Going into this surgery, I thought I was prepared for everything. I quickly realized, you don't know how things are going to go until you are in it. I am sure glad this is almost over. It isn't easy. My 6 year old daughter kept getting infections every 2 months. They would strep test her, negative, mono test her, negative again. I finally told the drs that there has to be something more going on. We took her to an ENT that my husband has used and we trusted. Sure enough, stage 4 kissing tonsillitis, she had to have them removed or it would keep getting worse. We thought we had it all planned and set. Before surgery, things got worse. She developed asthma from dripping adenoids. Had the worst cough ever, adenoids again. We knew the surgery was the right move.

 I had the fridge and pantry stocked, ice packs, humidifier, everything but I was extremely scared for my little one to go through this. This is our story, please don't get scared, I know not all cases go this way, but ours did. Sorry this is long. 

 

  • M Day 1 surgery day, rough going into surgery so they had to give her more medicine during surgery to keep her calm. She woke up well, just sleepy. After getting home from surgery she didn't sleep, just hung out and watched movies. No pain but kept on Tylenol and Motrin rotation every 3 hrs as dr suggested. 
  • T Day 2 tired, Tylenol and Motrin rotation every 3 hrs, lots of icing. Able to eat ice cream, jello and drink. 
  • W Day 3 feeling pretty good after surgery, still on Tylenol and Motrin rotation.
  • Th Day 4 she ate over cooked Mac n cheese per drs notes and soup broth all room temp, apple sauce, etc. She woke up at 11pm vomiting blood for a solid 5 mins. Took an ambulance to the closest er (midnight/Friday morning), stayed in er for observation for 7 hrs (Friday morning). Luckily bleeding stopped on its own and they didn't have to do any work on her. 
  • F Day 5 saw ENT after er visit, only on Tylenol every 6 hrs, start pain meds at night, back on just liquid diet, throat pain 
  • Sa Day 6 throat pain still Tylenol during the day and pain meds at night. 
  • Su Day 7 ear pain, hard to get liquid in her
  • M Day 8 ear and jaw pain, struggle with liquids, lots of icing
  • T Day 9 saw ENT, ear pain  is related to adenoids being removed (normal, no infection).  Stopped pain meds at night and only on Tylenol every 4 hrs. Back on track for recovery. Can have more than post surgery liquids, back to soft foods (eggs, Mac n cheese, baby food)
  • W Day 10 ear pain, jaw and throat pain but drinking liquids. Still on Tylenol. Woke up from sleep in pain.
  • Th Day 11 didn't eat anything and only had water and ice chips. Everything hurt. Very stressful day. Still on Tylenol.  Woke up from sleep in pain. 
  • F Day 12 drinking other than water again. Spirits higher, not as much pain but still some when she tries to even eat apple sauce. Still on Tylenol. Sleep is better.
  • Sa Day 13 eating eggs, Mac n cheese and baby food again. Still on Tylenol. 
  • Su day 14 no Tylenol during the night, only during the day. Slept all night. 
  • M day 15 no Tylenol all day till bedtime. Activity is higher but still low energy. 
  • T day 16 starting to feel like herself. No medicine at all. 
  • W day 17 nothing new
  • Th Day 18 contacted drs office, needs to stay on soft food and liquid diet till we see dr for post op appointment (4 week mark from surgery)
  • F day 19 doing great, tired of food options, enough energy to play with her brother and some outside. Not 100% back to energy level. She doesn't even feel like she had her tonsils removed. Bonus. 

 

Things I would suggest 

  • Don't be afraid to call your dr. 
  • You will know when they are having any bleeding. 
  • We used a lot of anti nausea rx due to the bleeding problem
  • Every day is going to be something different
  • Ice packs, humidifiers, movies, projects for entertainment, lots of Tylenol, and a ton of patience! 
  • Take a deep breath

 

Best of luck to all parents going through this.