Surgery

HI T.

I am a 31 yr old stay at home mom. My youngest son is going to have tubes, tonsils, and adenoids taken out on Feb 28th. My middle son had this done last year, we had noticed he couldnt hear and had his hearing checked, he kept saying huh? what? I can't hear you, we brushed it off as the typical 3 yr old stage for quite some time. I don't know if your child has ever had any surgery unfortunately this was his 3rd surgery. The surgery is not long at all, and everyone comes out of anethesia differently, my son is very aggressive (think due to his exposure) after they calm down they are mostly sleepy and face is a little swollen. I was pretty scared bringing him home they have to warn you on extreme cases, so just keep letting them drink plenty of fluids which helps hugely in healing. Few days later, you will be thinking what surgery, they bounce back pretty easily. Now my son thats going for surgery he has speech delay and has also had ear infections. Good luck, let me know how everything goes.

My daughter had tubes put in at 2 years of age. She did fine-the hard part was when she woke up she was hysterical--I wished someone would have warned me this is a common occurence.
Good luck.

P.

T.,
My daughter is 31 and had tubes put in her ears when she was 15 months old. I, too was worried about the surgery but it was a simple and easy procedure and everything went fine. The one thing I remember being advised to do is ask to speak to the anesthesiologist before the surgery. Just let him or her know that it's your child that he is taking care of and it personalizes this job so your child is not just another patient.

It will be fine.

Ciao,
C.

T.,
Have you tried alternatives to surgery? Chiropractic helps children with chronic ear infections. I am lucky, my son did not have to go through any of these procedures because he was regularly adjusted. He DID go through a Hernia repair a week before his first birthday. I was a FRANTIC mother... pacing the floor the entire time he was in surgery. One thing you can do to help her recover is give her Arnica pellets after surgery to help decrease the swelling and help her heal faster! Good luck!
-Dr. Heather

my three year old had to go through it. mommy is gonna cry and so is your child. its scary but if the doctor is a good one they will give them the anestesia while they are still in your arms to soothe them. jsut make sure you are allowed in the room when she wakes. i steeped out of the recovery room for a minute and she decided to wake up. she screamed because she fell asleep in my arms and woke up with an iv and noone around. try to get them to remove the iv befoe she wakes up it might be less traumatizing. then jsut give her all the attention you can through her recovery.

Hi T.,
I have to be honest the worst part of it all is leaving the O R until they finish but before you know it they are done and you are so happy that it is all over. I went through it with my son at 15 months old and he has not had any problems with his ears. He is now 4. I am actually going to have to do it all over again with my daughter,2 in about 4 months. Everything will br fine hang in there and be strong.

My son was almost 16 months old when he had his tubes put in. They let him bring his blanket and a stuffed animal with him. I don't think that he even knew what was going on. I was a nervous wreck. I started crying the second they wheeled him back and cried the whole time he was having his surgery. I was still crying when they called to say his surgery was done and went well. They let me come back as soon as he was done. I think that being the first one on the surgery schedule is a huge help, for you and her. I would check to see if she can take a "special" friend (stuffed animal/blanket) with her as well. Good luck! :)

My daughter had her tonsils and adenoids out last march and she was four at the time. We made sure she was the first surgery so she would not be upset when she could not eat or drink. We took her to the hosptal in her pj. I don't know what pain your daughter will be in if any, because my daughter had her tonsils out which is very painful when you wake up. But her doctor was sure to give her a shot of pain reliever before she woke up so the pain would not scare her when she woke up. It worked great. But not all doctors do that so if you are concerned ask if they can give her something right before she wakes up.

I wish you the best.
H.

I cant give u to much advice myself because my daughter also has to go in for surgery shes getting her tonsils and adenooids removed. iwill agree its common in children lately but its a minor procedure and everything should go well.

T.-
Hi! My daughter (at age 3) also got tubes in, tonsils and adnoids removed. It was a scary thing even though it is so routine. My advice.. explain to your daughter as much as she will understand so she will not be as scared, have lots of popsicles and jello on hand, and don't be upset if she seems mad after the procedure. When my husband and I went into the recovery room, I thought my daughter would be so happy to see us and she was actually very mad. I think it was the anesthesia and the fact that she was 3. One last thing, prepare for a long recovery time. It can take up to 2 weeks depending on the child. The first day is always better than the following days due to the fact that the anesthesia is still in their systems. Hope this helps and good luck to you!!
K.

My son also recently had tubes put in his ears. My suggestion is to bring a favorite toy or stuff animal for when she wakes up.It's not going to be painful for her to much (no surgery is without some pain) but when she wakes up she will be terrified. She will cry alot and it will upset you immensely but as she wakes up it will get better I promise. In the long run it is worth it. My son gets sick less and has less ear infections.
I hope I didn't upset you but I wish someone had given me this warning a couple of months ago.

