Has anyone had experience with a young child getting adenoids or tonsils removed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do it while they're young. Cannot stress this enough. When you're older, its much worse and way longer recovery time. I'm an ENT assistant

Not sure what an ENT assistant is, but I would hope if you work in an ENT's office, you are aware that tonsils are full size by the toddler years, and kids grow into them over time. Kids that have moderate issues as toddler's typically grow out of them and do not need the surgery at an older age.

BTW, there is a proven placebo effect with surgery. In my mind, this explains why everyone is so desperate to argue their kid both really needed and really improved after the surgery. The independent peer-reviewed data proves differently -- only a very small proportion of kids who get the surgery benefit from it, and they aren't all the children of people on dcum.

Not that PP. The surgery and recovery is worse for adults than children. Isn't that well known?

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-04-10/lifestyle/sns-rt-us-adults-tonsillectomy-20140410_1_tonsillectomy-patients-pain

[Anonymous]

I think adenoid removal is easier than tonsils. For us with 3yo ds, it was one bad day of recovery (he looked terrible after surgery, scary to see), and then he was relatively OK.

He was a snorer, we have a family history of apnea, and he had a greenish runny nose every single day of his life. We tried everything with an allergist and after the adenoidectomy, the issue completely resolved. Worth it in our case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do it while they're young. Cannot stress this enough. When you're older, its much worse and way longer recovery time. I'm an ENT assistant

Not sure what an ENT assistant is, but I would hope if you work in an ENT's office, you are aware that tonsils are full size by the toddler years, and kids grow into them over time. Kids that have moderate issues as toddler's typically grow out of them and do not need the surgery at an older age.

BTW, there is a proven placebo effect with surgery. In my mind, this explains why everyone is so desperate to argue their kid both really needed and really improved after the surgery. The independent peer-reviewed data proves differently -- only a very small proportion of kids who get the surgery benefit from it, and they aren't all the children of people on dcum.

I AGREE

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do it while they're young. Cannot stress this enough. When you're older, its much worse and way longer recovery time. I'm an ENT assistant

Not sure what an ENT assistant is, but I would hope if you work in an ENT's office, you are aware that tonsils are full size by the toddler years, and kids grow into them over time. Kids that have moderate issues as toddler's typically grow out of them and do not need the surgery at an older age.

BTW, there is a proven placebo effect with surgery. In my mind, this explains why everyone is so desperate to argue their kid both really needed and really improved after the surgery. The independent peer-reviewed data proves differently -- only a very small proportion of kids who get the surgery benefit from it, and they aren't all the children of people on dcum.

I AGREE

Did your kids have tonsils removed? Did your kids have strep throat infections non stop every 30 days for over a year? Antibiotic use would have continued indefinitely if we hadn't had tonsils removed. The doctors said DD would never have fully recovered from each infection - so from our perspective it was a good decision and not something dd was going to "grow out of".

[Anonymous]

No- my child had constant ear infections. Then he almost died from the surgery. I so so so with we had been more informed of the risks of complications. I put his life at risk over something I'm certain he would have grown out of like my other three children did. I almost lost a child from this surgery.

[Anonymous]

I would not recommend the surgery, unless it is life or death. My daughter had the surgery at 12 she came home and the next day she was bleeding so bad. She then needed to be rushed back to the hospital and go back under. Luckily she made it and was ok. I would think twice before doing so. Last week a friend had their child get the surgery, he is 10 years old. by the third day, he had sadly passed away from bleeding complications and not being able to breathe. He was healthy and happy the days leading before his surgery. Nothing prepares you for the loss of a child who should not be gone today.

