Daughter to Have Surgery

I went through a tonsillectomy with my 12 year old - lots of pudding and mashed potatoes for the first few days, watch for fever and signs of infection... all in all, it was no worse than a BAD case of Strep.

S.

One of my twin girls had her tonsils removed at 3.5 years early in 2007. I could not believe how fast her recovery was! She did stay overnight; our surgeon never considered anything else. She was scared and in pain when she woke from surgery, but by the next morning, she was dancing and singing her way down the hallway when we left! She did have some pain on and off for the next two weeks, which was expected, but after that she was back to normal, and we have not had all the strange high fevers that she had before. Your surgeon will explain the pain meds in great detail I'm sure and be sure to follow his instructions, beyond that it should be fine. Good luck.

Hi C.,

My daughter had her tonsils out at 3 1/2. She did not have the sinus surgery but I completely understand your wanting to know what to expect. If she has already had tubes and adenoids you know she will be fussy when she comes out of anesthesia. I would ask the doctors nurse what to expect for the sinus recovery. After tonsils you are not supposed to talk and rest alot. That was easy since my little ones liked watching video's. We bought some special new ones. As for eating, no straws or chips (the sucking and sharp objects are not good). Ice cream after a few days. Milk is a mucos producer. My daughter's throat was really sore and we had to make her eat. My son had his tonsils out at 4. He wanted something to drink as soon as he came out of surgery. Each child is different. One of our nurses said to give pain medicine 30 minutes before eating and that potato's were good for nausea. We lived on jello, chicken noodle soup, fruit popsicles in a bowl, and gatorade.

I hope this helps some. Best of luck. I know it is so hard on Mommy's when little ones have to have surgery.

I am very glad that everything went ok.

My friend's daughter had the tonsil/adenoids surgery about a year ago and it's really helped her. She had the same symptons that you're describing. She stayed overnight in the hospital and she was "down" at home for at least a couple of weeks. She was 4 when she had the surgery. good luck.

My son had his adnoids (dont know if its spelled right) removed when he was 4 he also had tubes in his ears. He was fine just a few hours later. He hardley ever gets sinus infections anymore. My youngest is about to have his tonsils and adnoids out.

My son was 2 when he had his tonsils and adenoids removed and he went through everything fine (except for my crying in the waiting room and calling everyone and their mother worrying the whole time!). I personally had the 'roto-router' sinus surgery when I was about 20. It totally sucked at first with all of the packing in the nose, but I truly am greatful for having it done!

Since she is going in for all of this in one shot, and she will be spending at least a day or two in-patient you may as well get it all over with at once. Since she is little, I would take advantage of getting it all over with. They bounce back so quick at that age!

Good luck - don't worry.

I personally have had the surgery, never had a child have it though. I will never regret having the surgery. I was about 22 when I had it, and I was up the next day doing pretty much regular things. I imagine a child would recover pretty quickly as well. I have (after 5 plus years) started seeing some problems again, but I still breathe MUCH better than I used to. Someone told me that Ocean Spray (Pure saline, no drugs added) used regularly will help to keep the problem from coming back. If she gets the surgery, she will need it after surgery, when any gauze is removed from her nose. The air is SO dry compared to all the congestion that it hurts for a while to not have that moisture (not intense pain, I guess it's more like an itch - just irritating.)

My son had some of the same problems. He has always had trouble with VERY loud snoring, ear infections, a mild case of sleep apnea, and constant allergy problems. He had soo many ear infections that he had tubes put in his ears before he even turned one. About a year ago, when he was about 3 1/2-4 he went in for a second surgery...this one to remove his adenoids, tonsills, and put in another set of tubes since his previous ones had fallen out. The surgery itself was actually very quick. The hardest part about it was that he could have NOTHING to eat or drink for the whole night before, which he hated! Once the surgery was over they wheeled him back into the room where I was waiting and he was NOT a happy boy. He wouldn't let anyone touch him other than me...mainly because he was still under some anesthesia. The doctor would not let us go home until he had enough ice, and popsicles that he had to pee...when he finally did we were allowed to go home (but it did take several hours because he didn't want the ice or popsicles because he was sore.)

