Has anyone experienced any problems after having their child's tonsils taken out?

Question

My daughter had a tonsillectomy & adenoidectomy this past Wed and on Thurs she started to hemmorhage massively. I had to rush her to the hospital where they had to do more surgery to stop the bleeding and she had lost so much blood that she required a blood transfusion. She is home now and is not doing much better, but IS NOT bleeding of course. I was just wondering if any other parents had been through this and how the rest of things went during the recovery period for them? She is 8 years old by the way. Thanks for any answers regarding this very scary ordeal.

Answer 1

Your daughters experience is not a typical one. Hemorrhaging can occur with ANY type of surgery, but is never the norm. She definitely is not going to feel well. She will experience unusual fatigue for several days, and will lose some weight (a common experience after tonsillectomy). Her breath will smell bad for a week or two following her surgery. This is due to the wounds and healing in her throat where the tonsills and adenoids were removed. Cool liquids will help soothe her throat. Give her pain medication ON TIME whether she is complaining of pain or not. It is always easier to control pain, than try to overcome it once it is a problem. Undoubtedly this was a frightening experience for both of you! Keep a close eye on her and do not hesitate to call your doctor for any questions or concerns.

Answer 2

I had a tonsellictomy on January 6. It was awful. I was in the worst pain, the pain meds did nothing, and I vomited throughout the whole thing. I had to be closely monitored by my ENT, but I was allright. If she begins vomiting, I highly suggest that you take her back to the hospital so they can give her some pain meds. This makes the pain like 3 times as bad. I'm serious. They will be able to give her medicine to calm her stomach, as well as control her pain better. I'm 18 by the way, so that makes it worse. The older you are, the harder it is to get over a tonsellictomy. I did not hemmorage like your daughter did. I reccommend that you give her showers every 3 days or so. The showers made me feel really bad. Give her cool liquids, and try the Campbells Soup at hands when she feels ready for solids. Dhe will probably loose some weight. I lost 15 pounds. She will probably lose more weight than most because of the transfusion. I wish you the best. She should be better in a week or two, thats how it was for me. Good Luck!!

Answer 3

I had my tonsils and adenoids taken out at the age of three. While the tonsil-related part of the surgery went on without a hitch, the very arrogant doctor who operated on my adenoids as well botched the operation and my left ear got infected. Nobody really noticed the infection until I was back at home 3 days after the operation. When I wouldn't stop crying (bawling, really) due to the pain caused by the ear infection, my mother took me to the ER and repeatedly called the doctor who had operated me to tell him what was going on. When he finally showed up at the ER, nearly 2 hours after my mother first called him, the very arrogant doctor said my mother was just being "paranoid" (hard to believe, since she actually went through 3 years of Med School before switching to Chem Engineering - so she knew that her concerns were genuine), and ordered a nurse to give me some cheap pain-killers just to shut my mom up.
Two days later, when the crying and pain wouldn't cease and the area around my ear seemed to get inflammated and red, my mother took me to another doctor (a friend of my Grandfather, who's a dermatologist), who did the appropiate examination and concluded that I had a severe ear infection and had to go into the OR immediately if he was to save whatever was left of my inner ear.
For some reason that is yet not clear to me, the first doctor was notified of what was occurring and the guy insisted that he perform the second surgery as well.
The bottom line is that the doctor messed up yet again (though he still refuses, even to this day, nearly 18 years later, to admit it) and I actually only have about 20% hearing capacity in my left ear. Fortunately, my other ear works fully and so do all my other senses :-).
Moral to this story? Watch out, and don't take anything for granted. If you're not satisfied with what the operating doctor says or does, take her to another doctor for a second opinion.
Your child's health is your number one concern right now and you have every right to demand as much attention and care from the doctors as you wish to.

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BTW, I'm not a doctor, or any healthcare professional for that matter, but could it have been that your daughter's hemorrage might have been caused by a blood clot? Some people are genetically pre-disposed for blood clots and this frequently presents a problem in post-surgery recovery (I learned this the hard way with my mother when she had a rather large hemorrage due to a clot just days after she had a cancerous tumor removed from her throat).

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Also, my sister, who's 7 years younger than I, also had her tonsils removed at the age of 6. Her operation, on the other hand, went off without a single hitch.

Answer 4

That does sound like a horrendous scare for you! My twin girls had tonsillectomies & adenoidectomies on the same day about a month ago, so I know a little of what you went through. The doctor warned us that there could be some bleeding, but we didn't have any of that, so I feel fortunate. They did complain about their throats for a solid two weeks .. long after the pain meds ran out. And one of them continued to be swollen and sounded very nasal for another two weeks. Other than that, we had a fairly good experience.

I hope your daughter is feeling better soon!

Answer 5

i'm specific there are numerous the rationalization why somebody snores yet tonsils / adenoids may well be a reason. My daughters noisily snoring became undesirable from the time she became around one million till she became 3. She additionally had numerous circumstances of strep throat between that element and then it purely would not clean up. the tip became, her tonsiles have been making her very unwell so as they had to return out. They took those and her adenoids out and hasn't snored on account that then and it particularly is been 9 years.

Answer 6

My daughter was 7 when she had her tonsils and adenoids removed. Her biggest problem was vomiting after the surgery. I remember the doctor saying that popsicles are better than ice cream after a tonsillectomy. Just keep watching her closely like you are.

Answer 7

From what I remember, I didn't have any of these types of problems. That must have been scary for the both of you! Just keep an eye on her (like you'd be able to sleep now) and keep her comfortable. I can imagine it would take longer to recover after having gone through the second ordeal.

Answer 8

My child did not have that problem.Did the doctor tell you why? I know that i suppose be answer your question but that real bad and i hope that she get well and do OK. Because that will make her be afraid to go to a Dr. for anything if she was in any type of pain.Good luck and i hope she get well OK.

Answer 9

The child might complain about soreness but thats normal... just keep looking and if you experience any unnormal actions or stuff like that, take her to the doctor. My cousin had his... and the doctor just said cold substance helps the soreness. Ice cream!

Answer 10

my son is 7years old and he just had his surgery last tuesday a week tommarow
he is doing perficly fine now
sorry that your child had to go through this i hope she gets better soon