experience w/tonsil removal???...

[16th ave.]

emmy has been home sick again. the allergy meds is working great but.....we found out yesterday that she is getting strep somewhere somehow from someone. but who???<EMOJI seq="1f615"></EMOJI> we have no idea since she's been like this for a while. it could be one of those things where we all just keep passing it back &amp; forth to each other since atleast one of us always has some kind of cold or allergies messin' w/them. we gotta get it figured out asap.. anyways. she's got a bunch of white stuff all over her throat and the temp and so on. she saw the new doc. again. he's ordered a tonsil removal. hers are the <U>Huge</U> (not an exageration.) Doc. was Not happy with that at all esp. since her tonsils were like that in May when he saw her and chloe. so tomorrow emmy sees an ear,nose, throat specialist and we get things going for the removal sometim in the next couple weeks.
dh and i have researched the tonsils and all that. (it's scary as hell from a momma's point of view and hubby aint too happy w/her going in for a serious procedure but he knows and understands its got to be done so he accepts it...)

anyways, does anyone have any experience with the tonsils removal??????? what sort of things did ya do that helped w/discomfort? how long did it take? how did ya handle it telling the kiddo???? and anything else ya can tell us would be of great help.

chloe's will have to be removed sometime soon too doc. said. still waiting on word about her asthma test. the danged insurance is being changed up again so it could be awhile longer dang it.

much thanks guys. any helpful input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Lynette]

I have personal experience and the one with my son:

1. my experience: I had my pharyngeal tonsil removed when I was 5 because it blocked the respiratory way to the nose and I could only breathe through my mouth. The procedure was everything but traumatic. I ate a lot of icecream and the thing was over quite quickly and with no special trouble.

Than I had to remove the palatine tonsils when I was 14 -that was still bearable but worse than the first time.


My son had to remove his tonsils -all of them (we learn do learn)- when he was not quite four. Again the pharyngeal tonsil blocked the respiratory ways.

I prepared him with a children's book about tonsil removal and we could go to the hospital beforehand so he could have a look at everything.

On the day of the operation we had to go to the hospital really early. The operation took place in the early morning. I could stay with him until he was aspleep and I was called back when the operation was over and he was going to wake up. The operation did not even take half an hour.

My son was okay after waking up -his biggest trouble was his hunger and the fact that he was not allowed any solids on that day
Of course he got pain medication.

As he was really young, he had to stay the night (I stayed too) and the next day in the morning we went home.

For the following two weeks he was not allowed to jump, run a.s.o. and he could not eat any food that was too hot, that had sharp edges (like fries) or was spicy.


In brief, I could have done without the experience, but it was okay and I am glad we did as he is really better now

Hope that helped.

 

[IADad]

My only experience is having mine removed, bacck near the beginning of time, you know, when they used sharp rocks to beat away the tonsils from your throat before sending you back toyour cave...

anyway, then it was an overnight stay in the hosptial and that was scary, so in thei day and age, with doing it outpatient and all it shouldn't be too scary. Plan for long waits, those outpatient surgeries never run on time, so plenty of diversions is my recommendation.

I dunno about pain etc, I think eacch kid is different. I came home from the hospital and ate a big bag of Fritos! My mom about crapped, but I was fine, felt fine, no problems. I pressume she won't be able to eat solids for a bit. Ice Cream is always good, also think about pudding or if she's cravig "Real" food, mashed potatoes. I had stomach/throat surgery a couple years ago, and mashed potatoes got me through the soft food pahse in flying colors!

I guess, I'd inform her of what's going to happen, but soft sell, that it's no big deal, thousands of kids have it done everyday and she shouldn't have to take near as many yucky antibiotics after this is all done and healed...

 

[IADad]

oh, and "a couple weeks?" I'd think they'd have her in early next week if they are so bad. (This isn't Canada afterall....LOL...cue the Canadians to give me hell for that one...)

 

[16th ave.]

thanks guys. we hope it goes well when it happens. tomorrow we meet the specialist and get it set up. emmy's doc. said they have to come out but she shouldn't have her tonsils removed while she is sick. everything i've read points to having tonsils removed while sick can cause more bleeding. so just from thinking over all that was said and was read--i gather that it can be up to two weeks before she gets them out. doc. wants them out asap. but that can't really happen until the strep is gone. when i think about the strong reaction from ole doc.---&gt;there's a real possibility of it happening next week. (i don't think they'd want to do anything on the same day she meets the specialist or on a weekend unless a humongus emergency developed from all this.)

we are going to stock up lots of icecream and yogurt and pudding and popsickles, maybe even stuff for homemade milk shakes. Yum! emmy will enjoy that. its gonna be tricky trying to keep chloe outta the stuff. she aint gonna see it as fair that emmy is getting icecream for supper while she has to eat plain ole spaghetti. lol

emmy is pretty good at handling going to the doc's for shots and such. she doesn't give us much trouble when it comes to taking any medicine. she'll be scared when it happens. but she's likely to be brave and upbeat about the whole thing.

we'll know more tomorrow.

now can someone calm me down please? all the different methods i read about for tonsilectomys has just about scared the snot outta me. lol i aint sure about what looks scarier---the anesthesia or the methods or the fact that my baby is gonna have to get any combo of them.

