4yo having adnoids and tonsils out

DD is having her adnoids and tonsils out in two weeks time.

I'm having what I've been told are 'the usual mummy nerves' about anaesthetic and the surgery, I'm also really nervous about DD being in a lot of pain and being quite scared as well from the pain.

Does anyone have any advice for the lead up and also the recovery afterwards?
I've been told it's quite straightforward and kids heal quickly and not to get so worried about it ... by my friends whose children haven't actually had their tonsils/adnoids out ... so it's sort of like "yeah ok, that's what everyone says, but that's not exactly practical advice when we're trying to get our daughter to eat after the surgery and they won't let us home until she does..."

Any hints, tips, advice? We've got her on Yakult to help build the immune system and also priming her up with lots of good foods - lemon, garlic, ginger, pineapple, honey etc. 'Quarantine' period starts this week, with next week fully at home except for a minor hitch in the perfect plan... I have a hospital antenatal appointment a few days before her surgery which I am nervous about (I don't want her to pick up any bugs and delay the procedure). What are the best foods for afterwards that I can stock up on? Is the pain really quite bad for them in the 10 days afterwards? Or just in the day after?

Thanks everyone. I am more nervous than she is - she's excited because her tonsils and adnoids give her such grief that she enthusiastically tells every stranger that looks at her that she's not going to have tonsils soon and she'll be able to sleep all night... Bit sad when it gets to that point, but luckily the surgeon was able to give us a date within 10 weeks of the initial consult which was excellent news for us.

I can only talk as someone who had them out as an adult...BUT i recommend getting some of those hydralyte icy-poles for afterwards. ALthough they recommend that you try to eat as much normal food as possible (including toast), there are just some crap days where you are too tired from being sore and want to just much something that hydrates and doesnt hurt too bad. That said, eating after tonsils out is kinda like eating when you have tonsilitis...so maybe use that as your measure for what to feed her etc. it doesnt last long and she will feel SUPER amazing almost immediately (as in, i felt super the moment i woke up!), so that will hopefully help her through the last few days of tonsil suckiness.

I can't speak from a mother of kid that has had them out or from the adenoids perspective, but yeah, thought the icy-pole thing was a good one to share :)

DD1 was 5 when hers were done. She was sore for a few days. Probably 3 or 4 days. The rest of her 2 weeks home was more for her grommits I think.

I made up normal foods for her, but had custard, ice cream & ice blocks as back up so she didn't starve. She was back to normal foods with in the week. Its just scary that first day for them. The hospital we were at only served ice blocks & jelly the day of the surgery (after), then started on cereal etc the next morning. DD only had 2 or 3 mouthfuls & we were ok to go home. Same when DD2 was in hospital with severe tonsillitis, 2 bites of a pie & we could leave (that was after 5 days of not eating).

DD is fine after hers. No trauma or anything, even though she reacted to the anaesthetic & can remember everything before she went under & woke instantly after (not sleepy like most).

ds1 had his out last year when he was 4. he was pretty sore for about a week afterwards and really didn't eat much at all. he had lots of lemonade and a few mouthfuls of yoghurt and ice cream, but he really didn't want much at all.
when you get her home, you really need to stay on top of the pain killers. keep strictly to the schedule and don't wait until she seems like she's in pain to give it to her iykwim? because by then it's probably too late. hopefully you will get a morphine based pain killer to take home- this was our saving grace and really allowed him to get lots of sleep and recuperate well.
i was really nervous too, but he has been so healthy since the operation. he has put on heaps of weight and has barely been sick at all. it was definitely well worth it.

My DD1 is going in tomorrow so I can give you a better answer in a day or too.

The protector in me is causing some nerves so I can sympathise with you there. DD1 is like your DD, very excited. She can't wait to have a sleep over at the big doctors and get some medicine to fix her up. She loves showing everyone how she will open her mouth to let the doctors look.

DD1 is a fussy eater and wont eat cereal so I know she wont eat it either way if they try.

I was given Pain Stop for DD. Codeine based. She hated it though, so we had panadol & nurofen after day 2. Before that I had to sneak it into drinks & she could still taste it.

ETA: Kazzo, it doesn't matter what they eat, as long as they eat something thats not liquid. Toast etc. When DD2 had her tonsillitis I was buying chocolate, lollies, milks, coke. Anything I could to get her to eat & drink (She didn't drink for 6 days or eat for 7 all up). Once they've had a few bites of something, it helps them get over the fear of the pain.

In hospital the first night they gave dd6 icy poles then after a few hours she had to start eating normally, they gave her sandwiches from memory
We gave her pain stop and they said not to wait for her to say she was sore but to give it to her every 4 hours regardless

Thanks clover that is good to know. Everyone told her she will get to eat all the jelly and icecream she likes so she thinks that is all she has to eat and I bet that is what she will be asking for if she asks for anything. She loves taking medicine so hopefully that wont be a problem afterwards.

