Tonsils - Grand Rapids, MI

Just a tip: I had my tonsils out at age 6. Afterwards, I couldn't talk very much or call for my mom if she was in the other room. She gave me an old bell to ring if I needed something. That way I could just lay and rest and watch T.V. and my throat could rest too! :) Good Luck

I was told by My Daughters (she is 2.5 years old) ENT that her tonsils were so large that they were almost touching. He said to watch her for 5 nights in a row for five mins while she snores, if she quits breathing for 10 seconds then we will need to "consider" taking them out. She also sounds nasel-y. She doesn't seem to miss one breath at all. We will continue to monitor her every couple weeks for the next 6months. Till her next appt. She sees an ENT 'cause she had so many ear infections, she has tubes in her ears now. We have never had any infections in her throat area. We see Dr. Wilson, he is in the Grand Haven Hospital. I think it is called Ottawa Shores ENT.

Ok. My then 6 year old had to have hers out. (and adnoids) She was always missing school for a throat related illness. At one point, a family member who is a nurse said they looked like cherry tomatoes, so how could she eat?! Finally we told the dr we wanted to see the throat dr..the surgery took I think 1 half hours...then they wait to see if he can hold down drink or food. Mine did not for about 2 hours. She wanted toast cuz she saw a patient with it! Oddly enough she was able to eat it a few hours later! Be carefull with the codeine..it gave her a belly ache. good luck, mine would not get any rest!

My son just had this done in April. He was 6 at the time. It was outpt and he did vomit from the anesthesia. We went home a couple hours later and pretty much just layed on the couch the first 2 days. Days 3 & 4 were bad and day 7. I just gave him the Tylenol 3 around the clock until we got past the pain. He ate ALOT of mac and cheese, popsicles, soft muffins and slurpees. He missed a week and a half of school but it was not as bad as I thought it would be. Good luck to you!
L.

My 8 year old daughter had hers taken out last september. It was an outpatient surgery. The recovery was good tooo. They sent her home with tylnoel w/ codine in it. She only had to use it one time. They also told us that it will start to heal and it wont hurt as much in a couple of days after but that the sore would fall off and it would hurt all over again like she just had it done. She had no problems with it. It did change her voice a little but after a month she was all back to normal. She now gets less seasonal allergies and its great not having to take her to the doctors for ear aches. Good luck !!!

Last October my son, 4 at the time, had his tonsils removed (size of golfballs) and tubes in his ears at the same time. He did not once even mention his ears bothering him after surgery but the throat...Oh my goodness. His throat hurt so bad. He refused the medicine (tylenol 3 w/codine) because of the taste, refused popsicles, ice cream...everything. We finally got him to take juice but only out of a straw and for food I gave him mac n cheese. The hospital stay was only for a couple of hours and the recovery was a solid week at home. Just have patience after the surgery and stock up on soft/liquidy foods.

Hi A.,

My son had his tonsils out at the age of 12 and he did just fine with it. I on the other hand had them out at 26 and was out of work for 2 weeks and didn't eat for 3 weeks! It is much easier for children!!

Another thing to consider when making the decision of whether to take them out or not is that infected tonsils can affect other parts of the body that you don't realize. When I took my son to the orthodontist at age 12 he insisted that his tonsils and adenoids be removed before he would start his treatment and put braces on. Apparently, the cronic infections in his tonsils caused a lack of oxygen in his sinus passages which prevented his upper jaw bone from growing properly so he ended up with a severe underbite. I had been told that he needed his tonsils out over the years but having no health insurance and being a single mother I could never afford to get it done. I knew he was suffering with the infections and such but I never dreamed that it was causing an actual physical deficiancy in his bone growth. (Believe me...feelings of guilt washed over me for not finding some way to get the surgery when he was much younger) I did talk to other dentists and orthodontists to confirm that this could actually happen and they all said yes it is possible. I was very disappointed in the fact that NOBODY else ever brought this up at a younger age. Sorry to be so long winded here but this seems to be one of those things that aren't shared too often.

Good luck with everything!

T.

Hi A.~
I haven't been thru this with kids (yet) but I had my tonils out at 28 and it was awful! Looking back, I was dealing with the constant infection for as long as I can remember, I just didn't know what it was then. The thing about tonsils is that the infection tunnels into them, leaving pockets that hold infection constantly. Also if your little one is already snoring, you'll have to deal with possible sleep apnea as he gets older. For some reason, this particular surgery is easy for kids to recover from, but hell for adults. While I was on heavy duty pain meds, my niece only needed Tylenol! Of course you wouldn't put your kids thru unneccessary surgery, but if it's got to be done, do it now. It's an outpatient procedure and you'll have to keep his activity restricted for a little while b/c he'll prob. feel great in just a few days and want to play again. You can always find the person who has a horror story about any procedure, but in most cases it is an easy recovery.
Good luck!
~L.

I wouldn't worry about it. The little boy I was a nanny for in college had his out and it wasn't a big deal. It was for his mom b/c it was full surgery with anestesia (SP?) and all, but he recovered fast and did well. He hardly remembers it. If they reccomend it, I would do it soon. The sooner the better, as you get older it is a longer recovery time. My sister had them out when she was 21 and it was awful for her and she wished my parents had done it when she was younger. Just make sure you trust the doctor you go with b/c like I said, it is still surgery.

