My daughter Sasha finally had her enourmous tonsils removed yesterday, and she handled it like a champ. She is the type of girl that will have a panic attack when she scrapes her knee (we have to force her down just to wash the cut), so I was a bit worried that she would bite and scratch her way out of the hospital before surgery.
We took a tour of the hospital the night before the surgery, and that really helped her relax. I waited until the last minute out of laziness, but scheduling the tour on the eve of the surgery turned out to be extremely helpful. She had a chance to see the place, to play with the equipment, to pick out her flavor of sleepy gas (grape), and to get comfortable with the surroundings. It also helped that the nursing staff was extremely friendly and helpful.
After the tour to the hospital, she read Franklin Goes To The Hospital, a library book we picked out based on good Amazon reviews. I recommend it.
Sasha was all smiles and happiness the morning of the surgery. The guilt of deceiving her was starting to catch up to me. I felt like I was betraying her by not warning of the pain she would feel upon waking up. Watching her drift off to sleep under anaesthesia was really hard for me and my wife to handle… seeing her so vulnerable and innocent with the knowledge that 20 minutes later she would be in agony.
Happy Sasha
They brought us back to see her and it was worse than I imagined. She was shaking and convulsing in the nurse’s arms, choking on her sobs, grabbing at her throat, and worst of all, her face looked swollen and red, far from the peaceful dreamer I had left moments ago. It ripped our hearts out.
Miserable Sasha
It wasn’t long before she was in her Mommy’s arms falling back asleep (see pic above). When she woke, she ate an entire popsicle. After a while, we went home, and she had another popsicle and a banana. For lunch, she ate a burrito and another popsicle. She was whiny and pitiful all day, but better than we had feared. Our other daughter had a runny-nosed cold, though, so we split them up at bedtime and let Sasha sleep with us.
It was a long night. The surgery meds were starting to wear off and Sasha was becoming aware of the pain again. She woke up this morning still miserable, and it’s been a struggle all day to get her to stay hydrated and medicated. Her throat is locked up, and the only thing that motivates her is being able to watch a Barbie DVD (good thing TV’s side-effects are neutral).
On the skeptic front, and you know I have to be skeptical of something, one of the doctor’s orders, via the nurse, was that she should avoid milk products because they will encourage the production of mucus. This is not true, and I questioned the nurse about it. She said, “Well, those are the instructions that the doctor would like me to give.”
This surgeon was very arrogant during my consultations with him, so I was happy when the nurse rolled her eyes a bit after that last quote – a minor victory for the skeptic dad.
blotzphoto
Chris
littlez2008
Ticktock
I too just had my tonsils out, as an adult. It’s much worse, with about a two week recovery period and no Barbie DVDs. I was also told about the milk thing and when I asked if soy milk was taboo the reply was “it’s dairy”. I just shook my head and nodded, it was easier than having to explain where soy beans come from.
I hope that your little one is feeling better soon. I know that I can breathe so much better now.
By: eth on March 6, 2009
at 4:52 pm
I had my tonsils out a few years back. I’m almost 28 now. It sucked. My condolences to your daughter and I hope she recovers quickly!
By: Thomas J. Brown on March 6, 2009
at 5:39 pm
First off, best to Sasha.
I had my tonsils out at the age of 21 (XY years ago). I do not recall much postoperative pain, but then again, I was in hospital for 18 hours before the surgery and I think 24 hours afterwards…the olden days.
What I do remember is mostly eating frozen/slushy things for the next 3-4 days, gradually working up to room-temperature soupy things.
By: Liz Ditz on March 8, 2009
at 6:30 am
Oh, I am so sorry.
When I was a kid I had my tonsils taken out. I remember the crib-like bed, the presents I for going into the hospital, watching the pipes on the ceiling as I was wheeled down the hallway, and how sore my throat was after the surgery.
I remember they were instructed to give us a favorite drink. At that time mine was grape juice, and for some reason it just made it hurt even more (I think I stopped drinking grape juice after that).
(oh, and Liz would appreciate this… this was when my dad was in Vietnam and we were living in Pacific Grove… my tonsils were removed in the Ft. Ord Army hospital!)
Not to scare you, but I started to bleed a couple of days after being discharged. My mother drove me back to the hospital and the emergency room tech tried to treat me for a nosebleed (remember this was an Army hospital in the early 1960s and the young man was just glad he was not in Vietnam). Since my mother had almost died from bleeding after a tonsillectomy when she was a child — she made sure to let him know that was not the case (plus my mother was not generally a calm person, even when her husband was not in a war zone!)… let me just say, that the poor young medical technician got off lightly if there were no permanent physical scars (though probably wishing he was in Vietnam!).
Of course, for me, on the six year old kid point of view… I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t get presents for ending up in the hospital again! Especially since I was much sicker the second time around!
I hope all goes well for your little girl (though watch for any nose bleeds).
By: Chris on March 9, 2009
at 11:34 pm
[...] & Obesity? Oh great! Now I have to worry about my daughter becoming obese. Dutch scientists looked at the data of nearly 4000 kids from a previous cohort [...]
By: Tonsillectomy & Obesity? « SCIENCE-BASED PARENTING on April 1, 2009
at 8:45 am
I noticed the tonsillectomy and obesity headline above. Has anyone had their children’s tonsils out and found them to have gained a considerable amount of weight within the first 12 months? And for that matter has anyone’s child not gained weight within the first 12 months of having them out?
By: jmaree on April 21, 2009
at 8:57 pm
My daughter immediately picked up on her weight after her tonsillectomy at 5 yrs. old. I attributed it to the fact that her tonsils were so enlarged that she wasn’t eating well before having the surgery. She has had weight problems all her life. Oh the guilt parenthood carries, right?
By: Bogy70 on February 4, 2011
at 10:14 pm
I am writing a paper for nursing school encouraging more hospitals to allow pre-surgery tours for children who have a scheduled procedure. I would like to use your story in my paper to support the idea. If you wouldn’t mind letting me know how old Sasha was and which hospital you went to.
Thanks
Jill
By: Jill Garnet on March 21, 2011
at 4:20 pm