Heading to the ENT today

Moms View Message Board: Parenting Discussion: Archive July-December 2003: Heading to the ENT today

Wish us luck. DD has been suffering from tonsilitis since last year. This is the moment to decide if they will approve a tonsilectomy! Praying they do and it happens soon.

I'll post later when I get the news.

By Trina on Friday, February 14, 2003 - 02:08 pm:

Good luck! Hope you get the news you want. My fingers are crossed for you.

By Jewlz on Friday, February 14, 2003 - 05:54 pm:

good luck we jsut went thru this with my daughter. she had her tonsils out three weeks ago today ....she was sick 70 days out of the last 9 months ... she was on antibiotics and as soon as she got off them she came down with it again ...
my dd is 16 ...the older they are the harder it is. good luck keep us in formed ...

By Dana on Saturday, February 15, 2003 - 09:07 am:

Tonsilectomy is scheduled for Mar 20. Seems so far away. I am so happy to be getting this done for her.

Jewlz, I always thought this was going to be simple,but the dr kind of made me a bit nervous about the days after. I had no idea it has such a long recovery time.

I know things will be different between a 4rd old and a 16 yr old, but how bad was it? Could she sleep at night very well? Was it too difficult for her to swallow? What about all the mucus drainage my dr told me about? Is there really a lot making your child miserable? I'm concerned about DD not being able to cough the mucus out. She is only just learning how to do this. Seems with a sore throat she could choke on it.

Thanks for answering with any comments you have.

So glad your daughter will be done w/ her onging illnesses now. Makes you wonder why your drs waited so long, doesn't it?

I tell you what, I came home from this appt EXAUSTED! I had no idea how worried I was about them approving surgery. My husband said I looked like a train had hit me when I got home.

By Jewlz on Saturday, February 15, 2003 - 01:39 pm:

huggles and dont panic ... and remember to take it one day at time ...the time will pass quickly and hopefully he put her on maintenance antibiotics for between now and then as that helps to keep the infections down ... then id make sure he sent her home with and have filled before u got her home some tylenol /codeine liquid... and religiously take it every 3 hours and 59 minutes .... we were givin a pint of it and it didnt last long enough ... but encouraged regular tylenol and motrin piggy backin ... was hard for her to swallow the caplets tho so for a few days days we had to buy liquid tylenol for a baby that bottle didnt last long for her so encouraged her to try harder as the time went on .... finally ... the sergery is about 30 minutes to an hour ... and recovery is about 3 hours then we went home ... she will sleep alot if ur lucky ... dd said she learned to sleep on her tummy and have a drain towel she let her spit drain on ... so she didnt have to swollow...ewww i know pillow drool lol ... i didnt know this but is thats what worked for her thats great ... she was out of school from jan 24 till feb 11th ... cuz after they feel better they are afraid of hemmorhagin ... like screamin accidentally and breakin one of the scabs ...or eatin chips with the group of kids ... ice cream makes mucos a non puddin is ok... tapioca jello fruit juice ones are better popsicles .. all are ok and are good for her ...she will loose weight and is normal shes not eatin and will bounce back soon ... she will heal on her own time dont push it and let her be the baby... id have lots of color books and quiet time activieties and videos or what ever it is she likes to enjoy cus no bouncing around it encourages loud behavior ... sleepin at night wasnt any trouble as long as i set the alarm to get up before the meds wore off lol so that will be hard for a few days ...
maybe have her practice spittin a bit hahaha sorry since she is just learnin this and is so young ... and let it be known to let u know how she feels maybe go over some words or make up some flash cards that will have smiley faces on it and frowns and some that show pain and how intense the pain is .... she wont want to talk for a whle and thats ok ... when my son, age 5 kindargarten, had his out he stayed for three days ..the day of sergury .. then the next day ... and he got a lil active and they told him that he could have access to their refrigeratot and that made him sick ...lol he wasnt use to all the sweets so he over did it and had to stay an extra day is funny now ... the nurses complimented me on being a good mom for not allowin him to have so many sweets lol this is when the kids were kept over night for sergury ...now its day surgery .. u can email me any time.ohh and an ice pack ready as that helps alot and remind her that yes u know it hurts but cryin makes it worse ... and oh one more thing i did for my son when he had his tonsils out they gave him a tour of the hospitol so he wouldnt be so scared to be there ... and showed him what they would do and how things look ... it put his mind at ease to get to know some of the nurses a bit and know what a few of the things were that was going on ... ur hospitol may do this for ur dd call them and see ...