We were told that he would be "down and out" for a few days...but not my son. He was up and going by the next morning! I still had to watch what he ate, but overall he reacted to it all fairly well. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, just remember that the doc would not send them home if they did not think it was ok to do so.

Did I mention I did all this with just me and my son there? My husband was in Iraq at the time...
Just be brave...your daughter will be just fine.

Oh and the horrible snoring...IS FINALLY GONE. And his sleep apnea (where he would stop breathing while he was sleeping) is also gone!!! The allergies are still around but not nearly as bad as they were!

~K., Killeen, TX

Everything will be fine. Kids are resilient and bounce back quickly. However, I would like to offer some advice. If you are not 100% sure and trust your pediatrian or any other physican completely, please change. If you have doubts about them or their advice, it's always best to stick to the instincts that God gives every mother. I used my doctor for my child for some time with doubts....then tried a few pediatrians until I found the one that we were both completely comfortable with. It was the best decision I ever made.

I have been through the sinus surgery with my husband but not a child. It was outpatient and he came home that day. He was in some pain. Make sure you get ALL her prescriptions the day before her surgery that way you don't have to leave her to get them filled.
I have been through the tonsils out though with the kids. Stock up on popsicles,and jello. DO NOT DO ICE CREAM OR MILK PRODUCTS.The milk will make the secretions that will be in her mouth(they will be between her tongue and the roof of her mouth) thicker and painful. She will need to drink a lot to get rid of these secretions and any dairy product makes it worse.
Good luck and my prayers are with you.
Keep us posted.
T.

Hello.. Your daughter sounds just like me when I was younger... I had all allegies, tubes in the ear 6 times, adnoes(sp) removed and tonsiles... They have wanted to do that sinus surgrey for YEARS on me and I wont... I have heard that its very painful and that you can lose sence of smell and taste.. Haveing my adnoes removed helped alot.. Having my tonsiles out did the same.. However I am 30yrs old and I still have problems(allergies) Do what you think is best and you may want another oppion from another ENT... Sorry if this does not help.. if you need to ask anymore ? please email me.. I am very well rounded on this subject.\

C.,

I struggled with telling you this, but decided I would want somebody to tell me.

My sister has had sinus problems for about 3 years now. Her doctors were very insistent on her having that surgery too, so she got it. Unfortunately, in less than a year, she had the same problem again. She feels the surgery was a waste.

Now, she is trying to find the actual source of her problem and is working on fixing that.

The surgery is just a quick fix. It does not last.

Good luck. I know it is hard to make this kind of decision - especially when it comes to your daughter.

My four year old little girls just had her tonsils and adniods removed the day before thanksgiving. The surgery went great, but everyones recovery is different. We were back in the emergency room twice in one week because of a fever of 103. SHe had to shots of cortizone to take the swelling down. Her recovery wasa nightmare. But my nephew came hoem the day he had his ate, and was fine to go back to school not even a week later. My little girl missed two weeks of school and was miserable. But it in the end it has all been worth it. No more sinus infections and the snoring is completely gone. And she snored loud we could hear her at teh other end on the house and night and the baby who shares a room with her would growl at her in the middle of the night it was so loud.

My daughter who is 4 just had her Tonsils and Adnoids removed on 11/07 at Childrens in Dallas. They scheduled an OR as well incase she needed an overnight stay. My daughter has Reactive Airways Diease. She also gets contstant Step Thoat and snores ALOT and has recurrent brocitius with wheesing! Well we had the day surgery and everything went as planned only took about 15mins and she went home that evening. She did very well and though i was nervous taking her home she did really well. I am VERY glad we went a head and did this, you have no idea the diffrence until you expericne it for your self. I was the nervous momma though this is my only child and she 4! Just remember this may be a large invasive surgery to us, this is something they do a million times a day. Good luck, yall are in my prayers

my husband had the surgery- minus the tonsil part and i have a good friend whose 4 yr old had the surgery last month. i'm not sure how it would differ between adult and child...my husband did okay- as men go- lol. i know my friend's little boy had to go through it 2x. i'm not sure why. he was out of school the whole week following the surgery, but she didn't say it was horrible and now he's great. hope that helps!