 

[Lynette]

She's going to be okay -it's really not that big deal. Just be sure to prepare her well so that she will not be overly scared.

After a day or two she will be able to eat the soft part of white bread as well, fresh cheese and so on -so she can have real food if she is not happy with ice cream, yoghurt a.s.o. any longer...

 

[IADad]

now can someone calm me down please? all the different methods i read about for tonsilectomys has just about scared the snot outta me. lol i aint sure about what looks scarier---the anesthesia or the methods or the fact that my baby is gonna have to get any combo of them.

I think I know what you mean. I've had to accompany each of my kids into the operating suite for them to be put under to have ear tubes put in, and it about crushed my heart to see the desparate look on their face as they realize I'm turning them over to these strangers in masks, along with the whole thought that someone is now going to slice into my child. It's easier to deal with when we make those choices for ourselves.

The two things I can think of to help are:

1) Remember all the cautionary warnings are there because they have to tell you those things. They almost certainly are not going to happen to your child.

2) I tried to rememeber how lucky I am, my child is getting a routine operation, some people have children getting organ transplants or chemotherapy right now and I'm extrememly lucky to have a healthy kid who just needs this minor thing.

Not sure I said that the best I could, but hope it helps.

 

[16th ave.]

any procedure is hard to watch when it's being done to your kids. don't know about anyone else, but in my case i get relieved to know that the doctors are going to do everything they can to get the girls over the bugs they've picked up. its hard to watch them get a shot or blood drawn. but the knowing helps to calm me down and i can help them to stay calm and all.
and
yep, we do remember those things. knowing these sorts of things keeps worse from happening helps to get us through them much easier.

it'll be a about 5/6 weeks b4 our emmy gets her tonsils out. but that's cause the doc. can't get her in sooner. she'll be outta daycare for atleast 2 weeks, maybe even a third or more depending on any how things go. unless emmy gets sick again, she shouldn't have any need to see the doc. b4 the pre-op appointment. i was told they'd have a lot of info and paperwork and stuff for us that day and some rx's to get taken of b4 the big day. emmy is happy about getting something done that will make her not get sick so much. though she is a little nervous. and she's really enjoying knowing that she'll get to eat lots of the icecream and stuff. --rubbing it in to chloe. lol girls are mean.
dh and i got things figured out for handling work issues (he can do a second shift and still be home w/her while i work during the day and vice versa). turns out doc. k's office is right here in town where we live. no need to drive 30 mins. to get the procedure done. him being in our town takes out a lot of issues we were going to have to figure out how to deal with such as getting chloe to and from daycare and more.

doc. k. said he'll use the cauterization method. it's what he was trained on. he also said there has been no difference in recovery methods and pain reducement from the other ways to do the tonsilectomy. so he's going to stick with what he knows. said the procedure can help to improve appetite along with the part about not getting sick so much. whoo hooo! emmy needs a better appetite. he also said it'll all be done at the hopsital w/a 4 hour recovery and emmy should be home that night.

we'll get an update next month for ya'll. thanks for the help. much appreciated.

 

[fallon]

I hope everything goes perfectly ((HUGS))

 

[16th ave.]

thanks fallon. much appreciated.

 

[Xero]

I got mine out but don't remember much about it besides getting icecream and staying home from school lol. I was only like 4 or 5. My sister got hers out when she was 16 and she seemed to do well too but she said it definitely hurt.

About the strep - do you have any pets? Did you know that dogs can get strep, and pass it to humans? And of course, they could pass it back and forth. I've heard of it happening. Weird, I know. lol

 

[16th ave.]

no pets unless ya can call bugs pets. and maybe a few mice or rats that haven't got stuck in the glue traps yet.

 

[Xero]

lol okay. xD

 

[WriterMom]

I know just how you frightened you feel about the whole situation. My daughter continues to get strep throat too, and the doctor has also told her father and me that she needs to have her tonsils removed. The doctor says it's not a real major surgery, but like you, it scares me. One, it's my little girl (well, she's 16, but to me she's still my little girl), and two, any surgery to me can result in complications.

My daughter's kinda glad she's going to have her tonsils taken out, but the surgery still scares her. What she's happy about is soon she won't have to fight the painful strep throat, and of course, she's glad that she'll get to eat lots of ice-cream afterward.

What I do is pray that the Lord will watch over her during surgery and give her a speedy recovery. In addition to praying for my daughter, I'll add yours to my prayers as well.

 

[16th ave.]

thanks writermom. much appreciated. hopin' for the same for yours. i've been reading up and it seems that it aint easy on anyone no matter the age.
yeah, emmy is really lookin' forward to all the spoiling she's going to get, esp. the ice cream.