T & A Surgery

Hi M.,
My daughter has had nasal problems all of her life. She has had 7 nasal surgeries because she has re-occurring nasal polyps. Her first surgery was when she was in the 4th grade and she new about it. She had huge anxiety about it, but I just kept her busy and tried to keep her mind off of it. The day of the surgery in pre-op, we played games and kept busy. A new game may keep her mind occupied as well.

Recovery was always suppose to be 1 - 2 weeks, but never was. She was usually had one full day of recovery and waking up from the anesthesia and then in a day or two she was ready to go. The only problem we had was that she wanted wendy's for lunch and I wanted to give her what she wanted and she threw up...that wasn't good with sinus surgery. Just try to keep her resting for as long as possible because she really should have rest.

My daughter went through this surgery about 7 months ago. She was 6 at the time. I was very concerned about her recovery, but she did great. She had very low energy and was kind of grumpy for about a week, but she hardly complained that it hurt. I thnk she was tired and lethargic, because she wasn't eating much--the novelty of ice cream wore off very quickly! I gave her soups, smoothies, applesauce after a couple of days. The worst pain she had was in the mornings when her throat would be dried out. So, keep a glass of water handy beside her bed. Also, make sure she is getting lots of fluids or sucking on popsicles throughout the day. I'm going to warn you that her throat will look really gross for a couple of weeks--big whitish patches that look and smell terrible. That is normal and part of the healing process.
As far as prepping her for the surgery, we focused on how much better she'd feel and how she'd get to eat lots of treats. Our surgeon is a very good friend of the family, so she felt good about that. We also went to Build-A-Bear the day before surgery and created a special friend to take to the hospital with us. And I let her pick out some sticker adn activity books for after the surgery. That was a big diversion.
My daughter has been so much healthier since her surgery. She has had hardly any colds and no ear infections!

My son was 3 when he had both his tonsils and his adenoids out. I will be honest it was horrible. He didn't eat normal for a month afterwards. If you daughter does will soft foods (noodles, pudding, jello, ice cream, ect) she will be fine. My son has a food thing where he won't eat anything of that texture and so his idea was to only eat mac and cheese and ramen noodles. He lived though so all is well now.

I will tell you be prepared for the blood, my son threw up blood all over my car on the way home. Which apparently is very normal. And he was extremely whiny, clingy, and moody for a few days following his surgery probably because of pain.

After you get though the surgery and recovery be prepared to SLEEP! LOL My son sleeps so good now I almost feel bad for not having the surgery done sooner. He is happy, healthy (no colds or sinus infections like before) and sleeps like a rock. It was the best thing we could have done for him and I am so glad we did it earlier rather then wait.

this book helps with words to help ease a child's mind when going into surgery or other tough situations.

http://product.half.ebay.com/How-to-Say-It-to-Your-Kids_W...

How to Say It to Your Kids: The Right Words to Solve Problems, Soothe Feeings&Teach Values by Dr. Paul Coleman and right now you can get a copy at half.com for 75 cents...or check it out for free from your local library. :)

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My son and daughter both have always battled ear infections and have adnoid issues. Both have had tube surgery for their ears before their 1st birthday and my son is currently battling an ear infection and adnoid issues. So who knows what this cold/flu season has instore for us..I might be asking you for adnoid removal help.

But I can share my experience with the ear surgery...it was a blessing, the runny snotty nose (that previously was constant) ended. My children slept better, felt better, were overall happier children. Anytime a child goes under it's worrisome and in my case brings a few tears...but over all I found the surgeries to be extremely helpful and if need be will endure it once again this next cold/flu season if I must. Giving antibiotics and still getting nowhere is hard to sit back and watch and unhealthy IMHO.

I wish you the best of luck and hopefully you can get a few words of wisdom to ease your daughters fears from members or that book I suggested. :)

Hi there, my son is now 14 years old now, however he had this same issue when he was younger. Adenoids were swollen, sinus issues every week...Instead of trying to figure out when my son was not going to be feeling ill, I could count on one hand how many times during the month he was "okay" At that time we also went to the Ears, Nose, and Throat Specialist and they suggested the surgery as well. We went through it, plus tubes in his ears because he had ear infection after ear infection.....I am not going to lie to you, the hardest thing for me was when he was coming from off the anesthesia. He did have a look of "Oh my goodness where am I" BUT that was the hardest part. He wanted me to hold him so I laid next to him in the hospital bed for hours....and it was the longest hours of my life not being able to really make him understand it was all okay. My son was only 3 1/2, with your daughter being a year older than he was you will have a bit better dialog...That is a positive thing! Tell her she will have A LOT of ICE CREAM and JELLO...that is the fun part!!!!!!! The recovery was not bad. (My son learned real early how to milk it) I think we were in the hospital 2-3 days max after the surgery, now a days I am sure things will go a lot gentler than they did when I went through it with my son...My final thought, IT WAS THE BEST DECISIONS WE MADE FOR HIM...

My friends son had this surgery when he was 4 years old. He had NEVER experienced deep sleep due to some issues until he had the surgery. He was out of school a week. From what I understand the recovery was no problem at all - he got lot's of ice cream! He is also sleeping now and finally getting the rest his body needed all these years.

Good luck,
M.

Hello, My 4 year old daughter just had this surgery on Oct. 6.It was far easier than I envisioned. She has had the usual run of ear infections and colds, but nothing really out of the ordinary. However, she has always been a very poor sleeper. She had snored since she was 9 months old, and I mean SNORE. At any rate, we did the surgery and the only truly bad part for us was when she came off the anesthesia. That usually makes everyone of any age emotional and confused. She was very upset and disoriented and was terribly unhappy about her IV. She just kept crying for us to take it off because it was hurting her. Once we got her out of the hospital she calmed down and fell asleep in the car. We went home and napped and that evening she wanted to eat pancakes for dinner! The next day she was jumping on the bed, and asked to eat SALAMI!! (um, no) I had imagined it would take a few days of laying around, but it was more about keeping her from running around and doing things. She was definitely more tired following the surgery and a little clingy, but nothing like I imagined it could be. We had no bleeding, vomiting or fevers afterward. She stopped needing any pain meds after the first day home. I think the followup really depends on each individual child and the earlier the better. We talked about it before hand and read some stories about surgery (curious george goes to the hospital) and just gave her very basic info and let her know she would feel better after. The strangest thing now is how quiet it is when she is sleeping, I am back in the newborn stage of constantly checking to see if she is still breathing. Her voice got a bit higher and less nasal. As my doctor put it, this is her real voice that we are now hearing. Everyone is different but I was stunned at how easy it was. Good luck!