Two Yrd Old Daughter and Tonsillectomy and Adnoid Removal

My son, though he is 3, is also having a tonsillectomy and adnoid removal, this Friday!!! I'm nervous also, but feel very confident in his doctor. Also, If he doesn't get them removed and gets an infection in his throat, his throat could close and he could stop breathing. Once I heard that I had to think about my sons health and not my fear. I went ahead and bought Pedia Lite, popsicles, Motrin, ice pack, etc... My doctor said there really isn't any chance of complications. I know I'm going to cry, but I must be brave for his sake. Good luck!

I do have friends who have children who had this done and it went great! If you are in Houston, Dr. Joseph Edmonds is fantastic!

Hi H.,
Here come the worry busters:
My daughter had her tonsils removed last yr. The ENT who did the surgery had us sign a post-op instruction sheet agreeing that the patient would not attend/play sports the day after surgery. The nurse explained that a child younger than 7 or so would have so Little trouble b/c their tonsils are attached by a Small piece of tissue. There is little bleeding because the tissue is cauterized during the surgery. They are not under really deep anesthesia because it is a short surgery. At age 2 my son ate and drank popsicles, icecream, juice right after the adenoid/tonsillectomy surgery. The meds keep them from feeling really bad. By the second day he took regular tylenol, third day, he was fine. Eating and drinking normally. We did more quiet play, blocks, coloring, reading books, watching tv just so he could regain his strength. He never complained.
Your DD will be Fine.
Reclaim your peace. Love, C.

Hi H.,

My son had the exact same thing. He had obstructive sleep apnea, and was advised at 2 yrs old to have the T&A. It took him about a week to recover, but he is perfectly fine now. It was tough at first, seeing him like that, but now that it's over, we are all better. I can't say much about the resident doing it, because my son's was done by a "seasoned" doctor. I'm sure that other moms have told you that afterwards just make sure that you give your daughter her medicine around the clock, and feed her soft foods, but no red foods. My son didn't really like popsicles or ice cream, so after a day of drinking powerade, he I would make him mashed potatoes and very soft macaroni and cheese. I wouldn't worry about it, because I'm pretty sure that this is common. I sent out a request for information from moms when my son went through this, and there were quite a few responses, so don't worry. Good luck and God bless your daughter during the surgery.

Hi H., I can understand your anxiousness. Im a pediatric nurse and see many children this age with this type of procedure. The truth is that children deal with this surgery much better than adults and most of the time recover much faster. As long as you follow the doctors post op orders you and your little one should be fine. There's no doubt, she will have some pain and discomfort but she will probably come through it just fine with the pain meds they will order for her. Im sure they've already advised you she will not be able to have solids immediately after so have some fun liquids and jello on hand, nothing red though jsut in case there is bleeding and you can differentiate that its blood and not red jello if she vomits red. Bleeding tends not to be a problem unless you are giving her chips or other things right away that she should not have. signs of bleeding include vomiting blood, spitting out blood (obvious) or very frequent swallowing. Dehydration tends not to be a problems unless she absolutely refuses to drink for hours on end. She may refuse the first few hours after if her anesthetic has worn off or she may be just fine. Either way, as long as she's drinking and you are encouraging her to do so then she should be fine. Most docs will tell you that as long as shes drinking something she should be fine, they dont have to eat solids to maintain hydration.
I hope that everything goes well!!

My daughter was 6 when she had her tonsil removed. My daughter had a hard time drinking from a straw because her whole mouth hurt some and the sucking motion hurt. I imagine it might be similar with a sippy cup. I noticed my daughter looked and felt better if she had a little nutition in her. My daughter wasn't really willing to eat anything so I gave her pedia-sure and she would drink that and her energy and her pain levels were better. As far as pain goes, I know someone suggested letting her tell you when she needs it. I would acutally recommend for the first couple of days giving it around the clock at the time intervals stated on the medicine. If it's every 4 hours then give it every 4 hours even if it means waking her up in the night. It is easier to stay ahead of pain than to try and catch up. Her throat will hurt more after sleeping because it will be dry out from lack of swallowing, she will not want to swallow pain meds if her throat is hurting.
Also, my hubby is an anethesiologist and says it is not uncommon for anyone to wake up from surgery dissoriented, unhappy, and thrashing some. I think that is the hardest part because you feel helpless in helping them come out.

Just a couple of my thoughts.

