Last Friday my just-turned-four-year-old son had surgery to get his tonsils and adenoids removed. Technically the procedure is called combined tonsillectomy / adenoidectomy, but it’s quite a mouthful to say (no pun intended).
Why did we opt for the surgery? The poor little guy has had giant tonsils for most of his life, not a reason in itself to remove them surgically according to most pediatricians. However, he’s been a recurring victim of sore throats (the dreaded tonsillitis), strep throats, halitosis (bad breath), poor appetite due to back-of-the-mouth obstruction, and drum roll… sleep apnea. Large tonsils can indeed obstruct the airway and deprive a child of much needed sleep. The consequences of sleep apnea in children are numerous:
- Sleepiness
- Crankiness, due to lack of sleep (imagine sleeping four hours a night, every night…)
- Overall fatigue and lack of energy
- Poor concentration, ADHD
- Bedwetting
When my son started complaining EVERY morning after he got up that he was “tired”, I knew I had to do something to help him regain a healthy and active childhood. Even though today tonsillectomies happen a lot less often than 30 years ago, it was easy to get our health insurance plan to approve the surgery, due to my son’s poor physical state.
Now, my advice to all parents out there… Whoever tells you that tonsil / adenoid surgery is a piece of cake is either not a parent, or hasn’t had that surgery performed on them (and if they do, they just don’t remember it). Surgery IS surgery, and it comes with plenty of risks. There’s nothing reassuring in having to sign papers minutes before the procedure allowing the medical staff to perform transfusion if necessary, and indicating that your child doesn’t have an “advanced directive”. It only takes 30 to 45 minutes to perform this surgery, but that will feel like the longest 30 minutes of your life.
As for the recovery part, it’s no piece of cake (lots of popsicles, though!). As a parent, it’s physically and emotionally draining to see your own child in pain, and you know they’re in pain when they have a prescription for Tylenol with codeine. The two main things to watch out for are bleeding and dehydration. My son suffered from so much swelling in his mouth and throat that he refused to swallow anything by the day after the surgery. He ended up being admitted in the hospital for more treatment. He now feels a little better every day and I know that in a few weeks, he’ll have completely recovered, but in the meantime, it’s baby steps.
Now, am I hoping for a miracle cure with this surgery for all sleep apnea side-effects I mentioned above? You bet, at least for most of them! The proof will be in the pudding, and we’re stocked up on that too!
If your child has had tonsil and/or adenoid surgery, I’d love to hear from you.
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My daughter had enlarged adenoids too and when we went to the ENT specialist, he told us 80% of her airways was blocked because of the enlarged adenoids. We recommended surgery right away and also ear tube. My hubby said no way. After doing tons of research online, we went and saw a naturapathic dr and he gave her homepathic medicine and within 2 weeks she way better with her breathing. After one month on homeopathic medicine is was better. Wish I could have help you. Good luck.
I agree with you that surgery is not always necessary. For us, the fact that my son’s tonsils were a recurring site of infection that could only be treated with antibiotics every month or so, was definitely a problem. I’m an active user of homeopathic medecine for specific ailments and believe that they do work in those cases. I tried homeopathy treatment for the tonsils to no avail. You just have to do what is in the best interest of your child in the end.
my 2 year old breathes so horribly and only through his mouth, he can be heard from across the room, I saw a ENT doctor who said that he has 80% blocked nasal pass from his adnoids…He woke up this morning and is choking on nasal drip I feel so horrible, I am so scared to have him go through surgery terrified doesnt describe it, I have anxiety attacks.
I completely understand how you feel because that was me a year and a half ago. And again this past fall when my son had to have hernia surgery. There’s nothing simple and easy about surgery. Tonsil and adenoid removal surgery has great results but it is VERY painful. Kids wake up crying and disoriented from the surgery (that’s normal but freaky) and they are in tremendous pain for several days. Ask anyone who’s had those parts removed as an adult and they’ll tell you how much it hurts. It hurts just as much and probably more in kids. They just block that painful memory out of their mind when they grow up and only remember the popsicle part.
My son looked sickely for a long time because of his very large tonsils. He always got sore throats, didn’t eat well, slept poorly and was always tired and cranky. Getting the tonsils and adenoids out was the best thing I could have done for him. Today he’s thriving, enjoys eating, can taste the foods and sleeps very well (no more snoring or sleep apnea). I think the key is to find a surgeon you trust and get it done when you think you’re ready. Good luck!
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I agree that surgery is never “no big deal”. When my eldest daughter has her tonsils and adenoids removed it loosened up so much sludge that she started having asthma complications and also ended up back in the hospital. Hope the rest of the recovery went well.
I had so many adults who told me getting their tonsils out as a kid didn’t hurt, I was suspicious. My husband got his out removed a few years ago and said it was very painful for several days. So I asked the surgeon what he thought and his answer was pretty straightforward. Yes, it does hurt like hell but our as children our memory suppresses that part and we only remember the good part (i.e. the ice cream and popsicles). I’d definitely warn parents to expect to see their child in pain after such surgery. As for hernia surgery, that was a lot less painful and my kid was bouncing off the walls not even a couple of days later!
I had my adenoids remove at the age of 10 and it hurts… Couldn’t swallow and Had to do soft diet.
Cleavers is suppose to be good for tonsils and adenoids problem..wish i knew that back then.
The tonsil and adenoids gets swollen because they are a part of the lymphatic system or the site where we fight infections so swelling is
a sign that they are fighting an infection. Herbs that cleanse the blood would be good also. I know sometimes surgery is needed but as one nurse said it has become a routine surgery and is often recommended instead of finding the cause of the infection/bacteria or whatever is causing the inflammation. In our case it was food allergies. Good luck
I’ve noticed pediatricians have become a lot more conservative when it comes to removing tonsils and adenoids, when it seemed half the kids 30 years ago got theirs removed. I waited until my son was 4 to discuss possible surgery with the pediatrician and after trying homeopathy and other remedies without results. My son was on antibiotics every other month for infected tonsils that wouldn’t clear but I think the key factor was sleep deprivation and apnea, which affected his awake behavior. It’s definitely a light decision to make but my goal was to make my child healthy again and only the surgery did it.
I too am a single mom of 4, my youngest is 22 months. Yesterday she had her adenoids removed and ear tubes put in. We have been through months and months of ear infections back to back no relief. Antibiotics every one from amoxicillin to rocefin. I tried homeopathic remedies, chiropractor adjustments. Missed so much work that I am not jobless, let go day before daughters surgery:( she suffered from sleep apnea and in fact we were up 2-4 times a night from her waking up startled from her breathing.
I am anti surgery and she is the only child out of all 4 that’s needed it. Point is, I for the first time in nearly 2 years was able to sleep through the night, even more important my sweet girl could breathe!!! She was also able to sleep all night!! I wish I would have just done this sooner!! Here’s to praying for all other single moms struggling to maintain a job and household with no help while taking care of ill children/child. As well as any other child that struggles with this. It’s a scary, frustrating experience. I am just so glad I did the surgery even though I had knots in my tummy the whole time, I had peace that I exhausted all other measures.
Like many people, I find surgery scary, especially for little kids, but it was the best decision I made for my son. He was a changed boy after it, healthwise and behavior wise. But people need to know there can be complications after surgery (like my son had) and that the recovery is painful and the painkillers really help. Last year my son had to have another surgery to repair a small hernia and having the past surgical experience didn’t make it easier, but the recovery was a piece of cake.