Tonsillectomy

Follow the doctors ordors for home care and think positive.....
Stock up on lots of ice cream and start packing for Summer camp.

My children 7 and 8 had their tonsils out in March. They were real troopers. The pain wasn't bad when they swallowed, but they did have a lot of ear pain; which is also normal. They only wanted drinks at first, followed by ice pops, pasta (small pasta) with cheese, even warmed bread in microwave. We couldn't start the ice cream or red drinks until the second week. We were told absolutely no activities for the 1st week (lots of games and tv). The second week, minimal activity like school, but no gym. The reason was that during the second week, the chance of the scars opening causing alot of bleeding was more during that time. We did as instructed, and they were both fine. They were definately ready by the middle of the 2nd week for some activity, so it was hard to keep them down.

Hi R.,
Get tons of Ice Cream. I let me daughter have it breakfast, lunch and dinner for 2 days. It made having her tonsils out kind of fun. Orange sorbet for breakfast , milk shake for lunch etc... Also some chicken noodle broth with tiny noodles are good. Her memory of having her tonsils out was a good experience beacause she defied mothers nutrition rules. It was only for a few days and then she was tired of ice cream. She recovered quickly. 4 days maximum.

good luck,
E.

i had mine at 19 and it was horrible, but they told me that it was all the dr's fault over the yrs! i had been told yr after yr dr after dr that oh, NEXT time i get an infection they'll take them out and it took about 13 yrs for them to FINALLY take them out. the dr that did it said the younger you are, the quicker you heal from this surgery (especially with the lazer that they have now, and when i had it done). i would say liquids, icecreams (now that it's hot out, smoothies are GREAT!) warm feels good and soothing, but if there's spice in it (like certain broths) it may irritate and give an uncomfortable feel, even for the icecreams. start with vanilla, but try anything you can. NOTHING that is scratchy because it does hurt! it took me over a month to heal, but remember i was nearly 20 by the time i had this done. there is a possibility that she won't be healed in time being it's so close in time between the surgery and camp, BUT i was told that it only takes about 2 weeks to heal for children. best of luck. oh, mashed potatoes and apple sauce felt great when i ate them during that time...don't worry, everything will be fine.

My son had this done when he was 6 and he recovered very quickly!! I was expecting to feed him icecream and yogurt for a few days but, that night he was eating chicken nuggets!! Man, was I surprised!! He also had no difficulty speaking.
Good luck!

Hi R., My six year old just had the same surgery, It was amazing how quickly she recovered. I have a 16 year old who had the same surgery 13 years ago, and it was horrid and it did take her weeks to recover. The surgery was at Chenango Memorial three months ago. They gave her tylenol 3 syrup for pain, but she only took that the first day. She had popsicles and alot of liquids, but by the third day she was eating more solid foods like scrambled eggs and apple sauce. They do say you should not give them anything that has red food coloring because you wount be able to tell if they start to bleed. Also dairy should be avoided because of its mucous content, but other than that, lots of liquids and jello, in a few days go to chicken noodle soup, apple sauce, scrambled eggs and within a week pasta, canned fruit, ect. As far as camp goes that is plenty of time for the healing process, your little one will be back to normal before then providing no complications arise. I am a nurse so the one thing I should caution you about is to watch for dehydration, If your childs eyes become sunken, or the skin when pinched does not bounce back quickly, call the physician immediately. The best way to watch for dehydration is to monitor how much your child is urinating, every 2-3 hours is normal during the day, if you see that this is not the case, call the MD.
Good Luck.

My son was 5 almost 6 when he had his out and it wasn't really that bad. I think I was more scared then he was. I took him shopping the day before to find mushy things to eat, like yogurt, pop ice, jello,and Danibles for drinks. When the doctors brought him out after the surgery they told us they had to go back and fix something that didn't stop bleeding so I thought it was going to be a while for him to heal. But it really was only 2 or 3 days. Just keep tell him to swallow cuz if he does it enough it will cut down on the pain and slobber. I am sure everything wil be ok will it. Good Luck and Stay Calm for his sake. Hope this helps. S.

My son was 8 when he had his out. I am not going to lie, I was told it would be a walk in the park and was unpleasantly surprised when it really wasn't. He was in a tremendous amount of pain (and he's a man's man if you know what I mean - tough guy - not much of a whiner). Get something for the pain even if they say you won't need it. At least you will have it! The first couple of days he wouldn't even swallow his own syliva (Spelling sorry). The first couple of nights he had horrible dry heaves (we literally slept on the bathroom floor). Once we could get him to keep some sugar free popsicles down(didn't want the only thing in his stomach after 3 days to be nothing but sugar) then we could get him to keep down the pain killer, but before that it was a viscious cycle of trying the painkiller, too much on empty stomach, throwing up (can't even imagine how that felt for the poor little guy) and being in so much pain he wouldn't or couldn't get or keep anythign down.

I am not saying this to scare you, just that I was totally unprepared for this!!! Like I said he is generally a real trooper and this was a horrible experience for both of us. So INSIST on some painkiller. Start out with it as soon as they tell you he can have it, so that he is able to get and keep other things down. Even if it's only for the first couple of days. Then we did sugar free frozen ice products. Ice cream actually makes them flemmy and they don't recommend this. I also got aloe juice (great healing properties) and froze it in ice cube trays (I somehow had really small like bite size ice cube trays - no clue where they came from, but they came in handy).

Then soft foods, lots of eggs, soups, noodles. He knew when he was ready for something more and in about 1 1/2 weeks time (because of the horrible start to the whole process)he was back on track, couldn't keep him down!!!