My son who is now 3 had his tonsil removed when he was 2. It was no big deal.

I wouldn't let them do surgery until they do an allergy profile. She is allergic to something or many things and the tonsil/adnoid/inner ear are being constantly assaulted. Maybe you are innocently feeding her all the time the exact things that is hurting her system. In the end she may still need all or some of the surgeries but to me it is malpractice to proceed with something more invasive and radical until simpler approaches are taken. I don't speak to any parents that report the doctor doing allergy tests on children or even bringing it up. This includes children with all sorts of sinus /inner ear/ throat/ headache/ digestive/ breathing/ asthma/ skin rash problems. All of these are almost always some kind of allergy issue. My mom was sick for 80 years with chronic digestive problems. She always hurt. She spent $50,000.00 of her own money that I know of on doctors visits, tests, and treatments for a bunch of misdiagnosed digestive disorders that she didn't have. Finally 2 years ago a country redneck doctor took her history and did one blood antigen (allergy) test. She is allergic to gluten, the protein particle in wheat, rye, and barley. She went on a gluten free diet and started feeling great within 3 weeks. She is in better health now than in the last 20 years. She no longer takes any heart medicine or cholesterol medicine and now only takes 1/3 of the COPD medicine for her lungs. She has always had the gluten allery and never diagnosed. She could have simply controlled her diet to stay off gluten all these years and been healthier. The doctors much prefer you being on a medication everyday. I am jaded on this topic because the Celiac Foundation(people with gluten allergies) has been around for at least 30 years. Some companies do nothing but gluten free foods. A few million people have this allergy. It is not uncommon. So why didn't they test her for it sooner. She had all the classic symptoms and no one ever mentioned it before 2 years ago. Medical doctors are not aggressive enough about nutrition and how to control your health with foods. They get to go on cruises if they prescribe enough meds.
Good Luck with your baby. I will pray for you and the doctors. Be at peace and if she needs the surgery then be okay with that. At least the doctors practice alot and are very good at most of the surgeries they do and getting better all the time.
God Bless

I'm 36 years old and I had the same procedure as a child. I was a couple of years older however my mom said she would have done it younger because I was always sick and missed a lot of school. With the tonsils enlarged I know its very difficult to breath and she may never truly feel rested from a good night sleep. My mom said my recovery wasn't bad at all and that's a long time ago. I'm sure the surgery since my time has improved a lot. I had lots of popcicles and ice cream in the beginning. I hope I was some help.

H.,

My daughter had her tonsils removed, adnoids removed, and tubes placed in when she was 3 years old. She has also had surgery on her eye for a shunt due to a dog bite to the face and later another surgery on her eyes to remove the shunt as well as correct her lazy eyes.

So I have gone through my fair share of surgeries with my daughter at a young age. As for the current surgery, I wouldn't be too worried about it. Children are resilient and all you need to make sure is your child is intaking liquids. My daughter was stubborn for the 1st week and I couldn't get her to really intake liquids. When I threatened she'd spend quality time in the hospital due to dehydration....she was quick to fix her lack of drinking.

So as a mom who has been there, prepare yourself for the surgery and some time off so you can spend the recooperation time with your child and just ensure she is comfortable and intaking fluids. Everything else will be fine. Good luck! :)

A.

H.,

Don't worry so much. My niece had hers removed at about that age and did wonderful. She was a little cranky right after the surgery but that is to be expected b/c they don't really understand what's going on. After a day or so she was fine. and she has not had and ear infection or strep throat since. She is now 7. On a different note "sorta" I had mine removed at 17 and that was awful. The Dr. told us the older you are the harder the recovery is. So count your blessing that they are removing them now and not waiting.

God Bless you
J.

don't worry this is the best thing for your daughter i had my sons tossils and adnoids removed at this age and he has not been sick since. my daughter is now two started schoole and has been sick everysince i plan to ask her dr about doing the same for her it's better now than never or not i also had mine removed as a child and do not get sick as often as my husband who has his tonsills still and always has throat problems this is good don't worry

I have posted this before. Our daughter had similar surgery but for a different problem.

Our daughter went through a similar procedure. She recovered fine. She had tubes and then about 8 months later had a really bad infection with some loss of hearing. The Dr. said she needed her adenoids removed.

The hardest part was when we had to hand her over to the nurse. Our daughter really became upset. My husband took a Valium and was a lot better after that.

