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Ds son is 3& 1/2 and has being a shocking sleeper since birth. Our GP seems to thinks it's his tonsils as they are huge and may be causing sleep apnea. He is snorer also so they are guessing the adenoids are large too. We have an app with an ent specialist in Feb and was just wondering what to expect? He has never really had sore throat will they still recommend an operation?
Yes the could still recommend the operation even if he hasn't been sick. My DS had his out at 3 1/2 due to sleep apnea and he was never that sick. I noticed he was a snorer, still dribbled heaps as he was mouth breathing and he seemed to stop breathing while he slept and then would take in a huge gasp of air and keep on sleeping. The surgeon had a look and said they seemed like very large tonsils. She said we could do a sleep study first to see how bad the problem was and then make a decision. We decided to video him instead at home for an hour or so while he slept and we could see that he was stopping breathing every 10 mins or so. It made the decision easy too as the surgeon explained that the oxygen deprivation could be causing problems for his developing brain so it was important to get it sorted out.
When they did the surgery she said he did have very large tonsils and adenoids. He sleeps much more quietly now and more deeply as he isn't being woken by the breathing issue. The dribbling has gone. There is another thread around at the moment of what to expect when you have the operation too. So if you are unsure of how severe the problem is, request a sleep study and that should give you some peace of mind of whether you are doing the right thing. It is a hard thing to decide as of course you don't want unnecessary surgery for your child, but you also don't want long term consequences on his development if you don't.
Thanks for the reply Lana! He has being a terrible sleeper since birth and as we are only two years away from school I really want it sorted before then. I too am mainly concerned about the brain development issues that the apnea can bring. Our first app is in Feb. Did you go public or private? If private how much did it cost and how soon was it done?
My ds1 had HUGE tonsils and he was a shocking sleeper plus he would cough constantly. He only had tonsilitis once. They recommended surgery for him and he had it at 2.5. It made a world of difference to his health. He never catches anything anymore, and he sleeps through the night. ;)
We went private. If you have private health cover the costs will all depend on the terms and conditions of your policy. We had to pay an excess (but if you have already had one hospital admission for the year you may not have to pay again...depends on policy as to how much your excess is). We then had to pay a bit for the surgeon and then about $500 for the anesthetist can't remember what we could claim back from medicare. The advantage was we could get the operation done within weeks of the appointment and we then got a private room where I could comfortably stay in too over night. I could also ring and chat to the surgeon before about any questions or concerns i had. So yes it cost a bit but we were happy with the outcome and follow up care.
I was born with adenoids the size of a teenagers which made it impossible for me to breathe through my nose and I had a number of ear problems as a child, but it was never suggested for me to have any form of operation. Not sure if it just wasn't done back then or not though because I've heard of kids having operations for adenoids these days. I eventually grew into my adenoids and have no problems anymore :)
My 11 year old DSS has always had massive tonsils and used to be quite a little snorer. He's never had any problems caused by them though despite doctors along the years expecting him to have issues due to the sheer size. He doesn't snore anymore so I figure he's probably grown into his tonsils too, lol.
Mylitta that's good to hear. I guess my best option would be to ask for the sleep study before making Amy firm decisions?
My DS had obstructive sleep apnea diagnosed at 2 with a sleep study, as it was quiet bad he had his tonsils and adenoids out straight away as a public patient. he also suffered really bad with tonsilitis.
He was a different kid after getting the op. He had so much more energy and wasn't so grumpy :D