By Jewlz on Saturday, February 15, 2003 - 05:32 pm:

lol sorry i talk so much email any time

By Dana on Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 07:40 am:

THANKS so much. Not too much "talking" for me. I'm glad you had so much to share. What a great idea w/ the picture cards!

We were told no motrin because it thins the blood, tylenol only.

Yes, we get to visit the hospital before hand for a tour.

I'll be so glad when it is over!

By Nrwestcott on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 02:10 am:

Also, remember to encourage her to get some type of fluid. In small sips if need be. My dd ended up in the hospital dehydrated because she wouldn't drink and on IV pain meds because she wouldn't swallow. It hurt too bad. Not to scare you but the recovery time for her was horrible. We tried to give the pain meds religiously but every time the mucous was so thick and she hurt so bad that she didn't get it down before hacking it all on her bed. It seems like a long recovery but just think of the benefits once it is over. Good luck.

By Dana on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 08:18 am:

Large sigh. That is what I have invisioned for us. But hoping it goes smoother.

I'm very concerned about the amount of mucous and not knowing how to cough it out.

I'm sure we will be fine, but I'm not looking forward to the recovery time.

I'll keep you posted and I'm sure I'll be here asking questions after it is done.

By Alanal on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 08:20 am:

My DD had her tonsils and adnoids removed when she was not quite 3 yrs old. It was a quick procedure and was done in about 20 minutes. She fussed a lot afterwards, but the pain medication helped. We went home the next morning and had no problems whatsoever. She was eating and drinking normally - - though I pushed the soft food, but she did eat crunchy cereal and crackers at her insistance. I gave her pain medication just to make sure she didn't get uncomfortable, but she never complained about anything after the initial period right after the surgery.

Of course there are risks and with her young age one concern was postop bleeding and because of her young age she might not be able to tell us she was bleeding. Usually it is a day surgery procedure, but again, because of her age, she was kept overnight which I was thankful.

I know it is all scary, but my experience was a positive one. That and my DD had been ill from 9 months of age up until the day of the surgery and she is now 8 1/2 yrs old and has not been on an antibiotic since!

Good luck to your DD.....I'll think of her since her surgery is scheduled on my DS's birthday!

By Dana on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 12:24 pm:

Glad to read your post! I know there is nothing I can do one way or the other. It just all depends on how DD reacts. She is pretty much the trooper....but at this age they understand pain much better. She has been great thru all her other illnesses and even on the worst of meds she will take them.

By Taylorluv2 on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 08:50 am:

My daughter had her tonsils out when she was four( two days after her birthday) and she did really well. It was an outpatient procedure and she was home in the afternoon. She even ate maccaroni and cheese that night! She didnt complain about the pain except the first two days. She had chronic tonsilitis and she was having sleep apnea at night, and the benifits of the surgery are defintly worth it! She even went back to preschool 7 days after. Now, Im 25 and just had mine taken out 5 days ago. Today is the first day that i feel somewhat human. The mucus is nasty, but i found some tricks- Ice cream and milk makes the mucus thicker, so ive stayed away from all of those. Popsicles are the best! and lots of ice water.. Milk shakes even made my throat ache like a toothache. My ent said its a lot harder on an adult than a child, as Im finding out.. Kids bounce back well, and its worth it in the long run.. by the way , all throgh my childhood i had strep throat all the time, like 7 times a winter, and as i got older, i got tonsilits all the time.. i wouldve much rather had this done when i was 4 than 25! hope this helps!

By Dana on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 12:15 pm:

Hi Taylorluv2. This was all back in March. The tonsils and adnoids are gone and my child is doing great! Nothing but good has come for the surgery. So glad we had it done.

Like you, I really didn't push the milk products (ice cream) because I knew that it would make more mucus.