tonsillectomy sheduled

[chase23]

So i bit the bullet and scheduled the surgery for my 5 year old daughter. I am now reading up on the surgery and the recovery sounds god awful. Anyone want to share their experience. i have a phone consult with Dr T in the morning to discuss choices for iv meds and antibiotics after surgery. but I was looking for some thoughts/advice regarding the recovery process. now i'm second guessing this decision. hearing its 10 days of ######

[ptcgirl]

It was extremely easy recovery time for my daughter when she was 9. Very little to no pain. Don't second guess yourself. Well worth it if it helps your child. It gave my daughter 9 months of childhood back. Really wish I could have kept her on abx afterwards. Would have likely prevented her from getting sick again.

[blakes_mom]

My ds 10 had his tonsilectomy/adenoidectomy in April and recovery was a breeze.Seriously he was shooting hoops the next day. Pain was well controled on tylenol around the clock.He was given steroids and iv antibiotics during the surgery and was kept on antibiotics afterwards. It cleared my sons tics within 2 days after surgery.In addition his appetite improved and also improved his allergy symptoms.

[rowingmom]

My ds 10 had his tonsilectomy/adenoidectomy in April and recovery was a breeze.Seriously he was shooting hoops the next day. Pain was well controled on tylenol around the clock.He was given steroids and iv antibiotics during the surgery and was kept on antibiotics afterwards. It cleared my sons tics within 2 days after surgery.In addition his appetite improved and also improved his allergy symptoms.

How has your DS10 been doing since then, has he been able to hold his own? Glad the surgery helped.

[rn2003]

My Dd started having tics.....never had them before. She jerks her head side to side or forward and backwards.... also sniffs alot....had blood drawn for ASO....she hasnt been dx with panda but most symptoms are similar. She has large tonsils and ent wants to do surgery.....should we wait on dx first? And I am curious Blake, what tics did your Ds have that cleared immediately after surgery?

[LNN]

My DS was 6 when he had his T&A and had an easy recovery (if I forget about how he threw up on me in the back seat of the car on our way home from the hospital - thankfully just Popsicle juice). One or two days of pain and slurpy foods then back being a kid with lots of energy. We only needed the tylenol with codeine for a day or two. He did avoid "sharp" foods for two weeks - crackers, pretzels etc. The biggest risk is at the 2 week post-op mark, when the scabs are starting to fall off. if they fall off before the skin underneath is completely healed, you can get a lot of bleeding that could potentially land you back in the hospital for cauterization.

 

After the T&A, my son had amazing healing. It wasn't instant, but there was no doubt that the tonsils/adenoids were harboring something that kept putting him into a tailspin. Many many symptoms improved in the months following. (tho he had undiagnosed lyme, so recovery wasn't complete). Soooo glad to have them out!

 

DS was on amoxicillin prior to T&A, then switched to zith post-op but we ended up on augmentin, as the amox family seems to work best for him. Zith doesn't seem to protect him well.

[chase23]

thanks so much everyone for all the replies, i can't tell you how much better I feel. i'm going to stop looking up horror stories on the internet and trust my mom instincts which have served me well thus well!

 

My DS was 6 when he had his T&A and had an easy recovery (if I forget about how he threw up on me in the back seat of the car on our way home from the hospital - thankfully just Popsicle juice). One or two days of pain and slurpy foods then back being a kid with lots of energy. We only needed the tylenol with codeine for a day or two. He did avoid "sharp" foods for two weeks - crackers, pretzels etc. The biggest risk is at the 2 week post-op mark, when the scabs are starting to fall off. if they fall off before the skin underneath is completely healed, you can get a lot of bleeding that could potentially land you back in the hospital for cauterization.

 

After the T&A, my son had amazing healing. It wasn't instant, but there was no doubt that the tonsils/adenoids were harboring something that kept putting him into a tailspin. Many many symptoms improved in the months following. (tho he had undiagnosed lyme, so recovery wasn't complete). Soooo glad to have them out!

 

DS was on amoxicillin prior to T&A, then switched to zith post-op but we ended up on augmentin, as the amox family seems to work best for him. Zith doesn't seem to protect him well.

[1tiredmama]

Don't be afraid. T&A recovery is easier on little ones. I had mine done when I was 3, and I don't remember anything worse than a minor sore throat. My ds17 just had his done, and I thought it would be just awful at his age, but it wasn't! He did surprisingly well. In fact, dd12 may need the same, and when I brought it up with her, she said that she isn't afraid because it wasn't so bad for her brother.

 

Relax and look forward to the wellness the procedure will bring!

Edited July 18, 2012 by 1tiredmama

[lfran]

When I looked into it, it's supposed to be absolutely terrible for adults but really easy for kids.

 

Don't be afraid. T&A recovery is easier on little ones. I had mine done when I was 3, and I don't remember anything worse than a minor sore throat. My ds17 just had his done, and I thought it would be just awful at his age, but it wasn't! He did surprisingly well. In fact, dd12 may need the same, and when I brought it up with her, she said that she isn't afraid because it wasn't so bad for her brother.

 

Relax and look forward to the wellness the procedure will bring!

[blakes_mom]

My ds 10 had his tonsilectomy/adenoidectomy in April and recovery was a breeze.Seriously he was shooting hoops the next day. Pain was well controled on tylenol around the clock.He was given steroids and iv antibiotics during the surgery and was kept on antibiotics afterwards. It cleared my sons tics within 2 days after surgery.In addition his appetite improved and also improved his allergy symptoms.

How has your DS10 been doing since then, has he been able to hold his own? Glad the surgery helped.

My ds has only had one flare up of tics since surgery when he was diagnosed with an ear infection.He was put on Augmentin and he cleared up within about 2 weeks.

[blakes_mom]

My Dd started having tics.....never had them before. She jerks her head side to side or forward and backwards.... also sniffs alot....had blood drawn for ASO....she hasnt been dx with panda but most symptoms are similar. She has large tonsils and ent wants to do surgery.....should we wait on dx first? And I am curious Blake, what tics did your Ds have that cleared immediately after surgery?

The tics that ds was having that cleared after surgery were eye blinking /winking,head knod and a humming tic.

[airial95]

We also had a great recovery. My son was 4 at the time of the surgery, and his improvement was immediate. It was th first time he was 100% since our journey began. He was on cefdinir leadingup to the surgery, iv abx during the surgery, and then switched to augmentin post-op.

 

His recovery was such a success and so easy, we had our daughter's done 2 weeks later - also an easy recovery.

 

Unfortunately, our remission didn't last - my son tested positive for strep about 6 weeks post-op (about 3-4 days after stopping abx), and has now had strep 5 times this year - daughter lasted a bit longer, but she's already also had 3 postive strep infections this year too.

 

I will say, that the severity of their flares seems to have gone down a bit since the surgery.

 

In a nutshell - I would do it again in a heartbeat!