Also if it is okay to ask, did they wake through the night in pain or did you wake them and give then pain relief?

Thanks so much everyone, and yeah great question Kazzo, nights will be the hardest I think. Do you try to time it so that they have some medicine right before bed?

Is the soft drink thing a myth or do they really actually encourage that? I might go and grab some of that golden circle juice soft drink (although she'd prefer cartons of creaming soda I'm sure ROFL!) if it's true.

DD was on the drip over night. On morphine over night I think. She didn't wake through the first night in pain, but TBH I was 5 months pregnant & it was 5 years ago now. Preggy brain doesn't seem to absorb much for me.

Not sure on the soft drink. I don't remember them encouraging it. But its something to bribe with if they are worried about swallowing. I rarely allow fizzy & especially not coke, but when there's a risk of dehydration I'll resort to absolutely anything. & given that fizzy is such a treat in this house (as are cordial & juice), it usually works pretty well ;)

Icy poles are good for the pain too :)

All my four have had tonsils/adenoids out with grommets at varying ages (5, 3, 2 and 18mths). We woke them at night to give them the medicine before it wore off as if they were in too much pain we couldn't bribe them to take the pain stop or endo and it would all go downhill! We were advised sips of coke- 20ml per hr - to keep the germs away and eat normal foods from as soon as they wake up. I bribed mine with ice cream cake for breakfast one day as they just wouldn't eat. I recommend ice block first then get them to eat sandwich or something similar as the ice block will semi numb the throat to make it easier. Gingerbread men were a hit with all of them too - anything goes for the fortnight! Day 7-8 were the worst and they seemed to go down hill but after a day or so they perk up again and they get better quickly from there. Good luck - and it's totally worth it! My kids rarely get sick these days and they sleep too!! Was a life saver for us and hope you see the same benefits we did. Best of luck.

I tried to time it so the medication was before bed, i didn't wake her for it though during the night and only gave it
To her if she woke.
I was told to give her coke too

Thought I would pop back as DD1 just had her surgery and she rocked it. You would not have even guessed that 2.5 hours after she woke up in recovery that she had just had surgery. She woke up asking for lunch and ate her dinner straight away. Was up playing in the toy room and slept all night without waking. She opened her eyes at 6:30am, told me her throat was sore and can she have breakfast now. I have given her panadole 6 times since we came home on Wednesday and she has been eating normally.
Unbelievable and completely unexpected from me especially watching some of the other kids in our hospital room and how upset they were. She had grommits as she has very bad ears (apparently she has had numerous ear infection and not once has she ever complained about sore ears) so she is on AB to fix that up.
Sorry to be rambling on but it has really suprised me, I knew she was a tough chooky but she is tougher then I thought.

I hope your DD suprises you too. The only bad part for me was watching her go under, she did not fight it but it just made it so real and walking away from her when she was out was hard.

Oh that is wonderful Kazzo! I'm so glad she has reacted so well to it! I hope my DD has a similar reaction!

My DD is going in for her tonsils and adenoids at the end of the month, she will be just shy of 3. It's so good to read positive stories.

DD had her surgery on Monday afternoon, was home at miday yesterday, and is recovering well. Certainly not as good as your DD Kazzo. DD is having a bit of trouble keeping up with the 1.5L of fluid they want her to have. She's in a bit of pain - plus she was having trouble with the 'Oxynorm' that they are giving her, it actually seems to make it worse, she gets nauseas and dizzy and she will not eat in the 3-4 hours after taking it, and since she takes it every 6 hours it only leaves a 2 hour window every 6 hours to get food and drink into her (but the dr just rang a minute ago and said he is fine for us to take her off it if it's not helping). The Oxynorm made for really hard nights the last two nights, but almost 48 hours from surgery and she is ok. Handled the anaesthetic well (but they gave her a shot of pethidine which knocked her around a bit) and was not scared at all going in to theatre.

She is certainly living a kids dream right now though, I've done three rush trips out to buy whatever she will eat, just to get her to eat - yesterday it ws Yogo, last night it was nuggets and a milkshakefrom McDonalds, and this morning (after refusing food and drink for 12 hours :o) it was a donut with pink icing and a sausage roll. I just want her to eat although I think the Oxynorm was working against us. We'll see. She's 'due' for the Oxynorm at midday, it'll be interesting to see if she goes alright without the extra pain relief, although as I said, the side effects seemed to add to the pain so I don't think it was actually helping!