After the surgery, we stayed in recovery a few hours and then took her home. She was very tired and slept for many hours. She was not very hungry and really wanted to be held. I think we were instructed to give her children's Tylenol. She recovered very well and was up and around the second day, just not running around till the third day.

The surgery was worth all of the fuss. She never had ear problems after the surgery.

Lots of the kids in our neighborhood ended up having the same surgery. They all had tubes at some point and 4 had their adenoids/ tonsils removed.

My daughter was 29 months when she had tubes, adnoids, and tonsils. She also has sleep apnea and seasonal allergies.
Here's what I can tell ya: yes, it does help. Yes, it does hurt. My daughter freaked out when she woke up in recovery. The IV was a big problem for her. BUT, she had 2 popcicles and a half a sippy of apple juice before she left recovery. We had the surgery early in the am, but we had to stay all day and night at the hospital (Dell Children's) because of her age and her sleep apnea. She did really well. She ate ice cream, mac and cheese, yogurt, jello, and tons of chicken noodle soup (lukewarm). We brought her princess/Disney DVD's and she watched movies and played with her babies. They had a toy room for her to go to as well. She didn't regain her voice for 3 days, and she didn't sleep at all the first night. For like a week afterwards, we woke her every 4 hours (I believe) for her prescribed medications and pain relievers. This sucked (for all concerned), but we got through it. She started to get frustrated toward the middle of the second week because she really wanted to eat chips, granola bars, and goldfish and couldn't - we wouldn't let her. But she wanted them which meant she wasn't feeling too much pain anymore.
As far as her symptoms go, she's had 2 ear infections since the surgery. BUT both leak out green nasty gunk from her ears, which means the gunk isn't hanging out in her middle ear. Her hearing loss has gone away. She doesn't snore or toss and turn or stop breathing like she used to. Oh, and I should note that both ear infections followed not giving her the daily dose of allergy medicine that she needs, so that's more our bad than anything. She hasn't had a single case of strep since then though! :)
To address your concerns:
pain - you'll be given some pain meds and then you'll move to the over the counter - just stay on top of it and she'll be good. Her throat does hurt though, so baby her lots. :)
dehydration - keep lots of good tasting liquids around the house and encourage her to drink and eat what she can and she'll pull through just fine. sherbert, yogurt, and apple juice (which we don't normally do) really were treats that she enjoyed. We'd remind her to drink whenever we thought about it. The more she drinks, especially right away, the better it gets. The longer she goes without swallowing, the worse it'll hurt to swallow - so I hear.
bleeding - the blood loss during surgery was so minimal it was really amazing. Your best bet is to remember not to give her anything that thins the blood prior to surgery (vitamins, tylenol, tea). Ask your ENT for a list. After surgery, I never saw any bleeding.
Oh, whole surgery start to finish for both ears to have tubes, tonsils and adnoids removed: 20 minutes. Recovery: 30 minutes (I was with her though). :)Good luck!

Hi! H.,

If you are having second thoughts go with it. You can wait for the surgery. There are other alternatives to look into. I have a problem with a 2yr old having this type of surgery. Have you considered alternative treatment? You can find a herbalist, chiropractor or accupuncture. The latter can work well for children they do not use needles but what they call buttons or seeds. These treatments work without painful or even harmful results. You can go online to accufinder.com to locate an accupuncturest in your area. I know that the mind set in our society that traditional doctors are the only way to go however, other means have been proven and used throughout the ages. And keep in mind that your child needs every avenue explorded before undergoing the type of surgery that you and your family are facing. Hope this helps it worth looking into for her sake. P.S.

Relax H.,
I worked Pediactrics and new born nursery for 6 years before becoming a stay at home mom. Children have a much high tolerance than we give them credit for. Also children have a natural ability to bounce back quickly after most surgeries that I have seen. At the hospital they will give you instructions as to how best to manage her pain. For the first day after my daughter's surgery I did give her her pain meds every 4-6 hours even if she didn't have pain...mainly to keep her comfortable and relaxed. She recovered great. And remember stay relaxed because if your daughter sees you all worked up and worried ..she will worry about you. Good luck and God Bless you.

A little about me: Single mother of three: ages 18, 16 and 13 and full time legal assistant. My oldest just joined the Navy about 3 months ago.