[Anonymous]

My dd had her tonsils and adenoids out just before she turned 3 and it was the best health thing we could’ve done for her. She had sleep apnea and was a terrible sleeper, plus she got sick often and would stay stick for months with a cough that made her vomit. She was fine after the first day following surgery - wanted Mac & cheese for dinner that night, no major pain, healed well (we were careful with foods and activity of course for the week after) and then she was fine. She is almost 13 now so it’s been 10 years and she’s almost never sick. She got sick with COVID in March 2020 but was only sick for @12 hours. Otherwise she’s had 1 mild case of strep and one stomach bug in the past 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Our ds had both out at 5 years old. They had grown so large that his hearing had been affected to the point that he completely failed the in depth hearing test. Recovery was better than we had expected but this particular child has an extremely high pain tolerance that is not typical. We did stay in front of the pain with meds and he ate ice cream and frozen smoothies for 2 weeks. He was able to go back to school after a week but it was a small school and the nurse checked on him multiple times a day. What we were not prepared for was that the surgery did not restore his hearing. We had to do 6 months of nasal allergy spray for the inflammation to reduce and his hearing came back. DS was also a STREP carrier. We had 41 positive strep cases between his 3 siblings in the first 5 years of his life. We have had 1 positive in the 8 years since the surgery and that was his older sister when she was living out of state at college.

Obviously, for us the risk was worth it. But please get a 2nd and 3rd opinion. Our family has lost loved ones during "minor/routine" surgeries. The papers they make you sign before surgery exist because others have died during that type of surgery. Do your research and make sure you understand what the risks are and what the benefits are.

[Anonymous]

My son had the surgery in first grade. He was having constant ear infections and also snoring loudly and had sleep apnea. Google ADHD and sleep apnea. Not good.

No regrets. We were very aware of the risks. It's a difficult decision. Good luck OP.

Oh, and his recovery was pretty smooth. Not as bad as I feared. We stayed ahead of pain with meds. Woke him up in the night for first 2 nights. And kept the room very humidified and kept him very well hydrated through food he would tolerate. I think the key thing is keeping a moist environment in the throat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do it while they're young. Cannot stress this enough. When you're older, its much worse and way longer recovery time. I'm an ENT assistant

Not sure what an ENT assistant is, but I would hope if you work in an ENT's office, you are aware that tonsils are full size by the toddler years, and kids grow into them over time. Kids that have moderate issues as toddler's typically grow out of them and do not need the surgery at an older age.

BTW, there is a proven placebo effect with surgery. In my mind, this explains why everyone is so desperate to argue their kid both really needed and really improved after the surgery. The independent peer-reviewed data proves differently -- only a very small proportion of kids who get the surgery benefit from it, and they aren't all the children of people on dcum.

Just as a fact check, your child can get a virus that enlarges tonsils. Mine did in kindergarten. He had Epstein-Barr. So no, he wasn't going to grow into them.

People should go to an ENT they trust and not listen to people on a message board.

[Anonymous]

People who are saying their kids were snoring: was it loud breathing or actual snoring (as in, you can hear them breathing, but not a SNORE sound)?

[Anonymous]

At 2.5 DS had tonsils and adenoids out, tubes put in. What followed was a week from hell (understatement), alternating Tylenol with codeine demerit. DS is 20 now, and I can say with confidence it was the right thing to do. I thought DS would outgrow his sleep and health issues, and maybe if we had waited years he might have, but the poor kid needed sleep. One week of misery for years of good health seems an OK tradeoff to us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who are saying their kids were snoring: was it loud breathing or actual snoring (as in, you can hear them breathing, but not a SNORE sound)?

Ours was a loud snoring heard down the hall and heard through a closed door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not recommend the surgery, unless it is life or death. My daughter had the surgery at 12 she came home and the next day she was bleeding so bad. She then needed to be rushed back to the hospital and go back under. Luckily she made it and was ok. I would think twice before doing so. Last week a friend had their child get the surgery, he is 10 years old. by the third day, he had sadly passed away from bleeding complications and not being able to breathe. He was healthy and happy the days leading before his surgery. Nothing prepares you for the loss of a child who should not be gone today.

Where was this????

[Anonymous]

We did adenoids at 2 for snoring. Then tonsils and redo of some adenoids regrowth at 9 because DD had so many throat infections and mild sleep apnea ( did a sleep study) . That was last Nov and she hadn’t had a throat infection since. So while I don’t think it’s a placebo affect, if it is it still works. Recovery from tonsils was about a week.