A.-

I am in the medical field and we see this on a daily basis. It is very, very common in kids under the age of 12. Depending on what the ENT says, they will take out his tonsils or tonsils and adenoids (just some 'extra' fleshy tissue in the area). It will be an outpatient procedure and he will be limited to light activity for 1-2 weeks (so that he doesn't induce bleeding) and will have to watch his diet the first few days (soft, room temp foods). He will bounce right back, just some light pain the first couple days. He will have general anesthesia, which may cause vomiting, but that should be the worst of it.

Hi A. -

Thought I'd throw my 2 cents in... My father-in-law is a fantastic ENT doc, and has done hundreds of pediatric tonsil removals. The procedure is most often done at a day surgery center, so your son likely won't even set foot in the actual hospital and will spend only a couple of hours in recovery at the surgery center. The recovery is generally about a week, but is often easier on younger children than it is on older children or adults. Good luck!

It's funny that you ask this because I was told just today that my 4 year old needs to be seen by the ENT for the same reason. I haven't gone through it with my other kids but a good friends boy had the surgery in May. It was an out patient procedure for him. His activity was limited for about 2 weeks in order to heal properly. I guess that if they resume normal play such as running, jumping and other physical activity, they can knock the clots open and start to bleed. I seen him the day after the surgery and he seemed totally normal. He wanted to do all of the above but couldn't. I think it was harder on his parents trying to keep him calm then the surgery was on him. From what I have seen it's an easy procedure and the kids pop back to normal quickly. I hope this helps!

My son had his out a few yrs. ago. It's same day surgery so he will go home the same day. My ENT schedules the children as his first surgeries of the day. My son was groggy in recovery and vomitted a little which is natural. He also had us bring in a few movies to watch since we had to stay in recovery for several hours. He was sore for a bit but our Dr. gave us a list of foods he could eat for the first several of days and said no dairy products for those days and he was suppose to take it easy. Recovery time was 2 weeks so we planned his surgery to coincide with spring break but you won't have to worry about that since your son is still young to be in school. It did cure his snoring. We're looking at having my almost 16 yr. old's tonsils out on the recommendation of his peditrician and sleep study Dr. Hope this helps. Good luck.

I am a mom of 5 boys. Ages almost 16, 14,12,9, and 5. I went back to work after 12 yrs. of being a stay at home mom.

My 10 year old just had his out. His tonsils & adnoids were HUGE, He had a hard time breathing & speaking, He is doing so much bettter now!! Hospital stay was over night at Crittenton in Rochester, there pediatric unit is wonderful! They have it decorated like a farm yard, they also have a play room & video games!! After the surgery he had popsicles, ice cream, pudding. He was sore but he says the best part of summer was getting his tonsils out!!

Hi A. -

My sister had her tonsils removed as a child and recovered very quickly. I am sure there was some pain involved, but it was minimal! Back then, it wasn't an outpatient surgery, so that tells you how far they have come with it!

Completely agree with Lacy...I have heard it is a horrible surgery for adults. I, myself, have HUGE tonsils that should have been removed when I was younger and weren't. I have gotten my infections under control, but still have problems. When I see a new doctor and they look in my throat they all comment (like I am unaware, LOL) of how big my tonsils are. Anyways, I agree...if it needs to be done, do it now! Wish I would have had mine out young!

Good luck :-)

My son had his tonsils taken out when he was 5. We were only at the hospital for a few hours. We had to be there at 5:30 and his surgery was at 6:30. His surgery itself was about 45 mins. Afterwards he was put in a recovery room. He slept off the meds for a couple hours. We were told when he woke and was able to eat a popsicle we would be able to leave. When he woke he ate his popsicle was felt a little sick so we had to wait to leave. They gave him some meds for his belly and he fell back to sleep for another couple hours. He woke up feeling great they waited about 1/2 hour after up to make sure he was doing good then they let us go home. We were back home about 1pm that afternoon. We went to St. Mary's in GR and they have always been wonderful to my children when I bring them there.

My son had his tonsils out at about the same age a little over a year ago. We went to Childrens Hospital, and I could not have asked for better care! When we got there my son got to pick a wagon and he rode up in the wagon to the pre-op room, where (it was around Easter time) he picked out his OWN easter basket full of goodies, with a large easter bunny inside, which he got as soon as he got into recovery. My sons surgery went GREAT! His favorite color is green, so they made sure that he had green popsicles and jello when he was ready to eat. It did not take him long and he was ready to eat. I just made sure before hand I brought with me to the hospital his favorite blanket, favorite stuffed animal, some coloring books, some sticker books, and some reading books for him to play with. We spent the night in the hospital, in the middle of the night he was in pain, but I kept him occupied with all of the things I brought. When we got home we had many family memebers who made him little "goodie" bags full of other coloring activities, sticker books, etc... and I took the week off of work for his recovery. He did great! We had our moments of him being in pain, however, I dedicated myself to him and we turned it into "quality time" I also have a younger son and I got my mother to watch him for the first two days so that all of my attention could be focused on him. I was a nervous reck and was VERY woried about him, but he showed me and took it BETTER THAN I COULD HAVE EVER IMAGINED!

My son had his tonsils out last summer at 4.5 years old. He was a little scared but we went through lots of tests (do to lung issues at birth) to assure the surgery would be ok. He also had a sleep study first. All the doctors and Sparrow Hospital were great (the play room in the kids ward was wonderful!). He stayed in for two nights. The recovery was, as they said, about 12 days and very tough on my son. He hated the medicine and it was even a fight to get him to suck on popsicles or freezer pops and to drink (which he nornally loved). I am SOOOOO happy we got them out. His sleep apnea immediately disappeared as well as his snoring. It is just a little tough to endure the recovery period. I hear it is easier the younger they are.