Hi H....
I understand your concern, but don't worry, she will be okay and things will be back to normal in no time. My daughter went through many tubes in her ears and has had both her tonsils and adnoids taken out at a very young age as your daughter. They recover much faster when they are young. But there's nothing like jello and popsicles that will do the trick. Also, think about how much better she will be once they are gone, she won't be getting sick as often or severe... atleast that was the case for my daughter. Good luck with it all!

my child never experienced pain, just grogy from anesthia. let her do it very young rather than older. older is more pain!!!!!!!!!
my daughter had the same surgery at age 3 at texas children's hospital. her mother and grandma saw her wheeled into the surgery room, we ate a snack at the cafeteria, before we could finished, we were being paiged to the recovery room (about 25 to 30 min). my kid was already half awake with a ice cream stick leaning to the side. her first question immediately after seeing me was" can we go home to paint nails". she never once cried or voiced pain. we just spoiled her on lots of ice cream.

On the flip side, my best friend had the same procedure at the age of 26. major pain, in bed for weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey H.,
My daughter was 18 mths old when she had that surgery and she did great she also had the tubes in her ears first.
She had a great recovery no problems. I believe that you
will be ok and that your daughter will be fine. We will be
praying for both of you.

Cindy

Hi H., My now 6 year old had her tonsils and adnoids removed when she was 2 also. I was really scared. She was having a lot of trouble sleeping (apnea) and snored like a BIG bear! We are so glad we did it!! The hardest thing was that I could not be there I had to give my little girl to some stranger (a nurse) to go get put under and have surgery. But about an hour later we went back as she was waking up and although she was pretty upset (mad really) and couldn't talk she was perfect. She and I stayed at the hospitol overnight because she was so young, we took a lot of books and a portable DVD player, some little toys and a special pair of PJ's. She ate cold applesauce like knowbody's buisiness for a few days and yogurt. She talked a little funny (which we vidio taped) but was good as new in about a week. She sleeps great now and is much healthier, eating better, everything.
We are so glad we decided to do it!
Best of Luck!!

My son was about your daughter's age when he had the same procedure. He even got another set of ear tubes. I have to admit, I was worried and nervous about this procedure. I didn't want him to go through such discomfort. It all paid off. He no longer gets throat infections, and his loud snoring has stopped.

No need to worry, the dr. will give you a list of do's and dont's, on what she can and can't eat. The recovery time is about 2-3 wks. Our ENT prescribed some pain medication. I know it's VERY difficult to see your child go through this.

Take care and Good Luck.

Rosie

My son had it done when he was barely 2 yrs old....it was the best thing I ever did...a little rough for a week, but our monthly episodes and being hospitalized for strep are over....he has hardly been sick since then, he is 5 now. I highly reccomend it, the younger the better, they heal really fast but have bad breath for a few weeks. Good Luck!!!! You won't be sorry, I'm not 4 sure!!!

Hi H.,

My son had his tonsils and adenoids removed at 2 1/2. Before the surgery he snored all night, woke constantly, and I am pretty sure had sleep apnea. It was awful! He is soooo much better since the surgery, so I would say it was definitely worth it.

That being said, it is a difficult recovery. They gave us a narcotic pain reliever and that really helped. We just let him eat whatever soft foods he wanted and he did ok. Mostly, chicken noodle soup, jello, ice cream, juice. As long as his pain was under control he would eat and drink. So make sure you keep up on the medicine! Also, his pain was much more controlled when we alternated the tylenol with codeine with ibuprofen every 3 hours, but some doctors don't want you to use ibuprofen because of the risk of bleeding so you might check with your doctor.

My son had to be put right back under after the surgery (minutes after he woke up) because he was bleeding too much, but after that was fixed he did not have any bleeding problems at all (and we used the ibuprofen!)

Good luck, I know how scary this is but it really does help if your child needs it!

E.

I understand your apprehension. Both of my boys had a T&A along with ear tubes.

It is amazing how quickly they both recovered. In a day or two, they both felt pretty much back to normal. Lots of popcicles helped along with clear juice. Give her the pain meds they prescribe and she should be okay.

Good luck!

J

My son had the same surgeries before he turned 2. I was as anxious and nervous as you. He was fine. He's been healthy ever since. The surgery was a sucess. Good luck.

