would like other's experiences

[Valerie]

This should really be in the medical section, but seem to get more responses here.

Nicholas has an appt with his ENT tomorrow about possibly having his tonsils and adenoids out.

He had tubes put in his ears last December. Since then he's been on antibiotics 5 times for infections, still pretty much always has a runny nose. He started on reflux med in April in hopes that it would help the situation, but hasn't seemed to.

So, I'd like to hear from other people what kind of results they've seen after having a T & A and what the recovery was like. I've heard it can be worse than the heart surgery recovery!! Which is why I'd hate to put him through this if it doesn't help, but if it does.....ok. So guess I'm looking to see success stories. Thanks!

[Claire]

Adam had his tonsils and adenoids out when he was 2. They did the surgery because of obstructive apnea.
There are risk with any type of surgeries even with typical children with no health problems or even adults.
I was told the reason it is more serious with children with DS is because of their low muscle tone and how it affects the intubation,.
Adam was admitted to the hospital (Only because we were 10 hours away from home for the surgery) No problem out of the ordinary like sore throat and so on. He was eating fine within a week. I have to admit he did get hooked on ice-cream. ;D ;D
But remember that every person may react differently for any surgeries so talk to your anesthesiologist about it and he will be able to tell you more. Hope this helps you.

[Valerie]

Claire, thanks for responding. He's been put under 4 times already, and he's never had any problems with anesthesia. But because he's been under that many times is why I hate to do this if there's no improvement afterwards, KWIM? He also has a little sleep apnea problem, which they also thought the reflux med would help and it hasn't. Did you notice improvement afterwards?

[Ericsmomma]

Valerie,
Eric had a T & A about 2 years ago. He used to snore like a freight train...very restless sleeper. After the T&A I have to open the door to check on him at night cuz its soooo quiet in his room....no snoring! Seems like he's more rested too. Now he constantly get sinusitis and ear infections (in fact we were scheduled to have "permanent" ear tube put in last month but had to cancel cuz he was sick), and alas, we STILL have those problems. But the duration seems shorter...not sure if its because of the T&A or what. I think some of our kids will always have chronic sinus and ear problems because of their anatomy. I know Eric has unusually small ear canals and very tiny features. Our ENT told us because of this, the drainage takes longer to get out...lays in there and develops into a infection. So I don't know what the answer is. Eric did well with his T&A...stayed overnight at the hospital (precautionary) and went home the following morning. I used tylenol round the clock, and this helped with any discomfort. He did have some pain about day 5-7...I guess thats when the "scabs" come off and the area is alittle raw. Other than that, it was pretty clear sailing.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do....

[twosomy21]

kyle had his adenoids taken out and it has helped with eating,snoring(gone, to a degree) and the biggie-congestion i dead the cold season, but it has helped. few meds work on him and i am not a fan of a lot of antibiotics so i keep him home for a few days and that is o.k but this yr. has been the 2nd. winter we did it and congestion has decreased.the ear gunk is also to a minimum because when they get congested every thing gets pluged up
the recovery was fine1to 2 wks and a lot of attention, give soft food to tollerance, pain med and doc should tell you anything eles
good luck he will feel better with a clearer airway

[Chris too]

Valerie, there are several different reflux meds. Have you tried only one? Stevie's reflux did not respond at all to the first one we tried, but when we switched, it cleared up all her congestion in a little over a week's time. My mom was on one that didn't work for a year, then switched to one that worked great until her insurance changed and the ins. company made her switch to one that didn't work. So now she has to get her doc to get a pre-certification for the one that worked, based on the failure of the one they provide. Crazy, but the point is: if one fails, try another, and another - before surgery. Just my opinion.

Chris too

[Valerie]

Chris too, yep...we've tried zantac, prilosec, then prevacid, and have increased the dose of prevacid. I'm not doubting he has reflux, and actually the prevacid seems to have helped that, cause before he would sometimes have a little spit up once in awhile if he swallowed something wrong or was coughing a bit, and he doesn't do that any more. But, it hasn't helped any of the other problems.

Thank you for your input, and the rest of you, too! I do appreciate it!

[CC]

"So guess I'm looking to see success stories. Thanks"

Hmmm guess that would leave us out Chris had his adenoids (sp?) out when he was 4 or 5 made no difference for him then I think he was 9 and had the tonsils out and OMG was a true nightmare and again made no difference

BUT for him what worked ending the monthly sinus infections, believe it or not was starting and using Nasonex daily, go figure

CC ~

[danikins]

Hi Valerie,

WE had Dani's T and A's taken out when she was 3. Mainly due to her moving around the bed a lot. Prior to that, we had a sleep apnea study done which did not reveal anything. And so far she has not been on any meds for reflux.

However, the T and A was a non-issue. She was kept over night and I tried to keep her quiet and rested following. I gave her about 2 days and she would have no more of that. The foods were soft and she recovered nicely with the scabs coming off as they should. Dani still moves around the bed, but she stays put many nights. I think the concern was she moved because her breathing was obstructed somehow. She is now 5, and sleeps with me a lot (bad mamma) and I may find her flipped, but no snoring. She sucks her thumb a lot less too.

For us, the T and A was not very memorable. Dani had a double bubble at birth so her stomach and intestine had to be connected. She also almost died from dehydration as she could not tolerate regular formula. I feel it was bebficial for her--each child has his/her own issues and concerns. For us, it did make a positive difference.

I, personally, think our T and A was successful--as she seems to rest better. Rarely ever has any infections or gets sick and when she is tired or over stimulated she goes into "shut down" mode where she just wants to be alone.

Best wishes and keep us infomed.

Kim
[glow=red,2,300]Dani-I will love you forever and ever[glow=red,2,300][/glow][/glow]

[mydsgirl]

Emma had her T & A out at 2, she did very well. No problems at all. I hope it all works out for you.
Leah

[steffipoo]

Olivia had her t and a out when she was 4 yrs old. She woke up in the ucla recovery room crying and wanting mommy and lol FOOD. lmao. Only Liv would want food after they just took out her tonsils. They now have some bloodless t and a procedure I hear. I kept Liv outta preschool for 2 weeks but she was almost all better after 3 days max.She did awesome. She talked right after and ppl had me scared it would effect her speech and it didn't and her runny noses are a thing of the past with maybe 1 a year as opposed to the snotty green nose all winter.The doc told me that her t and a were very large and what was happening is she would get over a snotty nose BUT sitting on those huge tonsils and ads were leftover icky snot from the last infection which would take a few days to cause a NEW infection therefore producing the year long snot nose. Make sense?(((HUGS))) Steff

[Claire]

To answer to your question Valerie. Yes it did help tremendously with the obstructive apnea problem but there is nothing anyone can do with the central apnea. He used to wake up every hour of the night now he sleeps the whole night. Also less tired during the day, so more motivated to do things. As for Reflux Meds, I think Adam has had them all, nothing seemed to work so he was on thincken liquids and pureed foods until he was 5.