tonsillectomies for kids...

[CTyankee]

My 17 year old granddaughter is having a tonsillectomy Wednesday, after repeated infections that made her too sick to eat this winter and causing weight loss in an other wise healthy active kid. I am amazed they didn't do this sooner.

When I was a (much younger than 17) kid back in the late 40s children had the surgery pro forma. I had never experienced tonsillitis but was sent in to have both tonsils and adenoids removed.

Why was that? My guess is that doctors had long feared infections in the head because of proximity to the brain and because antibiotics were relatively new. Perhaps doctors feared that more than the risk of surgery. I "think" I was about 5 or 6 when I had mine out...I remember that the worst part was the ether mask being put on my face. Funny, I don't recall the painful sore throat at all. Now my granddaughter is all scared about how much pain there will be...

Anybody have info about tonsillectomies then and now?

[monmouth3]

1. Tell her post-op she will have to eat ice-cream. True, I ate it everytime they brought it in...LOL.

[CTyankee]

2. Heh, I remember being told that...at 5 or 6 that has more appeal than at 17 but still...

[cbayer]

3. They were done much more frequently in the past, and many were probably unnecessary.

There is not really good evidence that they are that effective and they are not without some risk.

The clinical guidelines are much clearer now. IMHO, they should never be done prophylactically but only when there is a clear indication.

[CTyankee]

5. but don't you think our advances with antibiotics have changed our thinking here?

I think I can understand why they felt this way back in the 40s when antibiotics were so new. An infection anywhere would be feared, but nearer to the brain would be an alarming thought. We don't have such concerns nearly as much today.

My kids did not have tonsillectomies and were healthy kids. But they were born in the late 60s so they benefited from the time that antibiotics were much more developed.

[cbayer]

10. Could be a factor, but sore throats are often caused by viruses and antibiotics aren't

an issue.

Then again, strep throat could have been a more serious risk in the past, and in those cases antibiotics definitely have a role.

Best of luck to your granddaughter. I hope it helps her.

[NV Whino]

4. I had mine out at 16

Anesthesia being different than it is today, I didn't want to come out. I enjoyed it there in La La Land. I did finally come out and enjoyed several weeks of ice cream.

[CTyankee]

7. How was anesthesia different then?

To my way of thinking, you're either out or you're not...what is different?

[NV Whino]

13. different type

Sodium pentathol, if I remember correctly. Something different today, which makes it easier and faster to recover.

[LiberalEsto]

14. When my tonsils were removed in 1960

they clapped a big smelly rubber mask over your mouth and nose. It was terrifying. And the ether often made you sick to your stomach afterward.

Now they put a plain IV drip into your arm and then add some kind of knockout stuff to it. And the thing they put on your face just covers your nose, and it's all done gently. And when you wake up, you're NOT reeking of ether, which smells awful.

[CTyankee]

17. Yeah, I had general when I had hernia repair in December. I really hate general but my

anesthesiologist was such a lovely guy (from Ireland, great accent!) that my fear was alleviated somewhat. I still hated to be put out (fearing I wouldn't wake up), but I trusted this guy.

I was out before they put anything over my nose, as I recall...

[southernyankeebelle]

6. My son finally has his taken out at 14 yrs old after several sore throats. He had it done

at Walter Reed Army Hospital in DC. That was an experience. When I took him home is was still sick and after the week end I took him to the ER in the morning at Ft Meade in Maryland. What a run around. They ended up sending me to the Ped's clinic and it was 7:30 in the morning. I walked in there and they told me to take him to the ER and I told them they said to bring him to their clinic. I raised my voice and told him he had gotten out of the Hospital last friday and he had eaten anything and I was worried. Well the head doctor could hear me because we were the only ones in the clinic at that time. He took us in his office. It ended up my son had strep throat that he got while in the hospital. After the doctor gave him a shot and medication and he turned out ok. But to be honest he still gets sore throats. They say it's a little hard of older kids. Wish you luck.