Hi T., I know what your going through. My daughter was 2 when she her ear tubes put in and at 3 she had her tonsiles and adenoids removed. With her ear tubes by the time I walked out of the room after they put her out, when I tell you within about 5 min, they were done. After the adenoids and tonsiles it took alittle longer but when she woke up all she wanted to do was eat. She had no nose bleeds or any complications. Im sure the dr. has already told you that with the adenoids she will have to take it easy. I know she is 3 how do you do that. Well all I did was make sure we had alot of activties at her little table or even on the floor just to keep her calm and relaxed. Good luck to you and to Morgan.

D.

hi, my daughter Brooke is 4 and has had tubes in 2 times in the last 2 years. and i know how you feel,i know from 1st hand experience that any kind of surgery small or large in horrible, i always wished they could just do it to me and it would somehow fix her.lol the only thing that could maybe help is that it's pretty quick i was literally in the waiting room for like a half hour(you'rs might be a little longer she didnt have the adenoinds out) and the nurse came to get me,even though it felt like 5 days.they also let me sit w/ her while they gave her what they called "happy juice" she colored and watched t.v the when she was nice and "happy" they pulled her away on the little wagon she was waving and having a grand ol' time. although i should warn you that when they wake up they are misserable.. like the worst you'll ever see her. it lasts like a good 2 hours of crying and fighting. but not from pain just from the drug.they told me it's very common.no one warned me of that and i wish they would have. i hope everything goes very well, and im sure it will you'll be surprised at how quickly she bounces right back. i was!

Hi T.,
My son had his tonsils and adenoids removed last May when he was 4 before he went to school because they were causing sleep apnea and speech difficulty. It is such a scary thing when you can't be in the room when they are doing the procedure but it is pretty routine so have faith. A couple things for you though, when he woke up after the procedure his lips hurt from them stretching them (he didn't complain of throat pain they gave meds before he woke up)so use balm before and after surgery. Always give meds before they run out for at least the first 3 days, it's terrible if you don't or can't my son spit it out. Lastly they told me his breath would smell what they didn't say was it was horrid and foul smelling I thought he had an infection but it's just the dried blood in the throat, if you can handle it that's great but I hugged him from the back and kissed him on the head. Good luck, lots of pops, and xxx&ooo for your lil one is the best for healing.

My son had his adnoids and tonsils removed and had ear tubes put in. He continues to have problems with his ears and I am now waiting for his 2nd set of tubes to fall out so I can get his ears "coned". It is a non evasive treatment that draws out contaminates and infections and I have had it done for my otosclerosis and I highly recommend for the ears. My son did very well with the surgeries for his adnoids and tonsils and recovered very fast. But, for the ears, I still have questions as to the tubes.
Good luck and I hope this helps. Email me if you want to talk further.
G.

My daughter had it done when she was Five. It went well and she was fine. Her adnoids were very large so that was ok that we had them removed. The Tubes only lasted 3 months and one 6. The surgery was simple and she was back to herself by the end of the day..

Good Luck

T.,

Both surgeries are very common and the recovery time is very short. I don't know if your child is having a lot of ear infections, but if so it will help quite significantly. I will tell you that my son had his adenoids out at age 2 1/2 after having multiple ear infections. Within 24 hours after the surgery he was up and ready to play again! He also went from at least 6 infections a year to one or no infections each year and he's now 10.

My child never had tubes in his ears but I had tubes placed into my ears in the first grade which also helped to decrease the numerous ear infections during my childhood. However, at that point since I had already had at least 20 ear infections, my ears were pretty scarred and still are today. The surgery did help and I did have less infections but the scar tissue from the infections could have been avoided if I had tubes placed into my ears earlier than first grade. The numerous scars also contributed to some minor hearing loss.

I know you're worried about the operation, but you could be taking a chance with your child having permanent ear scarring or hearing issues like myself! It's not worth it. Let your doctor know your concerns about both surgeries and see if both are necessary. Maybe just one of the surgeries would be enough to help your child.

Good Luck!

T.,

My nephew just had tubes put in his ears two weeks ago. They did anesthesia, and let my sister hold his hand in the operating room until he was completely out, and she was back with him by the time he woke in recovery. He had no time to be awake and aware without her at all. It only took a few minutes (under 30) but they didn't do adenoids, too. She's going to be all right, and with you there while she's awake, probably won't even be scared.

Talk to the doctors beforehand, and let them know your concerns. They work with kids all the time for stuff like this, and they are well prepared both for your worries AND hers. Good luck!

Oh, and have some ice cream for her and stationary stuff to do. A coloring book or two, a brand new box of crayons, and some sheets of stickers, and she'll be princess for the day!

T., I had it done, and do remember it, I was 4. It was no big deal, I assure you that it is worse for you than your child. I remember they were telling me to count back from 100 in a hallway with an oxygen mask that had the anesthesia in it, I only remember getting to number 94. Just remember if she doesn't get it done she will continue to have problems, and that this is the best thing for her.