My son is a little older than your daughter but he did the testing for the CF, he had nasal polyps, he is always sick, has chronic sinus infections and has asthma. Well last april he had his tonils and adenoids removed. I was a little nervous but he did really great. They did keep him over night because he has asthma. It took him about a week before he would eat but he did drink a lot. Don't force the food till she's ready and make sure to give her her pain meds on time (I think it's every 4 hrs) don't wait to see if she needs them at least for the first 3 days. Your daughter will do fine, try not to worry. They did give my son something (liquid verced) to make him relax and then wheeled him into the OR to do his IV so there was no crying from either one of us. That made it real easy. The surgery was done fairly quickly. We barely had time to grab lunch in the cafeteria. The doctor did say they were surprised by the size of his tonsils, that they didn't seem that large when inspecting them during our visits. They were the size of golfballs. Try not to worry, she will do fine. Good Luck!
K.

Both of my boys have had tubes, aneoids, sinus surgery, and their tongues clipped (becuause they were tongue tied) all in the same day. The baby was only 4 months and the older one was almost two and it was his second set of tubes. We had no problems. We took them home and they felt better by that evening. We were amazed by the results. I do understand your fears completely. Trust me. I trusted my dr. but it is still your baby. Remember at the hospital that you are the mother. I have told many a nurse that they may be the nurse but I am the mom. You know by instinct what your baby needs. Good luck

She will do just fine. My son, at 4 years old had a similar operation and he was have solid food that after noon. And it stopped his constant, sinus and ear infections. Most doctors at that time did not want to do it until he was older than 6 until I threw a fit. He was in the hospital almost monthly his first 4 years of life. One thing that you might consider is doing away with all dairy for her. Dairy causes a lot of mucus and is directly related to a lot of other diseases and the human body does not even have the enzymes to digest it. See http://www.notmilk.com/ You actually get better nutrition from good old fruits and veggies than you do from milk products. And I know you and I have been taught all our lives to drink our milk to grown up strong but that is simply not true.

Good luck to you and your lovely family

Hey C.....

My child has never been through this surgery, but I have personally, not once, but TWICE. It is a quick procedure, and I didn't even have any packing in my nose after it was finished. Recovery is really fast. You have to saline the nose out for a week or two, but I felt better withing a few days. As for the tonsilectomy, I have never experienced that, but I know that it is done all the time with a very quick recovery period. I hope any information I have given you helps. You can email me anytime.... ____@____.com

My son has had all three of those procedures. Right before his 3rd b-day, he had his tonsils and adenoids removed. We stayed in the hospital several days and he did awesome. He is 5 now and had sinus surgery back in Aug. I felt more comfortable staying over night at the hospital, so thats what we did and I was glad we did it that way. Theres lots of yucky drainage from the nose post op, so it got on hospital linens rather than mine, and he had an IV in for good pain management. Really both surgeries were the best thing we've ever done for him. He used to be sick ALL THE TIME, now he hasn't been sick since before the sinus surgery in Aug. He had his sinus surgery at Medical City Children's.

My daughter had her adenoids and tonsils removed when she was 5 years old. It was done in a day surgery center. She came home the same day.

There may be some reaction to the anesthetic so I would recommend giving her phenergan before she goes home. It takes up to 10 days to heal completely and she'll need plenty of rest.

My daughter didn't feel like eating or drinking the first day so we just gave her a few flavored ice cubes to help soothe her throat. Plus she was sick to her stomach from the anesthetic.

The first couple of days are a little rough but kids seem to bounce back quickly.

Best Wishes!