when he thought he just about couldn't handle it anymore then it would start to ease. He had his done on a thursday or friday and wasn't at church on sunday, so your son might just feel too awful to go. But, if he feels well enough to go he might be miserable anyway watching everyone eat while he can't. I know I am rambling and I am sorry for that. I just know that for those 3 weeks water was the only thing that didn't burn both sides of my throat. And it had to be room temp, not cold. The Dr. did say that if I started bleeding then to drink ice cold water to constrict the blood vessels and to absolutely not drink anything hot. Things may have changed in the past couple of years concerning after care just because they always change and your Dr. will give you a list of instructions. But as far as the picnic I think the Dr. might say the same play it by ear and see how your son feels.

If you really don't want to miss the picnic, I would re-schedule the surgery for sometime after the picnic. My daughter had her tonsils & adenoids removed, and she didn't eat much for 2 weeks. Also, they just feel really miserable, and are very prone to infections. So, I would either skip the picnic, or reschedule the surgery.

I would play it by hear, but I don't really think your son will be up to it that soon.

I can remember when I had my tonsils out,I was 12 years old and it was summer time and I was really miserable the first week afterwards. I was promised all the popcicles, slushes and icecream I wanted and I definetly did NOT want anything. For a few days I carried around a notebook and had signals to get my family's attention (clap, snap, etc.) , because I couldn't utter a word without pain. My tonsilectomy was 20 years ago and I'm sure many things have changed since then.

Is there any way possible to reschedule the tonsillectomy sooner so you and your son won't have to miss the opportunity to attend your family reunion?
A 9 year old boy will want to be able to eat, talk, run and play with his family at a gathering.

Good Luck!
S.

I doubt he's going to feel well enough to go, even if the doc says it's okay. The older the child, the longer the recovery - rule of thumb for kids, at least a day for each year of their age.

Hi R.,
I had my tonsils removed when I was about 14. My pain tolerance is pretty good, but I tell you when the pain medication would where off it was Hell! Most likely unless your son is really drugged up just two days after the surgery he won't be up to it. The only two things that made my throat feel better was ice cream and cold Gatorade.

I agree with the person who suggested re-scheduling the operation. Maybe you can do it after the party instead. When I had mine out (I was 18 and it was a hot summer), I tried to go to a big picnic/party 2 days later and almost fainted because I felt so bad. General anesthesia makes you feel pretty lousy for a few days to a week after the surgery, on top of the mouth pain. If you son is a very active boy, he might have trouble limiting himself by not running around too much and could have problems in the heat. Foods I ate for the first 3 weeks were: LOTS of milkshakes, jello, cool soup, scrambled eggs, basically anthing soft and mushy. AVOID anything acidic, like tomato sauce or orange juice. Good luck!

i doubt he will feel like going anywhere 2 days after a tonsillectomy. he is going to feel terrible..unless they are doing it laser...if they are doing the old fashion way then he is going to be miserable. he is going to have a heck of a time swallowing and eating...it hurts...and it hurts BADLY!!!! i had it done along with my 2 kids as well and it is definitly no walk in the park.

if he by some chance is ok after 2 days i don't see any reason he can't play in the water...same thing as taking a bath

HTH

Oh, no!!! He shouldn't do that, nor feel like it. If the picnic is that important to you.....I'd reschedule the operation. The doctors always make it sound like a no big deal thing, but, been there -done that! No fun.

I would definitely say let him skip the picnic so he can stay home in bed with a sitter or you too stay home with him. He will not feel like going that soon. Pretty much, for the full week following this procedure his throat will be killing him and he won't feel well. Maybe this is just our experience and you'll get better responses from others. But, I do feel strongly that he won't feel well enough to go, especially play with others. He'll barely be able to swallow, much less talk much and visit. Sorry ...

It is going to depend on how well your son bounces back. There is no medical reason he won't be able to play in the water. The sore throat feeling after a tonsilectomy feels like a bad case of step throat and he may not feel up to speaking or playing with anyone. You may want to make arangements for someone to come and stay with him for a bout two hours while you go to visit with out of town relatives or you can arrange to have them come visit you at your house after the picnic.

After surgury he might enjoy having cold soft foods like jello, pudding, ice cream, yougurt, applesauce or warm soft foods like soups and over cooked pasta, oatmeal, grits....Some of these foods you could pack and take with you to the picnic to make for comfortable for him. Jello makes sugar free and fat free options in both pudding and jello in convient prepackaged cups. The sugar free jello is only 10 calories so he could have as much of that as he likes.
Good Luck!

