Removal of tonsils and adnoids

[Winter Biscuit]

I took my 3yo DD to the ENT today and - long story short - she'll be having her tonsils and adnoids removed sometime in the next 3-4 weeks or so. Has anyone else gone through this? What can I expect?

The ENT basically told me that it's an outpatient procedure, there is risk of bleeding and infection, that DD will have a sore throat for up to several days afterwards, and that she'd be on liquid antibiotics. He also said it could take 2 or more weeks for everything to heal completely.

When I had my tonsils removed some 25 years ago, I had to stay overnight in the hospital. I remember having a really sore throat afterwards and eating lots of ice cream :p But that's really all I remember, and I also know that things have a lot changed since then so I really can't bank on my DD having a similar experience.

[Thea]

WinterBiscuit My DS is having his adenoids out and tubes put in his ears next Friday. He is 9, and when he was 6 he had his tonsils and adenoids out. Apparently, adenoids can regrow up until they hit puberty. Unfortunately, I can't give you much feedback, as I adopted DS, he wasn't in my life for his 1st surgery when he was 6. I can tell you that what he remembers is a sore throat and the ice cream. The doctors and my DH and I are having a hard time explaining to him that the sore throat was more due to the tonsils than the adenoids. But, I wanted to wish you luck with your daughter's procedure and hope everything will be fine.

[Katie&Micah]

I had my adnoids and tonsils out when I was 12.. so 12 years ago. I didn't stay overnight. I just remember lots of milkshakes/popsicles. But the pain really wasn't bad at all. And I'm a wimp when it comes to pain. I think maybe 2 days of sore throat.

[MizLarner]

My oldest stepson had his adenoids removed a couple of years ago. I think he was 7 then? Anyway, what his mom told me was that he was VERY worried about bleeding when they did the surgery. He was put under, they did their business, and he was on the soft food diet for a while. She said he was sore for a couple of days, but within a week, he was picking fights with his little brother again so she decided he was well enough to go back to school. His hearing improved after that, as well as his sleep habits.

[gretazmama]

My DD had her tonsils and adenoids out at age 2. The day of surgery was tough, coming out of general anesthesia took longer than we anticipated, but within a week she was up and about as usual. The doc asked us to keep her relatively quiet (no jumping, running, etc.) for the first few days after the procedure, and that wasn't easy, but we managed!

I'm really glad we did it. It's been almost one year and since then we've had no ear infections. Her breathing is so much better, too, and I think her night sleep has improved as well.

[cr8zyforaf]

I had my adenoids removed and tubes put in my ears at the age of 5 - my mom told me it was outpatient and wasn't bad at all (I have very little memory of it). I can say, I have never had an ear infection since then and I am very glad my parents did it.

[Winter Biscuit]

Thanks to everyone for chiming in. I'd thought I'd post a few "lessons learned" in case anyone does a search on this topic in the future (and I'll try to remember to come back and update this after the surgery, for the same reason - in case anyone does a search in the future and wants info on this topic).

First, our ENT gave us a bunch of pre-op instructions over the phone. Ask for things in writing if your doctor doesn't already provide written instructions. Neither DH nor I do well when people give us a long list of instructions over the phone. I learn and retain info better when I can read it, not when I hear it. One of the things they told us was that we cannot give DD any Motrin or aspirin products for 2 weeks before the surgery. Apparently, those things can contribute to excessive bleeding. (They didn't tell us "why" we can't give Motrin - I found out about the risk of excessive bleeding via my own through my own research.) Well, we completely forgot... DD has a nasty bug and has had 3 consecutive days of temperatures over 100. When she hit 103, our first instinct was to give her Motrin to bring the temperature down. It wasn't until after we gave her a 2nd dose several hours later that I suddenly had an "oh sh!t" moment and remembered the no Motrin rule. Her surgery is 1 week from tomorrow. I don't know if the ENT is going to make us reschedule the surgery because we gave her Motrin or what. I really wish they had sent us a written list of pre-op instructions, including what to expect afterwards, etc. I'm not saying that we would have remembered the "no Motrin" rule if it had been written down for us, but I guarantee that we would have read it and would have had it posted in our kitchen somewhere. And it would have been nice if they had told us what we CAN give her in lieu of Motrin, in case we found ourselves in a situation where we needed to administer pain relief and/or fever-reducing meds before the surgery. We had to call the after-hours number last night to get the on-call doctor to confirm that it's OK to give DD Tylenol, but not Motrin.

Our ENT's office has not told us what DD may eat after the surgery other than "ice cream for breakfast." I know from my personal experience that she will need to be on a soft food diet for a while, until she is ready for regular food again, but I have no idea if ALL soft foods are OK or if there are certain ones we may want to avoid, etc. I'd like to be able to go shopping before the surgery so we have everything on hand, ya know? Only from doing my own research and talking to someone I know whose son just had his tonsils/adnoids removed, have I been able to compile a list of food/drinks that we are going to want to have on hand once we get home.

