T&A questions

[Tattoomom]

Talk to me about Tonsillectomy/Adenoidectomy surgery. ENT yesterday went well. Scheduled for surgery Aug 9th. He said he'd like for her to stay over-night, but left it up to me since I know her best. If she stays the night, they would have to keep her sedated. She has MAJOR medical anxiety. I can see her yanking the IV out and screaming and her poor raw throat killing her. What did you all do? What are the protocols before during and after surgery? Abx wise. How did your kiddos due with the surgery? BTW- she's 4.

[LNN]

My son was 6 1/2 for his T&A. He went in in the morning and was home in the afternoon. Turns out he's sensitive to anesthesia, so he woke up crying (not uncommon) and seemed ok in recovery. Waited until we got int he car and drove out of the parking lot before he threw up - on me. Luckily it was only Popsicle juice.

 

My son had no serious issues in recovery. Sore throat for a few days - helped by tylenol with codeine. He was fine 2 weeks later. He was on augmentin prior to surgery and switched to zith post-surgery and for a few months after that per our Pandas dr. (the switched back to augmentin - zith didn't seem to work as well for him).

 

he made huge gains post-surgery. Tho the tonsils looked normal size, the adenoids were enlarged so it's possible there was chronic infection in them. Didn't have them cultured. They already thought I was a little "high strung" and I just wanted them out. So I didn't push my luck by asking for a culture, so long as they were gone.

 

What's his reasoning for wanting her overnight? Is it his normal protocol or something specific to your daughter?

[Mayzoo]

Kiddo was 11. We did 5 days of zith before and after. We left the surgery center about an hour after the procedure and got her home before she was completely awake, but then my kiddo is usually mostly out for almost 24 hours after anesthesia. We had them put ice on her throat immediately after surgery to reduce swelling. The staff insisted this was not normal and was unnecessary, but I insisted and they relented. I kept an ice pack around for when she first woke up every morning as the meds had worn off by then. I medicated as much as she need during the first 7-9 days, then backed off. We used 8 hour tylenol, aleve (lasts longer than IBU), and hydrocodone (kiddo refused all liquid meds within 24 hours, so she took only pills after that--I was lucky enough to have hydrocodone in pill form my headaches as well).

 

We fed her mostly crushed popsicles in the morning as the meds started to work, and yogurt, ice cream, pudding, jello, cooled broth, smooth cream soups that had cooled, mashed potatoes, etc..... the rest the day as her throat would tolerate. I scheduled feeding attempts around peak medication effectiveness. Mornings were the hardest, but kiddo said the ice packs helped A LOT until the meds had a chance to kick in (she clung to them until the meds kicked in). We also used ice throughout the day for as long she stated she needed it. We did not really get "over the hump" for about 9 days, then things started smoothing out well. Of course, every day was a little better then the previous, but she was in what I would say was considerable pain until about the 9th day. I was not expecting her to hurt for that long, so I was surprised. Maybe every kid is different.

 

I recommend pushing hard to get the tonsils cultured. Our kiddos came back with actinomyces bacteria which surprised her immuno.

 

Call the place where she is going to have this done prior to the procedure. My daughter is very upset by other kids crying (autism, etc) so they placed her in a private enclosed prepping room. All the other kids were in what could be called a ward with curtains between them. Kiddo got to watch movies and a staff social worker came in regularly to check on her and play with her while we waited. The surgery center we went to makes special arrangements for "special patients". I was also surprised to discover quite a few parents take their kids in for T&A and do not even tell them they are having surgery or prep them for the throat hurting when they wake up . We did four play surgeries with four of kiddos stuffed animals and tried to go over everything that would happen, even her waking up with out mommy and daddy there. It helped her a great deal with coping.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Mayzoo

[JoyBop]

The question of staying overnight is one of those that only the mother of the child knows the answer to. You know your child best. If there are complications they won't release you from the hospital so that us a non issue. Did the dr indicate why? Perhaps he wants her to be on Iv abx for 24 hours.

 

2 of my kids had a t and a. Neither of those kiddos has PANDAS. My oldest was 3 and it was awful bc oc the sheer size of his tonsils. The doc said he'd never seen such large tonsils in his life and they tendrilled all the way down his throat. He went in with an enormous thick neck and came out a pencil thin neck. He awoke with intense rage from anesthesia and recovery was a nightmare due to how much slicing and scraping had to be done. My second child was much younger and his tonsils were much smaller. Recovery was a breeze.

 

My littlest one is having a sleep study at the end of the month to see if she is a candidate. I don't want to put her through surgery without good reason. I'm doubting she has sleep apnea but its worth a try. I'm worried she won't be willing to put in the sensors but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.