The tonsils, they're comin' out!

[Staci]

And I'm so nervous, of course! Augh! So, prayers and thoughts on Friday would be WONDERFUL!!

I'm more nervous because Aidan's ENT is so wishy washy about the surgery...first off telling ME to decide when HE needs surgery. Ummmm....she's his doctor, shouldn't she decide? I finally said it's time, because his tonsils are HUGE and he is having apnea now. So, once I decided she's like "Great, I was wondering how long it'd take you to make a decision". ARGH! So now she's saying "are you SURE we want to do this? How is he going to act after?". I'm just frustrated because SHE is his doctor...and I really do truly love her, she's like a family friend, and I trust her...but I want a "Let's do this NOW" sort of attitude and I'm getting "You call the shots" kind of attitude, you know? Anyway...just venting, I guess. Yes, they need to come out. It's the perfect time, before school starts, he'll have a month to recover, etc. I'm just so scared about the pain after...he's going to be a BEAR, which I totally understand. I just wish I could prepare him better, but I don't think he has a clue what's going to happen, really.

So, she does not want to take his adnoids out. I thought that kind of went hand in hand? Can anyone tell me more about this? She said she doesn't want taking the adnoids out to affect his speech later. Which I know taking them out can affect it...I know, I need to do more research on this! I'm strapped for time now. I just wanted someone else's opinions and thoughts on this, though.

So, anyway...thanks for letting me share and vent! Mama's nervous! Wish us luck! He is a good drinker, so hopefully he'll do well!

Staci

[Jodi]

Hi Staci,

Ryan had tonsils and adenoids taken out and ear tubes put in when he was about 4. He had chronic ear infections but the Ped. was just giving him meds all the time. It was the apnea that got us moving. The Ped. said it was okay for him to stop breathing as long as it wasn't for more than 10 seconds.

Finally got him to a good ENT that we heard of, and she was like "YIKES" we got to do something now! The ENT took the adenoids too because they were too big and pushing on his ear canal so fluid was being trapped. If Aidan has a lot of ear infections, the adenoids could be linked.

Ryan was really groggy when he came out of surgery. He stayed the night. He seemed to cope really well. He ate some soft food the next day, had cranky moments, but overall was fine.

Prayers and positive thoughts headed your way. Keep us posted.

Jodi

[Chester]

JT was 3 when he had tonsils, adenoids, tubes put in his ears and eye ducts probed. They had us prepared to stay overnight, but we were home within 4 hours. He recovered really quickly.

Best of Luck and I'll be thinking of your guy on Friday.

Dawn

Are there any other ENT's around? A second opinion may make you feel better, even if it means postponing the surgery.

[CC]

Chris was 4 I think when he had his adenoids out and honestly that for my guy was one of the easiest procedures for him. The ENT we used at that time said Oh My his adenoids are so large must come out. K, so we did it then after surgery the Doc comes out and says geez they weren't as big as I thought, so you will see no change Colin and I were like WTF, you put our son through this for nothing last time we saw that ENT, Grrrrr Anywho that part went very easy for Chris, THANK God.

Years later I think Chris was 9/10, he had his tonsils out for sleep apena and for my boy it was not a fun time at all BUT each child is different and I hear over and over from others its not that big of deal for their child. Chris just doesn't do well with surgeries

Prayers going out for you guys till you post up all is well and then some

CC ~

[Mary_L.]

Good luck with everything on Friday and I hope Aidan has a speedy recovery! Patrick had his adnoids out a few years ago and that was fine~but he hasn't had his tonsils out and I have heard that recovery is harder. Let us know how it goes.

[Emilysmom]

I'll be thinking about you on Friday Staci!

When Emily had her T&A done........I think she was about 4, the doc went on and on about how kids with Ds tended to have a rough post op time, because "they" don't drink well. At the time, I thought it was a huge stereotype and I still do!!! The nurses were great. They came in every 4 hours like clockwork and gave Emily pain medication.........even when she was asleep!! They said if we just let her sleep till she woke up, she'd wake up in lots of pain and would never drink. So, her pain stayed under control and she was able to drink when she woke up. I remember also giving her something salty to eat (can't remember now if it was mashed potatoes and gravy or french fries!) to help her WANT more to drink. She had a pretty easy time of it! The worst "complication" she had was a horrible case of constipation because of all the pain meds.

I'm sorry........I don't know anything about the difference between doing the whole procedure together or just the tonsils. I have heard that removing the adenoids can give the child's speech more of a nasal tone. Emily does have a nasal quality to her voice, but it seems like that was present even before her adenoids were removed so I'm not sure.

Wishing Aidan a quick and painless recovery,]
Susan

[admama]

My son had his out when he was 14. He kept getting sick of colds and ear infection so the Dr. kept telling me he needed his tonsils removed. I had heard that once you remove the tonsils they are less immune because the tonsils are there for a reason. I kept putting it off but then he had apnea so I decided we better do it and we did. He had no big problems but he did lose some weight since all he could have was ice cream, applesauce and stuff like that. Other than that he did very good. We explained what was going to happen before hand and he did well.

[Staci]

Thank you all for your well wishes for Friday for Mr. Aidan...and for your responses! It's going to be tough seeing my little guy go through this...more stuff for him to endure...poor sweetie. But I know he needs it done. I have been putting it off...so I guess it's time. Thanks about the adnoid info! I'm really still unsure about the whole ordeal, but all of your information has helped! I appreciate it!

I will update this weekend on how things went.

Staci

[laurasnowbird]

Ethan still has his, so I have nothing to share as it relates to DS. My oldest, Nick, had his out when he was five. The first couple of days were the hardest, and it was fine after that!

Good luck to you and little Aidan. Please let us know how it goes. And they're keeping him overnight, I hope? I know that Dr. Leshin stresses that those kinds of operations should not be outpatient for our kids with DS, and they should be kept overnight and monitored carefully.