My DD needs to take an antibiotic before the surgery due to a heart defect (to prevent the risk of infection) and will need to continue taking the abx for a few days following the surgery. The ENT called in the Rx to our pharmacy, and then called us to tell us it was ready for us to pick up. We went to pick it up that same day, since it was convenient for us to pick it up at that time. Well, AFTER we got home, we noticed the label on the liquid abx that said the Rx only has a shelf life of 10 days and we need to discard it on March 28. Her surgery is on March 27, so the Rx is basically useless for post-op and we need to have another Rx called in. If your child needs to take an abx for any reason before the surgery, keep in mind that (some? all?) liquid abx only have a shelf life of 10 days. Don't pick it up 14 days before the surgery.

[penybryn]

My son had his tonsils and adnoids out at age 4. He suffered from severe snoring and had a million infections. He stayed overnight in the hospital because he has asthma, as a precaution. He didn't really eat for a few days (really picky anyway). He had lots of sherbert and really cold juice. Motrin kept the pain in check. Back to preschool the following week.

He is 11 now and no more snoring. Asthma has basically disappeared but he still has allergies. Springtime is coming! Hello Zyrtec!

[Winter Biscuit]

Motrin kept the pain in check.

Wow, I'm surprised your son's doctor allowed Motrin. We were not allowed to give DD Motrin for 2 weeks before the surgery, and for 10 days after surgery, because ibuprofen can cause excessive post-op bleeding. We were/are only allowed to give her Tylenol. Motrin works much better and lasts longer, and DD also prefers the taste of Motrin, so it has been very hard telling her that no, she can't have "the orange medicine."

I just thought I'd post an update. The surgery itself went really well, but DD freaked out big time when she first woke up after surgery so they had to give her a sedative to calm her down. By the time they allowed me to come back to the recovery room to sit with her, she was knocked out pretty good but still hyperventilating in her sleep :( It was really hard to see my little girl like that. She didn't wake up for 2 hours, so she was in recovery a lot longer than they expected her to be. (They told me she'd probably spend "45 minutes to an hour" in recovery, and then be discharged to go home.)

When she first woke up, she was pretty crabby and cried quite a bit. She immediately asked for something to eat. (She hadn't eaten since her bedtime snack the night before.) They gave her a dose of Tylenol with codeine first, which she promptly spit out all over the nurse, and then offered her a popsicle. Maybe 45 minutes after she woke up we were cleared to go home.

We were supposed to encourage lots of fluids for the first 48 hours. I don't think my DD had more than 4 ounces of fluids in the first 2 days. We tried so hard to get her to drink fluids or eat soft, slippery foods, but she adamantly refused. She did have some ice cream the first day at home, and a few bites of jello, but that was all she would take. She refused the popsicles, apple juice, water, applesauce, Jello (other than a few bites), and pudding that I had stocked up on for her. She wanted chocolate milk, but we were told not to give her milk products for 2 days (other than ice cream). Her throat was really sore so she didn't want to swallow, and she just didn't understand that the more she ate/drank, the sooner she would feel better even though it WOULD hurt every time she swallowed. I finally said "screw it" about some of the rules and gave her chocolate milk anyway, and also let her drink from a straw when she asked for one (we were told not to let her use straws for the first 2 days). I also made up some "games" to try to get fluids into her. I would give her "shots" of water using the syringe that came with her medicine - she thought it was lots of fun when I gave her "shots" of water. I only got a few ounces in her with each shot, but I figured it was better than nothing, and at least she was swallowing it.

We were supposed to give her Tylenol w/ codeine every 4 hours around the clock. The doctor instructed us to wake her up every 4 hours, even at night, to give her the medicine. Let's just say that didn't go very well at all. The Tylenol w/ codeine smells horrible and I'm sure it tastes worse (it made ME gag when I smelled it). Every single time we tried to give it to DD, she would refuse to take it, fight us with all her might, scream bloody murder and/or promptly spit it out. We had to beg and plead and fight with her to get her to take her meds, and she'd scream the whole time (which probably didn't help her throat at all). We finally gave up 12 hours after the surgery and tried to give her regular Tylenol (Bubble gum flavor) - and she didn't even want that. (We called the ENT and they said it was fine to give her regular Tylenol if she refused the codeine stuff.) It was very frustrating and exhausting. She barely ate anything for the first several days, and every time she DID eat something she would just complain that her stomach hurt. The ENT had warned us that she'd have a sore throat (obviously) and bad ear aches (referred pain), but nobody mentioned that her stomach might hurt. She lost 4 pounds the first week after surgery because she barely ate anything.

We are now 9 days post-op and she is back at preschool for the first full-day since her surgery (she went for a few hours yesterday). She is eating better now, but still complains that her stomach hurts after she eats. We called the ENT and they do not seem at all concerned about her not eating, or the fact that her stomach hurts. They said we just need to give it more time.

We go back to the ENT next week for a post-op check-up. We'll see what they say.

So many people told me that it was better or "good" that we were doing this when DD is so young because "little kids are so resilient, they bounce right back." After what we went through, I can't say I agree. The last week and a half has been one of the most exhausting, emotionally draining weeks. DD did not "bounce back" as soon as people assured us she would. She tells me that her throat feels better, but every now and then she needs to cough and you can tell that it really hurts her to cough - she tries to cough really "gentle" (if that makes any sense) and then whimpers as soon as she's done, which tells me that she's in pain.