It must be a big relief to have it over and done with. I am happy to hear she did not get scared. I hope she starts feeling much better. Did they tell you about day 7-8 set back. It was true for us.We had two nights of very restless sleeping and DD not wanting to eat anything but gerkins (Last thing I thought she would want considering the acidity).But she has not had any panadol since last Wednesday night and is completelky back to normal.

I was only told to give panadol after hospital, DD1 is 3 but they said give her the 5-12year old panadol. I did alternate with nurofen though. Could you just try that instead of the Oxynorm and see if she handles it better.

Mmmm, I could go a macdonalds thickshake now. Our dash out for DD was hot chippies and a fishcake.

Maybe try Painstop if she still needs the extra relief. No point giving her something that's only making her feel worse.
Or just alternate panadol & nurofen 3 hourly, so they over lap, but there are 6 hours between doses of each.

Glad she handled the GA well. My DD didn't. She woke from surgery instantly & screaming. She remembers everything right up til she went under. Even now, 5 years later.

We were told absolutely no ibuprofen or aspirin for two weeks because of the blood thinning qualities and the risk of bleeding.

Interesting. Funny how different doctors are with what they prescribe. I was only told none 2 for two weeks prior. So could you still use panadol since it is paracetemol?

We have been alternating Oxynorm at 6am, 12MD, 6pm, 12MN with paracetamol at 3am, 9am, 3pm, 9pm. Dr said to just give the paracetamol (we use Dymadon not Panadol but it's the same thing) and she's due now for the Oxynorm and seems to be fine so far. It is interesting, the nurse at the Royal Brisbane Children's Hospital where the procedure was done made it really really explicitly clear that she was to have absolutely no ibuprofen or aspirin.

oh yes, no aspirin or ibuprofen after surgery! as you probably remember, my Jacob had quite a bad bleed 2 weeks after his surgery, can't imagine how much worse it would've been... (if using blood thinning meds!)

so glad Jaz seems to have handled it well :)

J was only on dymadon, the docs wouldn't give him anything stronger because of the apnoea and the risk of it affecting his breathing, they were even really worried about putting him under to begin with.
Can you talk to the nurse/doctors about giving Jaz something like the painstop (like clover suggested) or something that wont affect her so badly?
The eating and drinking thing is really quite beneficial to their recovery, the more "scratchy" type foods they eat the better the wounds heal (sloughs off the scabs, so they can heal up, if the scabs build up they come off in one big clump and then you get bleeding...)

I don't remember anything said to me about no nurofen! Can't actually remember if I used it or not though. Sorry!

oxynorm is the best! really helped my ds's recovery

She went fine without the Oxynorm at midday, actually seems better without it, and is now sleeping soundly. Eating and drinking have picked up, still not to the desired level but doing better. I'm a little worried she's getting (or will get) dehydrated, the more I try to push the fluids the more she resists and then gets really distressed.

Does she liked crushed ice, maybe that might tempt her more then just water?

What about icy poles & jelly? Juice, cordial, lemonade. Anything is better than nothing.
A curly straw or drinking out of a glass? Or a slushy?

With DD when she was sick a few weeks ago, it was medicinalised red cordial in a syringe/panadol dropper. They use the red because its a drink that you kind of keep wanting :lol:
They also said that the fluid gets absorbed through the mouth as well, so not to worry if its not all swallowed (she was vomitting it back up).

Out of desperation with DD2's tonsillitis I was giving her coke & milkshakes. Milk may not have helped, but I needed to convince her she could swallow & I tried everything to bribe her!

Done ice cream, jelly, custard, milk, Breaka's, milkshakes of all descriptions, juice, smoothies, yoghurt, coke, ice chips, crushed ice, ice cubes, water, curly straws, medicine syringes... The nurse said any of that counts apparently!
I also just told her she could drink her bath water if she wanted to. I'm a bit desperate LOL! It seems like her tongue and jaw hurt too, which doesn't help. They must not be very gentle on those areas.

Its probably nice & warm where you guys are, but would she have some soup? Or honey & lemon tea? Um....an orange? Watermelon? Grapes?

She will improve soon. Maybe instead of trying to encourage her, you & S have something yummy & see if she asks for it? Will she just suck on ice? Is she up for playing games? Maybe somehow turn it into a game? Play fish & every time you both have to go fish, you have to have a sip of something too?

With DD2 I waited til she was asleep & tried to drip water & cordial into her mouth. Tried to do it slowly, but her swallow reflex would take over & she'd wake in pain :( That was before she was admitted. I know its not exactly the same, but I know how worried you'd be.

I'll try the game! She's a bit cluey now thought when it comes to me trying to get her to drink PMSL

She's had about 50mL since 3pm + some bath water (lol), which was a good effort since it's only been 3 hours. That brings today's total to about 200mL since midnight... She is so bloody stubborn.