The spraying of water and water over the head isn't the problem. Your son will not feel like going. Even through a tonsilectomy is not that major but your body still goes through a healing process. Let your son tell you if he feels like going or not and judge how much pain he is in. My son was 3 years old when he had it done and the next day he wanted pizza. Even though the diet was soft foods. But he was in a lot of pain for about a week.

Invite the out of town relatives over for a after pinic tea and cake. Tell them why you could not make the pinic.

I would reschedule or skip, he could have post op bleeding 2 days out.

My 10 year old had his tonsils out last August. He didn't feel like doing anything for a good week. The ENT doc said he needed to stay indoors and not get hot for 2 weeks. There's a risk of knocking the scabs off and them bleeding. It is a big procedure. More to it than I thought before going into it. I doubt he will even feel like going to the picnic. I wish him best of luck

My 21 year old daughter had a tonsilectomy and her adenoids removed at 7 years old. He will still have a lot of soreness and the heat will not be good for him, and could even make him sick. The doctor will give you all the necessary information, but if he's going to play, which he may not even feel like, a week is more like what he would need to recoup.Maybe you could reschedule his surgery for after the picnic, or call your doctor and see if he can do it sooner? Good luck, be careful, and have fun.

My son had his tonsils out when he was 2 1/2. He seemed perfectly fine by the next day. In fact, he was already wanting cheese crackers by the same evening as the surgery. I think the biggest problem is usually just recovering from the anesthesia. I would bet by 2 days later he might be just fine. Maybe just talk to him beforehand and let the decision be up to him. If he feels like playing, then go for it. If not, its ok to just sit by mom. At least then, it wouldn't be you that is keeping him away from the fun. Hope this helps. Good luck with everything!

A.

2 of my children, and myself all had tonilectomy's done within the last year, and I can promise you, you son will NOT feel like being around anyone 2 days post-op, not to mention, he won't be able to eat anything, and being outside around all those people will make him VERY prone to infection. I am sorry you would have to miss the opportunity, but you could be seriously jepordizing your childs well being if you took him to this.

Just wait and see how he feels by then. If he feels up to it, there's no reason he can't play in the water.

As for food and pain, that varies a lot from one person to another. My daughter had her tonsils out when she was four, and did fine with foods like popsicles and ice cream for the first few days afterward. After that, she was able to handle regular foods as long as they weren't scratchy or crunchy - peanut butter or cheese sandwiches, berries and other soft fruits, cooked vegetables, etc. By the next week, she was back to a normal diet. She only needed children's tylenol for the pain for the first few days.

My daughter had a T and A when she was 6 and was ready to go when the anathesia (sp) wore off. The only thing you would need to worry about is what he eats he will be on a liquid diet for a few days and then a soft food diet. I would tell them that you may or may not make depending on how your son feels.

I was reading some other responses of other people that said they got thier tonsils out and they were older just remember kids bounce back fast!

This is out patient rather then in patient like many many many years ago.

hello my name is J. mother of two beautiful children sky who is 6 and elijah is 3 i have to say tonsils being tajen out is not fun im 28 i had mine out at 27 and was down a total of a month i dont know how fast kids bounce back he may not b well enough to go though they give pain meds and tell u to sleep and trust me dont let him move too much i was back in the hosp one week after i had it done from moving around too soon and had to go back under anasthesia have my stomach pumped and three spots on my throat cortirized i lost alot of blood that day so ifi were u id make sure to speak with tje doc before any plans were made or reschedule if u can wait one more week but please dont wait too long mine were supposed to come out when i was little my mom didnt belive in it so i sufferd worse as an adult having it done

The best thing to do is to ask his Dr. Your son may not be feeling well enough to actually be out especially in the heat. Hope all goes well with the surgery.

As I reply to this I have an 8 yr old son who just had the same surgery on the 19th still laying on the couch beside me. My best advice is if you do have your heart set on going to the family event is reschedule the surgery. The reason I say that is his dr is going to be against him going out to something like that that soon after surgery. My son's dr told me that he is to stay indoors and resting for at least a week following his surgery. He said it might be tough but it had to be done. Yesterday was our first good day in which he was actually talking more and wanting to run around. I had to keep reminding him that he was suppose to be resting.
Call his dr and explain what is going on and see if they will reschedule. Because odds are your son isnt going to be in any shape to go to the family event.