I feel like I'm losing my ability to draw the line between my belief that the body can heal just fine on it's own and when I need a medical professional's opinion and I need some perspective.
My 7 yo dd has large tonsils to begin with. The fp has said to send her to an ENT to get an opinion on having her tonsils removed but so far we haven't gone because the possibility of going into a hospital and having surgery would cause ALOT of trauma for her since she has harsh memories of a 3 day hospital stay when she had a UTI. This along with the fact she has no other problems with them, they make her snore and that is it. They are very large but she doesn't have reccurent strep or throat infections. She is a very healthy child. One instance last year when it was suspected strep but that is it. She had a steroid shot to reduce them as they were touching and making us all nervous, then another steroid shot later in the winter for them touching again. That is it though,no sleep apnea, no daytime tiredness, no trouble swallowing, no recurrent ear infections, she is fine and healthy. Seems they are doing their job and a couple times a winter when she is fighting something they enlarge and touch and she snores more. I am thinking of taking her to a recommended ENT in the spring to make sure I've covered all my bases but from what I have researched I think we'll come out of there with a decision being left up to us and not a nesessity.
All that to say, last week she had her second ear infection of her life, her first being in Kindergarten and lasted 2 days and went away with no antibiotics. This one was a bit more typical, exaserbated by a swimming lesson going underwater and took her out of school for all week but again, no antibiotics, we did homeopathy and pain relief and it went away.
But towards the end of the week when her ear was feeling better, her tonsils flared up after being her "normal" large during her ear infection. They are still that way, now we are doing more homeopathy for her tonsils but it's not working. She is fine other than these large tonsils, they are touching and she has a muffled sound to her voice but she has always sounded like that. For all I know she has always been this way and this is her normal but I'm worried. She doesn't have the sniffles, no sore throat, is happy and playing and no fever. But I don't know if I should take a perfectly healthy child into a nasty docs office to have them look at her, only to be once again freaked by her tonsil size and then say she needs a shot of steroids. I feel like I should have them look at her, make sure the fluid is ok in her ears as she has another swim lesson on Saturday and I don't want to start this whole thing over again.
What should I do? Like I said, this may be her normal and I've never checked as much as I have now. but them touching does bother me, what if they increase if she catches the inevitable whatever is floating around even more? What is she is like this always, and I go in and give her yet another steroid shot that reduces her immune system this time of year? I'm just torn as if I'm right not going in or being stupid? I feel like i'm losing my compas on how to judge this kind of thing as ALL my friends are the kind that run to the doc if their kid has a sniffle. Is this just her tonsi's doing their job? Fighting whatever off or what?
My 7 yo dd has large tonsils to begin with. The fp has said to send her to an ENT to get an opinion on having her tonsils removed but so far we haven't gone because the possibility of going into a hospital and having surgery would cause ALOT of trauma for her since she has harsh memories of a 3 day hospital stay when she had a UTI. This along with the fact she has no other problems with them, they make her snore and that is it. They are very large but she doesn't have reccurent strep or throat infections. She is a very healthy child. One instance last year when it was suspected strep but that is it. She had a steroid shot to reduce them as they were touching and making us all nervous, then another steroid shot later in the winter for them touching again. That is it though,no sleep apnea, no daytime tiredness, no trouble swallowing, no recurrent ear infections, she is fine and healthy. Seems they are doing their job and a couple times a winter when she is fighting something they enlarge and touch and she snores more. I am thinking of taking her to a recommended ENT in the spring to make sure I've covered all my bases but from what I have researched I think we'll come out of there with a decision being left up to us and not a nesessity.
All that to say, last week she had her second ear infection of her life, her first being in Kindergarten and lasted 2 days and went away with no antibiotics. This one was a bit more typical, exaserbated by a swimming lesson going underwater and took her out of school for all week but again, no antibiotics, we did homeopathy and pain relief and it went away.
But towards the end of the week when her ear was feeling better, her tonsils flared up after being her "normal" large during her ear infection. They are still that way, now we are doing more homeopathy for her tonsils but it's not working. She is fine other than these large tonsils, they are touching and she has a muffled sound to her voice but she has always sounded like that. For all I know she has always been this way and this is her normal but I'm worried. She doesn't have the sniffles, no sore throat, is happy and playing and no fever. But I don't know if I should take a perfectly healthy child into a nasty docs office to have them look at her, only to be once again freaked by her tonsil size and then say she needs a shot of steroids. I feel like I should have them look at her, make sure the fluid is ok in her ears as she has another swim lesson on Saturday and I don't want to start this whole thing over again.
What should I do? Like I said, this may be her normal and I've never checked as much as I have now. but them touching does bother me, what if they increase if she catches the inevitable whatever is floating around even more? What is she is like this always, and I go in and give her yet another steroid shot that reduces her immune system this time of year? I'm just torn as if I'm right not going in or being stupid? I feel like i'm losing my compas on how to judge this kind of thing as ALL my friends are the kind that run to the doc if their kid has a sniffle. Is this just her tonsi's doing their job? Fighting whatever off or what?
So I opted for the shot because it was immediate, although not needed but if one shot can reduce them then great but I'd rather not put her on prednisone and mess with her immune system for a week unless I really have to.