[CTyankee]

8. Oh, ugh! What a terrible story! I feel for you and your son...

I hope my granddaughter can get better. This, and anxiety about missing so much school, is getting her down big time...

[southernyankeebelle]

12. Well I know how you feel. My son went to parent/teacher conference on Thursday.

My granddaughter has been sick allot but her mother also wouldn't get her butt out of bed to take her and her brother to school. The bus comes way early in the morning like around 6:30. That is alittle early. But we live next door and I have told her over and over we would take them if she couldn't. Well now between her missing because of her being sick and her missing days she is going to have to repeat the year of 1st grade. My son was really upset. Last year it wasn't a problem because he took them before he went to work. Now he has moved him in his company and he has to be to work earlier. So he misses taking the kids.

[Warpy]

9. They won't do them now unless there's little choice

and weight loss in an otherwise healthy teenager qualifies.

They found out over the years that tonsils were an important part of the immune system.

I kept mine although I had an average of three serious infections in them a year until I was about 30. Sore throats since then have been relatively mild (knocks on wooden head).

I kept mine because my mother smelled a moneymaking scam for pediatricians (it was) and because she didn't think they'd be there unless they had a purpose (they did).

[CTyankee]

16. Yeah, she lost 20 pounds in the last couple of months (altho part of it is her picky eating)

but that combined with the repeated infections in such a short time frame tell us something...part of her eating problem is that she is in boarding school and the food is unappealing. Her pediatrician says she has a nutritionist and a therapist on staff for this "profile' of patient (very common on upper middle class kids). But she does not have a classic "eating disorder." She eats high caloric "junk food" and does not purge...

[mercuryblues]

11. I had mine out when I was 15

for the same reasons. Part of the reason for the wait is that I kept getting tonsillitis. Finally I was put on antibiotics until surgery.

Yeah it hurts.I don't remember it hurting anymore than the tonsillitis. Pain meds have gotten much better. Have her focus on what it will be like after the surgery...no more being sick.

I actually felt so good that less than a week later I was eating pepperoni pizza. That kinda made the DR mad and then he laughed. I was told to expect to be out of school for at least a month, I went back a week later.

I am not saying it will be the same for your grandaughter. No 2 people handle medical issues the same. I am hoping she does though.

[Downwinder]

15. Get her ice cream.

All I can remember.

[Siwsan]

18. I avoided the whole tonsil removal situation - Mine disappeared, on their own

Years ago, during a physical, my doctor asked me how old I was when my tonsils were removed. I said they weren't. He replied, 'Well, you don't have any.' Apparently, if you were lucky enough to not suffer a lot of throat infections, they can atrophy as you get older. My siblings all had their tonsils removed so I doubt it's a family trait.

Funny thing - I do remember getting sore throats as a child, and some really bad, right up until a few years ago. Guess that's just one of my little quirks.

[Gman]

19. I remember the smell of the ether

I was 7.

[CTyankee]

20. we must be in the same age group. That was my big memory so when my dtr said how bad the

post surgical pain was I was amazed. My memory was the ether. Of course, it had such a strong smell you couldn't avoid it. And that mask thing was pretty scary for a little kid. but I didn't remember the sore throat so much...

[Celebration]

21. my dad was an ENT doctor way back when

Even then he avoided taking tonsils out unless needed. Tonsils are kind of like the appendix. You can do without them, but they do have a purpose in the immune system.

A lot of doctors would have taken out my tonsils, because they are large. Yet I rarely get strep throat. But some doctors can't believe I still have my tonsils.

One of the contestants on American Idol this year had nerve damage from tonsil removal. While he sings wonderfully well, his voice is very odd, to say the least.

One of my daughters had her tonsils out. She refused to drink anything afterwards and we had to take her back to the ER to get rehydrated. Her tonsils were really bad and huge. Her voice changed afterwards, and she is doing some kind of compensating while talking (as told to her by a voice coach). She also has this weird habit where she pops her throat. But she is overall healthy. But what ended up happening with her was instead of getting constant throat infections she got constant sinus infections. But with lots of healthy habits she is able to avoid that now.