Ok, I don't know how many of these kinds of responses you'll get but this is coming from someone who actually had the process done as a young child, and that was 3o years ago before medical advances that we have now. Honestly it's not that big of a deal, and the bonuses to your child's health FAR outweigh the temporary issues that come with the surgery and recovery. I realize your concerns are valid and that you're worried from a mother's standpoint, but look at it from as much of a distance as you can. This surgery is going to benefit your child's health for the long haul.

The only thing I can offer is that afterwards to make sure she drinks. We jsut had a boy at daycare who is 4 have his adnoids and tonsils taken out and tubes put in at same time. He went home same day but because he would not drink he ended up back in hospital dehydrated. also running fever (prob not related to not drinking)

My daughter had a chronic runny nose and ear infections or fluid on the ears for years. We put the tubes in which didn't work as well as we wanted. The second time around the options were to have her adenoids removed when the tubes were put in. I went for it. The surgery lasted a little longer than just having the tubes but she was fine. Recovery was a little longer so try to schedule it for a Friday so she has the weekend to recover. Outside of having bad breath for a while she was fine. All kids are different but at that age they bounce back a lot sooner than we do as adults. The results were excellent. She finally stopped having runny noses and hasn't had ear problems since and that was about 2 years ago and she is now 6.

Surgery is surgery no matter how routine. The flip side is having your daughter have sleep apnea and possibly other issues. They will give you something for the pain should she need it but follow her lead. Don't give it unless she is wanting it. I don't think mine took hers much if at all but again all kids are different.

Keep in mind I didn't have her tonsils removed so I can only say how my daughter responded to the adenoid removal. Hope that was some help.

My daughter was 2 when she had tubes put in both her ears and tonsils and adenoids removed. She did great! I can understand your concern but children are much more resilient than we think! My daughter did very well with some Popsicles following surgery for the next few days and was eating soft solids the day after surgery. She only used her pain medication for the first 2 days.

I am so sorry your daughter has to have this surgery. I bet they will give her something for the pain and she will sleep alot. Give her lots of icecream for the tonsil reimoval. Sleep apnea is pretty serious I would be more consirned and relived that they are going to fix that. I hope your little girl recovers quickly. God bless your little one.

A little girl at our church had the same thing. She was always sick with ear infections and colds. She very seldom reacted to people and was somewhat subdued in her general behavior. Since her surgery, she is a completely different child. She laughs and runs and giggles--a precious, happy litle girl. (By the way, she won't be two until spring!)

Don't be frightened. If four doctors say your child will benefit from this procedure, believe them. I know she seems awfully young to you, but the doctors are very experienced in working on children even younger than she.

As for a parent fearing whether or not you can handle the aftermath of surgery, it doesn't get better as the child gets older. My 25-year-old autistic son had his wisdom teeth extracted in April, and I actually lost sleep worrying about how to handle him after the procedure. He did VERY well, although the first day was a bit scarey. (I don't like dealing with blood!) You will do fine, too. AND you'll be glad that you followed your doctor's advice.

Hi H.! I feel your pain and nervousness but let me reassure you that she will be fine. My son was 5 years old when he had that same procedure and the only thing that had me worried was that he wasn't eating and he started to appear real skinny in the face. He was afraid to eat because his throat was soar. My older sister suggested that I give him Ensure, the supplement drink and believe it or not, it nursed him back to health. He now sleeps much better without snoring.Good luck!

Dear H.

I know exactly how you feel. I have twin girls that have similar conditions. luckily in their case they did not have to have tubes put into their ears but both of them snored. as a child i had similar snoring problems and their father also snores loudly. Well first I had the younger of the twins go thru the series of test for them to tell me she had sleep apnea and that the best thing to do was operate. Well being a young mother I was terrified at the idea but the doctor assured me that the recovery time would be minimal since she was young. So just like your daughter her tonsils we taken out at Memorial Herman SW. They also wanted to take out here adenoids but I did not want to leave her defenseless so they only took out her tonsils. To tell you the truth she was a trooper while I was the one worried to death since she was so young. But luckly everything went well and now I can see a big difference when she sleeps. Now it looks like I will have to go thru it again with her sister that snores as well. Good Luck and know that God is with her and that everything will go well.

Hi H., my friends son just had this procedure done about two weeks ago, his birthday party was this past weekend and he is doing fine! She said he was in pain but more frusterated with the iv's. A couple days after surgery he was eating doritos!! I think your daughter will be fine, just give her lots of cold water... And pray about it! Good luck!