My Experience

My 10-year old son was always sick. He was constantly congested, had sore throats and was generally miserable. From early fall until early summer he was sick all the time with maybe a few days off in-between feeling “OK.” His quality of life was very diminished due to constantly being tired and rundown from being sick. The doctor recommended having his tonsils and adenoids removed.

The first appointment that we had with the ENT doctor was very informational for us. It was a time to gather information and decide whether or not to put our son through the surgery. We wanted to be sure that he would benefit from it before we made the decision to move forward. This is not something to take lightly. Our son would be under general anesthesia and the recovery can be uncomfortable. The doctor was extremely generous with his time. He went through exactly what would happen. He spoke directly to our son, which meant a lot to us as parents. He knew that our son was fully capable of understanding what was going to happen and respected him enough to treat HIM as the patient — not us!

The doctor asked our son questions on how he felt and what was going on with him. After the initial meeting we were still a bit conflicted as to whether or not to move forward with the surgery. We researched more on the procedure and the outcomes and talked to other parents and children who had gone through it already. Once I had my concerns in order, I sent the doctor an e-mail of a list of questions; he promptly and concisely responded to these. The bottom-line was that he felt that my son would absolutely benefit by having the surgery and that he would feel much better once it had taken place. When asked, he said that he would recommend it for a family member that had the same symptoms as my son. This gave me great comfort, so we moved forward with the procedure.

The preparation for the surgery was very minor. He was not allowed to have vitamins or any ibuprofen for two weeks prior to his surgery. He was not allowed to have anything to eat or drink after midnight the night before the surgery.

On the day of the surgery we arrived at the hospital about an hour before the scheduled procedure. My son dressed in a hospital gown and was prepped with an IV. The nurses and anesthesiologists were amazing. They answered all our questions and never left us alone one minute. They were all very kind and helpful. Everything ran like clockwork. There were no delays. Our doctor came to see us prior to the surgery to make sure that we didn’t have any further questions and to go over everything again. This really put my son at ease to see his face.

We were allowed to walk with the doctor right up to the operating room doors. The procedure was about 40 minutes. Our doctor came right out and let us know that everything had gone very well and that our son had been great. He said that the tonsils were very junky looking and it had been the right decision to take them out. The adenoids were not enormous but enlarged and they were out as well.

We were able to see our son right away, which was such a comfort. He was talking immediately and said he was not in pain. He had to remain in recovery for a minimum of two hours. He did great. He had very little discomfort. There was a nurse with us much of the time checking on him and letting us know what to expect. Both our doctor and the anesthesiologists checked on him as well. We left the hospital with clear instructions on what to do, what to expect, and when and where to call for more information if necessary.

My son was quite sore for a good five days. He was not completely himself for about two weeks. Some of this was due to being on antibiotics for 10 days as I think they always run one down. Tylenol helped him with his sore throat. He had very strict food requirements: Nothing rough or harsh. Pudding, soup, rice, pasta, and popsicles were his staples. He had lots to drink all the time! He had no activity. No jumping around or sports of any kind. My son was up and about the house — never in bed — but had very little energy or motivation to do much. We played lots of games and watched lots of movies!