When my DD had her tonsils out at 5 yo, we could be with her in the pre-op area, which had a tv. She was able to watch Nickelodeon and we also brought some favorite books/activities. About 20 minutes before the surgery, the nurse gave her oral medicine that relaxed her so that when they wheeled her into the surgical room she wouldn't get agitated/upset.
The post-op area was where we had the most difficulty. She had a hard, hard time coming out of general anesthesia and was very disoriented/upset. Her blood pressure was really low (this is a theme in my family, so I wasn't surprised) and the doctor and nurse were at odds as to how to get it back up. Eventually we walked her around the med center hallways and she was good to go, albeit about 2 hours after they estimated we'd be taking her home.
The first week of recovery was difficult because of her pain levels and because of the effects of the narcotics she was on to help manage the pain. The best advice I got was to stay on top of the meds schedule and focus on her drinking -- not to worry about food/solids nearly as much. She slept a lot, watched many many DVDs on my laptop in my bed and slowly came back up to speed. Keeping her quite/less active was not a problem whatsoever.
At the time, her little sister was 1.5 and not too aware of all the fuss and bother, which did help things and we could explain very simply that big sister had an owie on her throat and needed to rest to get better.
Good luck -- almost 3 years after the surgery all my DD remembers is that I stayed home from work for a week and she got to eat lots of ice cream and shakes.
I am happy to report that DD's surgery Wednesday went very smoothly. She cried coming out of anesthesia, took a 2-hour nap and has been amazingly happy since then. Her voice is so adorable now and I kinda hope it stays that way! We have been doing regular tylenol. We have not been waking her up to take it and that doesn't seem to be a problem. She didn't have a fever at all until today, but she is still acting normal and eating and drinking well. Many people have said days 4-7 are the most painful, so we are prepared for that, but very relieved she has done so well thus far. I am amazed at how quietly she breathes in her sleep now!
Today is day 5 and I think DD is 100% back to normal. She hasn't had Tylenol in over 48 hours and hasn't complained of pain or had a fever at all since her last dose. She is acting like her usual self and eating normal food.
I am really surprised and really happy with how easy it has been for her. What a relief!
I was wrong about DD's recovery. the night of my last post she started waking up in pain at night and has gotten worse each day since then. She was refusing meds and unable to eat or drink anything. Now she is finally giving in and taking meds, but she is in pain again when we are only halfway between doses.
So it's rough right now. Manageable, but rough. Today is day 9, so hopefully she will start improving. I felt like we were prepared for her to be in pain from the start, and for a long time after that, but we weren't prepared for her to spend a few days acting completely normal and then for the worst part to come several days later. She slept through the night without pain from night 1-5, but has been up every hour or two every night since then.
I wish we had been a little more prepared for managing 5yo DS through all of this. He understands she has a boo-boo and is very gentle with her, so that isn't the problem. The problem is that every time we offer DD a popsicle or some pudding or Jell-o he wants some too, and he is frustrated that she doesn't have to eat dinner to get a treat and he does. Plus she has been getting tons of presents and attention from our families. I wish I had thought about this in advance so I could have prepared some fun activities and surprises for him too. We are trying to make up for it, but I wish I had planned for him while I was planning for her.
I probably wouldn't have had the foresight to plan about the 5yo either. Maybe you could have an extra-special treat for him for after his dinner -something that would probably hurt her to eat, so that it would be for him only. Or maybe let him stay up a bit later for family time with just you & DH to watch a special show or play a game or something like that?
I meant to come back and update on DD. She did hit a rough patch in her recovery, but it only lasted a few days and it wasn't too terrible. It was mostly difficult because she hates taking medicine and wouldn't drink enough of anything for us to hide meds in it. And she was waking up a lot at night.
I wanted to share some videos I made.
This was when we first started seeing her ENT. Her sleep apnea was terrible.
And this was just a few days after her surgery. Talk about immediate improvement!!
She has also grown a TON since the surgery. She has been below the growth charts since she was about 8 months old. It is not too big of a concern because she is on her own growth curve and DH and I are both on the small side. Last February at her 3 yr WCV she weighed 25 pounds. On the day of surgery (5 months later) she weighed 26 pounds. It has been less than 2 months since the surgery and she has gained 3 pounds! We know she will continue to be small, but it is good to see her have a big jump in weight/size. In 7 weeks she gained what she usually gains in 18 months! (and that includes 2 weeks of her not really eating anything because her throat hurt).
So that was our experience. So many people told me not to do the surgery and that there would be no benefit from it but it seems to have done her a lot of good - so we are happy.
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