My Experience

My four-year-old son had recurrent infections, snoring at night, lack of sleep and his tonsils were way too big. He had three sets of ear tubes: as soon as the tubes fell out he began to get infections again. The doctor recommended a tonsillectomy. He would also put in another set of ear tubes.

I talked with my son ahead of time about what would happen on the day of the surgery. It seemed to comfort my son to know the name of the doctor as well. I had a surgery previously with the same doctor, which also seemed to ease his concerns. Of course, I did not go into too much detail, but told him that the doctor that helped fix mommy’s nose would help fix his throat and ears. My son could not eat or drink anything after midnight prior to the day of the surgery.

We arrived at the hospital around 8 am for a 10 am surgery. We sat in the waiting area briefly and then were escorted back to the pre-op area. There was a toy room for my son. He was a bit nervous and clingy. The nurses were amazing! He was given a backpack that he promptly placed his trains in and everyone that came to see him asked him about his trains. I was asked who would go in with my son as he went under and I let him choose. I was the lucky one. I was a bit nervous as in the past he had tubes in and his adenoids out and was very upset going under. I made sure I let the nursing staff know. When it came time to wheel him in, he was given a choice of how he would ride in. He picked a wagon and the nurses pulled him in. He looked like a king. I placed him on the operating table and the nurse began telling him a train story as he drifted off to sleep. Oh, the anesthesia was flavored for him as well.

I was very nervous about what would happen after the procedure. In the past he had actually ripped the IV out of his arm and was hysterical. I let the nursing staff know ahead of time. I asked to be brought in immediately following surgery and I was. My son looked up and then went back to sleep. He slept peacefully for about two hours. Upon waking he had a popsicle and asked to go home. He seemed great.

That night, though, he would wake up screaming and every time I tried to give him his Tylenol with codeine, he would scream more. He woke about every hour at night for a week. He would not eat, and we could barely get him to drink. Small sips were all we could get into him. His breath was horrendous! On day six we called his ENT to question his issues with recovery. He suggested we bring him to the ER. We did and were unfortunately met with a “there is nothing more we can do without an IV” answer. We were able to get him to take a few popsicles there and went home.

Pudding was his new diet after day six. I was shocked at how long it was taking him to recover as one of my other children was able to eat the same night she had her tonsillectomy. Fevers lasted over a week. He had really bad headaches at night as well. I could not understand a word he said when he talked. He had a new voice as well. He would get wiped out after about 10 minutes of “playing”.

On day 13 he began eating soft foods. It is now day 17 and he is still not eating well, but he is feeling so much better. He briefly wakes up at night, but I am hoping this will end soon. He has this cute new voice and is no longer snoring at night. While this was difficult and much harder than I ever expected, he is like a new child due to his sleeping at night. It is wonderful! He had great doctors and nurses. His doctor was on vacation shortly after the procedure, but the covering doctor kept in close contact with us, and I was able to email his doctor who responded as soon as he was back from vacation to reassure me my son would be fine.