Julie in CA Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 My two dd's will be having their tonsils and adenoids removed in a couple of weeks. I was surprised to learn that the doc says to keep the kids quiet and relatively inactive for *two weeks*. That seems like a long time (?). Also, when I asked about complications, he told me that appx. 2 out of every 100 have excess bleeding after surgery. I'm not hugely squeamish, but...yuck! Do they swallow a lot of blood? My dh's 3 brothers all had the same surgery as children, and they remember it as being fairly painful during recovery. They liked the ice cream though! Is it still the thing--feeding ice cream for a while? The doc was fairly non-specific about that, said he'd cover that during the pre-op visit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Two at one time, wow, it should be much better now, than thirty yrs. ago. I was the 2 out of 100, I just remember waking up to bleeding and going back under, they just went back in and cauterized. I was miserable afterwards, but that was a long time ago. I am sure your dd's will do just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in CA Posted October 8, 2008 Author Share Posted October 8, 2008 I was the 2 out of 100, I just remember waking up to bleeding and going back under, they just went back in and cauterized. I was miserable afterwards, but that was a long time ago. OK...See, this just isn't helping! :001_unsure: :lol: That wasn't the reassurance I was looking for! So, tell me, doesn't the thought of swallowing blood just make you gag? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Our two sons had their tonsils out on the same day when they were 4 and 5, I think. Yes, it is very painful for the first few days, and soft foods are good. Our boys were very tired for a good week after the surgery. No complications here. Ria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missplacedalaskan Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 10 Y/o Dd had her adenoids removed & tubes in her ears in June. She was down for a day or 2 and then fine. The Dr. didn't take her tonsils out, said it wasn't necessary and the recovery time would be longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in CA Posted October 8, 2008 Author Share Posted October 8, 2008 Our two sons had their tonsils out on the same day when they were 4 and 5, I think. Yes, it is very painful for the first few days, and soft foods are good. Our boys were very tired for a good week after the surgery. No complications here. Ria Okay, so the two weeks of recovery time sounds like a good idea. Is it stupid to ask how soft the foods need to be? Are we talking soft as in ice cream, yogurt, and applesauce? Or soft as in mac & cheese, scrambled eggs, etc.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2legomaniacs Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 My boys had theirs out almost 4 years ago, back to back surgeries. Yes, they swallowed blood and threw up a lot of yuck right away. One did it in the surgery center and the other did it as soon as we got home. Then they didn't do that anymore. Keep a lot of Tylenol on hand. We did a lot of that along with popsicles and other cold things. Smoothies are good if you make sure to do things without seeds. Don't want those trapped and causing infections. Nothing acidic. Ummm, let's see. They were in pain, but not horrid pain. The main thing was to keep on top of regular dosing of pain meds. at first. Don't wait until they start asking for it. Keep it on the dosing schedule to stay on top of it. You don't want a lot of bouncing around at first to knock of the scab and cause extra bleeding. There was nothing coming out of their mouths regarding blood, btw. Just the nasty throw up right away. Also, their breath smelled *awful* for a while. And I do mean gag me nasty. It was so stinky sitting between the 2 of them trying to read a story. I about lost it a few times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 The first day I made milkshakes and smoothies. The boys really were not hungry - the meds they gave them for pain were narcotics, and that dulls the appetite. The next few days we gave soups, puddings, pasta dishes, yogurt, etc. Nothing crunchy or hard for at least a week. Ria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth in MN Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 My DD had this surgery last Spring. It really was two weeks of recovery. It's not all laying in bed, but it's a lot of the same soft foods. My daughter loved tha ll you can eat jello/ice cream/mashed potatoes/pudding diet. IMO, this is a great time to break out "The Velveteen Rabbit". When I had mine out I got the book as a gift and connected with the recovery from illness part of the story. When I had my tonsils out I was one of the rare bleeders, but my daughter was not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in CA Posted October 8, 2008 Author Share Posted October 8, 2008 My boys had theirs out almost 4 years ago, back to back surgeries. Yes, they swallowed blood and threw up a lot of yuck right away. One did it in the surgery center and the other did it as soon as we got home. Then they didn't do that anymore. Keep a lot of Tylenol on hand. We did a lot of that along with popsicles and other cold things. Smoothies are good if you make sure to do things without seeds. Don't want those trapped and causing infections. Nothing acidic. Ummm, let's see. They were in pain, but not horrid pain. The main thing was to keep on top of regular dosing of pain meds. at first. Don't wait until they start asking for it. Keep it on the dosing schedule to stay on top of it. You don't want a lot of bouncing around at first to knock of the scab and cause extra bleeding. There was nothing coming out of their mouths regarding blood, btw. Just the nasty throw up right away. Also, their breath smelled *awful* for a while. And I do mean gag me nasty. It was so stinky sitting between the 2 of them trying to read a story. I about lost it a few times. WHAT IS MY PROBLEM!! I'm almost never squeamish, but for some reason this just...ugh! Did you say "scab"?! In the back of the throat?! Nasty, smelly, bloody vomit?! I'm about heavin' just thinking about it. :ack2: Seriously, thanks for the tips about popsicles, the seeds in the smoothies, and sticking to the pain med schedule. :001_smile: Popsicles almost make this sound like a happy thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2legomaniacs Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Sorry for that. Nobody prepared me for the yucky stuff. Older threw up in the bathroom in the surgery center. Younger did it soon after we got home, in the bathroom. The doctor said he wanted them to throw up to get the stuff out. They were fine after that. There are going to be scabs in the area in the back where they do the cauterization. And the breath does smell horrid for a while. But it was a smooth recovery, for the most part. Just know that your want to breathe through your mouth when sitting close to them for a bit, that's all. They watched lots of videos for a while. Drinking a lot of ginger ale and eating lots of popsicles were probably their favorite things. Just keep getting them to drink so that they stay hydrated. That's really important. It's not totally gross. The nurse had to clean up the hospital mess. Dh did the one at home. No more after that. Anesthesia makes them nauseous sometimes too. They'll give you bags and such, or take your own, for the ride home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Well, I have done this with 4 kids over the years. Hints: GIVE the pain medicine AS DIRECTED for the first 3-4 days. This means setting the alarm and giving it through the night (ours was every 4 hours). This does NOT mean waiting 5 hours, give it ON time. Staying ahead of the pain is the biggest thing. Next thing, DRINK, DRINK, DRINK. I didn't care what they drank as long as they got liquids in them. With those 2 things, my girls did VERY well. My one foster boy who did NOT drink really did have problems for 2 weeks. My daughters though wanted oreo cookies (for one) and pizza (for the other) within hours of sugery. Neither of them hardly looked back. In fact, I had to keep my youngest dd from swimming 2 days after surgery as she felt fine. She wanted to go out to play, etc. I would just let them rest and relax and keep up the pain meds and fluids. Our doctor said they could eat or not whatever they wanted. The fluids are the key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinMominTX Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 I had my tonsils out when I was in my 20's. Dh was in his late 30's. It kicks your behind. I was surprised at the recovery. As for kids, I'd say to keep them quite for a few days, but after that as long as you don't let them totally over do it (no late night sleep overs or long distance marathons) I would think they should be ok to resume normal activites when they feel like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in CA Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 I really *really* wanted you all to tell me that it was easier than I was expecting. According to the consensus here, it will probably be exactly what I'm expecting. Drat! -But thank you all for your input, and I'm making a list of all of your suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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