3 yo ds needs tonsilectomy/adenoids removed, hints? suggestions?

[STARRYSKY]

gah I am kinda freaking outa bit now, I am really not a fan of unnecessary surgery, I'm not certain that this is unnecessary....he really is struggling to breathe, he really has lost weight and will choke on ordinary easy to eat foods.
I have been reading that it is normal for 3-5 year olds to have enlarged tonsils... they get bigger in response to viruses, infection, allergies etc, they act as a filter for all the nasties...then at around age 8 they start to shrink back down...
I dont want to remove something from DS that is there for a reason IYKWIM?
But I would also like him to have a decent nights sleep (and me too!) and be able to eat properly and put some weight back on.

I dont know, we gave him a dose of nurofen last night, (for its anti inflammatory properties) but it didnt seem to make much of a difference.
I have actually been thinking allergies for awhile now, maybe I will get some zyrtec and see how he goes..

[Olive]

I'd chat with Ginger as her son had the same, she says it's the best thing they did for him! He's put on weight and sleeping better

[STARRYSKY]

Thanks Olive, I may just Pm her.

I have another appointment with the GP today, to discuss what happened at the hospital yesterday. I will sound him out for some short term tactics to try, if using zyrtec will be of any benefit etc..
We will see how it goes ...

[Ginger]

hey starrysky, I'm here. my ds1 had his tonsils out, adenoids out and grommets put in his ears all in one go last november. i was so nervous and scared, but the results have been amazing. it was seriously the best thing we ever did. he has put on 5kg since the operation. his speech, hearing, sleep and overall health have improved dramatically. he has only had one cold in the last 6 months.
we didn't find the recovery too bad- but the surgeon gave us a morphine type painkiller that helped enormously. i stayed in the hospital overnight with ds, we came home at 8am the next morning. please if you have any questions about it, just ask me. we are so glad we went ahead and did it.

[CeCe]

I have been reading that it is normal for 3-5 year olds to have enlarged tonsils... they get bigger in response to viruses, infection, allergies etc, they act as a filter for all the nasties...then at around age 8 they start to shrink back down...
I dont want to remove something from DS that is there for a reason..

DS was a possibility for removal of tonsils and adenoids if his ear infections kept up. So far, fingers crossed, we've been infection free for 2 months so it won't be needed.

I questioned the value of removing the tonsils much like you have above but was told there was a point that at times leaving them in can be more harm than taking them out. Our DS also has enlarged tonsils and adenoids. Our specialist said it can be more detrimental to development to be constantly getting infections due to enlarged organs rather than removing them. Our issue was ear infections though, rather than sleeping issues.

[STARRYSKY]

Thank you so much for shraing your experiences
I have just come back from the GP, DS was asleep so the gp was able to see first hand exactly how badly his breathing iS.
Acording to him, nothing is going to improve it bar surgery.

He is now advising us to go private, to have the op done ASAP.

Anyone gone that way? or have any idea how much it will cost? we do not have PHI, I have no idea how much, neither did the GP.

Or even any idea on how we can find out?
Thank you

[lilima]

Sorry. We had PHI, so not much help there. DS was the same. He developed Apnoea to the point that I co slept until the surgery as I was so worried.
I am not sure how much it would be full cost. You would need to discuss with surgeon.
You would be looking at surgeon, and possible surgeon assistant fee, anesthetist fee, and hospital fee, as you would most likely need to stay overnight

Surely if they thought t that bad, they would bump you to an urgent status for public?!

[The[cookie]Doctor]

HeySS.

I'm so glad you posted this as DS (4) is going to have his out soon too.
I don't think is as obstructive as your DS but he will have genetic predisposition for sleep apnea so it is another recommendation for why we are going ahead.
His sleep, snoring and mouth breathing is getting worse and he also suffers from horrendous bad breath which is believed to be caused by constant infection, colds, etc.

We saw a surgeon for a private consult (as per GP referral for enlarged adenoids) and the consult was $150 ($70 rebatable by Medicare).
We were told the surgeon's gap fee was $280 - I think that means $280 to pay the surgeon, without rebates from PHI. Im not sure now with all these other posts I am totally confused!

[~me~]

A friend had a quote to get it done privately as she did not have PHI either. She was quoted $4000 there abouts.
Another GF had her grandson done publicly and as he was put as a high category he was operated on very quickly. So check with your GP on the category system and the public hospital for waiting times.
She has noticed a huge improvement in all aspects of sleeping ans speech. She also said while they were on the waiting list it was nerve racking but OK as they knew it would be Ok in the end.

[Olive]

I'd say around the $4k mark too, the biggest expense is the overnight hospital stay,
I'll see how much DD's ops cost (PHI) but ours was just adenoids and grommets and no overnight stay.
I had an op last year with overnight stay and all up it was around $6k, we have PHI