tonsils etc

[Trillian]

My DD did have speech problems and saw a speechie for nearly 2 years, but it was completely unrelated to the tonsils. Good luck with the ENT appointment.

[Mildez]

Often an ENT will not remove them unless there is recurrent infection. Tonsils act as filters to other areas of the body so there are disadvantages to having them removed also. My 6year old is about to have hers removed. She has grade 4 tonsils all the time (touching) but the real problem is recurrent infection. She has had serious complications from recurrent throat infections (low platelets and neutropenia) she is unable to have them removed until her platelet count improves due to the risk of bleeding.

[nyigi]

Thanks Mildez for the info it's nice to hear that ENT's don't always want to take them out.
I talked to DH last night and our real problem is that our GP has just told us that it's a borderline case and that the decision is up to us and we really don't think we have enough information to making such a decision. We want a specialist to look at DS and his case and give an opinion.
Personally I'd be very happy if they don't need to come out. But if they should be taken out I don't want to be making his life harder unnecessarily.

[nyigi]

Ok so we saw the ENT yesterday and he said that DS's adenoids definitely need to come out, while his tonsils are indeed big he doesn't think they are too big and since they don't seem to be causing trouble (unlike the adenoids) he said better to leave them in for now at least.

I'm really not looking forward to the surgery (in three weeks) but so glad we finally got to talk to a specialist about it and get a real knowledgeable answer. It was SOOO much better than what the GP told us which I now see really seemed to be a jumbled mix of issues regarding three different sets of glands. I'd only ever really thought about the tonsils since they are the ones you can see. Very glad I finally pushed to see the specialist and slightly annoyed that it took me and the GP so long to get to this point.

Here's hoping this helps my DS.

Thanks for all your help getting us to this point.