Hope this helps.

I am sure by now you have had a lot of people respond. I have had two of my eight have their tonsils out. My first was about 2 years ago and she was 7 at the time. She didn't eat anything for about two weeks after. We tried everything. Ice cream was not something she wanted. Then by the end of the second week she was back to eating again. My second daughter had her tonsils out a year ago and she did so much better when it came to eating. Butter and noodles was her favorite. Both of my girls did lose quite a bit of weight though. But soon after they bounced right back. Kids do so much better the we adults do. Good luck and keep us posted on how the surgery goes.

I'm sure you'll hear tons of different experiences, and they all vary depending on where surgery is done too. My dtr was 7 and it took her a week of eating soft food to recover, me neice was 6 and she was eating that night! We were told that under the age of 7 is when they recover easiest. What I can tell you is, no matter the recovery, the risk of bleeding is highest from day 7 to day 14. My dtr was able to go to school, but the nurse had to know she just ahd surgery and she could not play in gym or at recess until she was into her 3rd week after surgery. Good luck to you and your dtr!

get or make flashcards with pictures or words so she can communicate(icecream, bathroom....)I haven't gone through this with my kids but I had friends who have with varying out comes...so my advice is prepare for the long haul and be pleasantly surprized if she recovers quickly! (if your friends are wondering what to do, I always sent $ in a card for the icecream truck...that's a real treat when you're feeling down....and a card and a buck or two really cheers a kid up )

Hi Rachael
My daughter had both her tonsilles and adenoids removed when she was 7 YEARS old. Immediately after surgery as expected she was very drowsy and cranky.However she had to drink juice from a straw by the following morning and before she would be discharged from the hospital. This was a little uncomfortable for her but before the day was out we were able to go home. Recovery was quicker than we expected and she was back to her normal eating within a few days. She just needs to be given liquid diet such as jucie, puree stuff, porridge for the first two days and she should be fine. It will take some patience and coaxing at first however recovery is fast. Make sure to follow up with her appointments but she will be fine.As for camp she should be fine however ensure she travels with her nose drops and whatever medication she will get. All the best and not to worry.
Donna

Talk to her Doctor about going to camp. My two year old just had them out along with her adnoids and had tubes put in her ears. She was out of daycare for about 10 days (had surgery on a Friday and went back after one full week off on Monday). The Doc did not want too much physical activity for that time.

In regards to food, it is very important for her to drink a lot of fluids...this includes popsicles/freezy pops. Some people say to avoid red....this is in case of complications, but if you are familiar with blood and or comfortable with red vs blood then any color is fine. Jello is also good. I think she needed to drink about 1 quart a day, which is a lot for a two year old. Again though, this included things like freezy pops and jello.

Again, talk to your Doc. Alot of Docs do not want the kids to have milk products, which includes ice cream. Mine did not care, he was more concerned with lots of fluid type of foods to keep the throat moist in order to help the healing process.

Good luck. Just make sure to stay on top of the pain meds to keep them comforable. My daughter just had Tylonal due to her age and sleep apnea complications. I made sure in the beginning that she had those meds every four hours - even at night...I set my alarm to get up and give them to her.

About me:

I am almost 38, married with a two and a half year old. I have two full time jobs - one at home (my most important one) and one outside of the home as an accountant.

My husband is 32 and had his out last year! Yes the younger the individual the quicker they heal. He would only eat icees and cold liquids the first two days, after that he had jello, cold soups, and ice cream. The next week after that he ate mashed potatos and that sort of thing at room temp, and finally the week after that he ate normal foods at normal temperatures. Good luck!

R.,

When my son had his out at age 6(in 1972), I remembered what the doctor told me when I had mine out at age 16(1963) and that was to swallow constantly. My doc gave me a pack of chewing gum and told me to chew and swallow as your saliva helps heal. I gave my son chewing gum and he ate a lot of popsicles, jello, etc. Of course, we did not have laser surgery then, but I do believe the swallowing is what really helps.

Within a couple of days, I remember eating spaghetti for dinner the day I went home from the hospital and my son was eating quickly also.

Hope this helps.

My son was 5 and also recovered pretty quickly. The thing I remember was that the first 3 or 4 days, he felt MUCH better than expected. We let him go outside with us (just for short walks, sit in the park, etc.) and he went back to school fairly quickly (they were taken out on Thursday and he was back at school on Monday). I also remember, though, that after 5 days, the pain got worse. This is because the scabs fall off and the throat is raw. So make sure you keep painkiller on hand. Good luck. It is a little scary but it will help in the long run.

The timing should be pretty good--my good friend's four-year-old just had hers out. It was pretty tough on her, actually, and she was out of school for 10 days, but by then she was in pretty good shape. Good luck!

look lady! stop being such a selfish brat. what kind of mom are you? you are so caught up in having your own personal time and getting rid of your poor little child for "summer camp" ---- grab a clue!!!! she needs time to heal and recover. at least 2 weeks. can you imagine how god will punish you for your bad motherhood? this little baby that you are supposed to care for is going to suffer in "summer camp" just so you can have some time off. she will get a horrible infection and die because of your sick mind. get a clue!!!! stop abusing your baby!!!! dumb mother! your child needs to rest and you need to ask doctors for advice not us here. come on!!! gosh you drive me mad!!!

My son is 9 yrs old. He had his tonsils removed last January. However, my son for the 1st week could not eat anything solid at all. He ate popsicles, chicken broth and ice cream. Other than not being able to swallow anything whole because it hurt his throat. However, he was playing the next day.
The 2nd week after the surgery he was fine.
Remember every child responds differently.