Tonsilectomy & adenoidectomy...what to Expect?

My daughter had hers removed a few days before Christmas last year at age 8. That was the only time they had available during the winter break so we went for it. She did great! The procedure was only 45 minutes. It was nerve wracking to wait until the surgeon came in and let us know she was doing fine, but it wasn't a long wait.

We had tons of soft foods on hand. They told us to try to have her eat popsicles and things that aren't milk products, but she really wanted ice cream, so she did have that now and then and was fine. I made her drink often. We kept close track of medication times and made sure we stayed on top of the schedule so she had it in her system for at least one full day. She only hit one rough patch when she was in quite a bit of pain and cried. :( It was because we didn't dose her in the middle of the night or early enough in the morning. During that time, she had trouble drinking because it hurt. Once the pain meds kicked in again, she was much better and drinking fine. At her age, I could remind her that she needed to drink often or we'd have to go to the doctor. It was nice that she understood that, vs. a very small child who would not understand why you are making them drink.

We didn't have any issues with throwing up or anything. I think she might have had to spit up the scabs in the sink (sorry!) when those fell off, but it wasn't that bad.

She was fine on Christmas, three days after surgery, and even ate a little bit of turkey and mashed potatoes. She was quiet, but had fun. We had a day-long play date on the 5th day, because we had agreed to help watch that little friend while her dad worked. They played quietly, but had a great time.

One other thing to note, her voice changed temporarily, but is now back to normal. It's common to have a slightly higher pitched voice for a while.

My daugher is 10 and we're doing it three days after Christmas. PM me if you want to commiserate! I have no idea what to expect, either, except that our doctor told us that she can eat anything she's comfortable eating. I've never heard about the vomiting outside of a reaction in the first 24 hours to the anesthesia.

My son had his tonsils and adenoids removed when he was 5 1/2. I took him grocery shopping before and he picked out pudding, ice-cream, apple sauce, jello and some other soft stuff but what he begged for was toast.
Be adamant about drinking liquids or the tonsils/scabs will get dry and then it will be painful - happened to my son when I was at work and Dad was at home on duty.
Keep up on meds - pain is easier to control from the beginning than to try to play catch up.
On about the 3rd or 4th day his breath was HORRIBLE and was for a few days. Seriously nasty. Be prepared.
My son had a slight set back on day 5 or 6 but better by 7/8 and by 10 days was back to norm.

Our son's tonsils and adenoids were removed right after he turned 4.
It was an out patient operation (they didn't keep him over night).
We were given a liquid pain medication to give him for the first 3 days - keep up with that and use it as directed.
We had no vomiting (no one told us to stay away from red/purple drinks - the pain medication was red - thrown up blood looks brown but it was not an issue) and he sipped water, flat ginger ale (you don't want bubbles), sucked on popsicles (he can have all the popsicles he wants), clear soup broth.
In a day or so he could eat jello, drink milk, eat ice cream.
Then a few more days and he was eating soft boiled or scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, yogurt, pudding.
And in about a week everything is pretty much back to normal.
Usually kids are pretty young when tonsils/adenoids are removed - it's one of those things where the younger you are, the easier your recovery is.
Adults usually have to spend a night or so in the hospital.
I don't think a 12 yr old will have as hard a time as an adult but it might be not as easy as a preschooler.
He'll be fine!

It's going to be harder on him than a little guy because he's older. I had it done when I was 17. It's really miserable, Mom. He's going to be really miserable.

They have good meds now for nausea, so I don't think you'll have much to worry about that for, unless he swallows so much blood at the beginning that he vomits it up. If that happens, it probably will only be once, and should be when he's in recovery at the hospital. I would have lots of popsicles on hand for him. It's soothing on his throat and cold, and will help him hydrate. And yes, you need to force him to drink, whether he likes it or not. With my two year old, I said to him that I would turn off the TV if he didn't eat his popsicle. That worked.

His breath will be awful - that's normal. Pain medicine is important, and I mean important. You need to "map out" the pain medication. Write down what time you are allowed to give it once you get home from the hospital. (Make sure you ask them.) Double check with them how many milligrams of acetametaphin your child is ALLOWED to take in a 24 hour period. It's really important to do this to protect his liver. Make sure that the total amount of milligrams he is taking doesn't exceed this. That's why you "map out" the medicine, so that you don't inadvertently give him too much. They might not even tell you that the medicine they give you has acetametaphin in it, so make sure you know.

What you want to do is keep pain medicine in him all the time. If you stick to the schedule you've figured out, taking the acetametaphin into account, then he won't all of a sudden be begging you for relief and feeling like he's going to hit a wall from the pain. It takes at least 20 minutes for medicine to really get in his system, so you don't want all the medicine to leave his system - that's why you stick with the schedule. If what you are giving him doesn't seem to be enough (you will know because he will be desperate for help), call the doctor and tell them. They can call in a prescription for something stronger. The reason you really want to manage his pain well (other than you are mommy and want to spare him) is that it takes longer to heal if he's in a lot of pain. And you want him to heal.

Hopefully you won't have to do as much pain management after a week. It will probably take two weeks to get him well. Meanwhile, lots of movies and lots of naps.

Good luck!
Dawn

My DD had it done when she was 6 (and tubes and turbenites) and it wasn't that bad - no vomiting at all. His throat will be sore like a bad sore throat from being sick. Yes, lots of fluid, popsicles, yogurt, ice cream, soup etc. I think you'll be surprised how quick he'll bounce back. Just stock up on popsicles and rent some movies and video games!!!!
and applesauce!!

My daughter had hers out at the age of two. Expect a sore throat for a few days to a week.
My daughter vomited right after the surgery, but that was because she came out of anesthesia crying for me. As soon as I came into recovery and took her, she stopped crying and didn't vomit again. .
At twelve, he will be more able to decide for himself what he feels like eating.
For the first few days, she preferred cold food - popsicles, ice cream. The cold numbed the pain in her throat.
She also ate Jello, pudding and lukewarm soup.
Within a week, she was back on real food.