My daughter is having her tonsils and adenoids out this afternoon and I am worried sick... I have gotten by thus far kind of pretending that it wasn't happening but now the day is here so no more denying it! No one in our family has ever had any kind of anesthesia and I am a person who gets worried by the things that have a 0.00005 percent chance of happening. Can anyone whose kiddos have had general anesthesia ease my mind a bit? I just want to curl up in a ball and cry but of course I have my brave "It's no big deal" face on for my daughter so that she doesn't get scared.
Nothing we say is going to calm you, believe me. Both of my DD had to be put under when they were only babies. The older one to remove and extra finger she was born with at 18 months and the youngest to have ear tubes placed. You worry until you get them home and they are fine.
It will be okay, medicine is amazing these days and they will be better in the long run to have this taken care of.
My nephew had his out last fall. I saw him two days later and it was like nothing had even been done.
Good luck and stay strong mama! She will be fine!
I would try to put it in perspective. Your daughter is NOT gravely ill and is having a ROUTINE procedure. Just focus on taking care of her afterwards. Give her lots of hugs and kisses. Look forward to cuddling up with some good DVDs. Good Luck!
She will be fine! Ask them to give her "giggle juice" first (versaid). If they give her gas to breathe, then she will be "out" when they put her IV in - ask for that. That way she won't feel that IV prick, which does hurt!
Make sure that you get the pain meds in her as soon as possible. And, Robyn, keep getting those pain meds in her. Write down exactly when and set a timer or alarm for when she can have them again. Wake her up to give them to her. You do NOT want those pain meds to no longer be in her system, because THAT is when she will hit the wall.
If she is in a lot of pain regardless of the meds, call and tell them exactly what you are doing, and then tell them that she needs something stronger. It is a much harder recovery without good pain management.
Do you have plenty of soft and cold things for her already on hand? A cold, wet throat is better than a scratchy dry one.
You'll both get through this - I promise.
Dawn
Hi!
Your daughter will be fine. Mine has been through anesthesia 5 times and she's only 4 years old. I will tell you that days 4, 5 and 6 will be the worst for pain with her tonsils. Those days were absolutely horrible for my daughter. She had hers taken out the beginning of April. Now, she is completely back to normal and eating anything she wants.
Good luck!! :)
The anesthesia really is not big deal. I'm not trying to poo poo your feelings or fears, but it's actually true. The research that has been done in recent years, the advances that have been made ... anesthesia is safer now than it ever has been. Doctors and hospitals have to tell you the risk in order to protect themselves from lawsuits because there have been so many unfair lawsuits out there. It's unfortunate that giving patients information designed to inform and empower them, has actually made some more afraid.
Take a deep breath. She will be in good hands. She is probably terrified and needs you to be strong. You can do this!!! Hang in there and know that the worst will be over in a few hours.
I had that done when I was a little kid, it really wasn't that big of a deal.
My daughter had surgery at 6 weeks of age (pyloric stenosis) I was a basket case! She is now 17 and happy and healthy. It will be ok, M.. She is going to be wanting ice cream and popsicles soon. Hang in there!
She will be fine. My son had his second eye surgery last week and like you, I was a nervous wreck. But like another poster said, it's much harder on the parent than it is the child. Maybe take a magazine or book or anything that will help keep your mind off of it. It will be over before you know it.
My son was only 18 months when he went under to have a cyst on his eyebrow removed. I was a nervous wreck too, but I think I hid it well. It all went by so fast, and he was running around (yes, running!) like normal later that day. It took a little while for him to sleep it off, but he bounced back like it was nothing. Kids are sooooo resilient, your daughter will be too.
Hi Robyn.
I send a hug.
We did this operation a few months ago.
It was quick. He woke up the next morning and asked for chicken schnitzel (chicken cutlets :))....He complained only about the pain from the infusion in his arm :)
your daughter will be fine. the dr.s do this everyday.
Jilly
If you are that nervous about your daughter's surgery, tell the doctor and ask for some calming medicine for yourself. This proceedure will be much harder on you than it will be on your daughter. (hint, hint ! ! !)
Good luck to you and yours.
Both of my girls have had their tonsils & adenoids out & tubes put in their ears, and my oldest one has had it done twice (her tonsils grew back).
M., it's normal to freak out. I freaked out a little, not much, mostly I just wanted to cry because I didn't want my baby to be scared. Remember that the doctors and nurses are SO experienced at dealing with children, every single day, that they will make your little one very comfortable.
It goes quickly, and you truly will wonder why you freaked out when it's all over. :)
I had my tonsils and adenoids out as well as tubes put in my ears when I was about 7. Now I'm 30 with a beautiful little girl if my own! No issues at all and my life is better for having the precedure. Hang in there mama she will be ok!! :)
It is always hard when you have a sick or hurt child. My son had cataract surgery just before his first birthday. Because he had a fairly rare condition, it had to be done at Children's Hospital LA. I was a nervous wreck, too. As we were leaving and I was feeling sorry for my son for having to go through this, I saw a little bald kid down the hall in a hospital gown fighting for his life. This image really stuck with me and I think about that kid all of the time. Anytime I want to start complaining about things going on in my life, I think about all of the children currently in the hospital and realize how good we really have it.
My son who is now 5 years old has had several different surgeries and has been put under by anesthesia. It is fairly easy with kids. The last surgery he has had was when he was 4 years. He had hernia surgery. They let him pick the flavor of the gas he wanted. It took him about an hour or so to come out of it but once he did he was starving. I think it is a lot harder on the parents then the kids. If you ask my son he would rather have an operation than get a shot.
My son (4.5 at the time) had his tonsils and adenoids out and tubes in. I was worried too- its hard not to worry, no matter how routine the procedure! He came through with flying colors! In fact, the hardest part was trying to get him to stay calm for the week following. He tried to go outside and play with our neighbor an hour after we got home from the hospital! She'll do great!
My son had the surgery a few weeks ago. It took us 3 years to get him the surgery, the consults, tracking infections and sleep apnea. What a relief!
The surgery went okay. He did have a lot of pain (give the pain med round the clock to get her to be able to drink/have posicles) and actually needed to go to ER on post op day 4 and get fluids and steroids, but after that he was much better.
He was a bit weak for the first 2 weeks due to the fact that he didn't even want milk shakes or popsicles. Today he is healthy and active. Except for the restful sleep he now gets and the fact that he can't make the funny voice that he used to by squeezing his tonsils together, you would never know he had the surgery.
My son also broke his arm last May and need emergency surgery since to was a compound fracture ( bones through skin). He did okay during this surgery as well.
The first time that he had surgery was tubes when he was a baby. That was way harder than any of these as he went down screaming and came back the same way. So he has had general anesthesia 3 times and made it through okay every time.
Hope this helps. Surgery is not fun. But you will make it through this!
My 6 year old daughter had the exact same surgery last Dec. 20th. For me the benefits of having the surgery were worth it as she was sick so much and I was scared as well. Coming out of the anesthesia seemed to be the hardest part but she has no recollection of it. All went fine and she even asked me in the recovery room how they removed her tonsils and adenoids in 1 second. For us the hardest part was her throat hurting for at least a week after and getting her to drink. But we are so happy she had it - she is so much healthier and has not been sick at all since the surgery. Best wishes for your daughter's safe recovery!!
