Hi everyone. I need some help putting into perpective how to make this important decision. My 7 yo just had an appt with an ENT Friday that said to remove her tonsils. They are large, size 4 (on a 1-4 scale). They touch her uvula normally and when she is fighting something they touch each other. She snores nightly, and does a snorty kind of sound when it's the middle of the winter and there's a lot going around and when she's not actually sick but they just must be working harder. She sleeps longer in the winter, tires easily and is more irriated and has to be in the right mood for her homework otherwise it's overwhelming. She's had 3 docs say her tonsils were big and the ENT took like 1 short look at her, recognized her jaw issues and said they were very large.
The rest of the year, like right now or in the summer when there doesn't seem to be such a load on her immune system, she just sleeps with her mouth open and I hear deep, consistent breaths. She is noisy, her sister is quiet as a mouse. When she does the snorting thing I hear her pause every now and again but it's not for a really long time, like maybe 4 seconds I've counted and it's not every breath, depends on her position.
She is a daytime mouth breather however, pretty consistently and takes a long time to eat. It's almost as if she's out of breath when eating but it's fine. Iv'e asked her to put her hand over her mouth to see if she feels compelled to take it off because she can't soley breathe thru her nose and she can't do it for a long time.
But, she hasn't had recurent strep, only had one tonsil issue (either tonsillitus or strep don't know) last year. Only has had 2 "ear infections" but both were handled with just Motrin for pain relief. One was related to a pressure change from going underwater so I think this did have to do with her tonsils, I'm too scared to find out though because since then I've head her wear earplugs during her swimming lessons. Her ENT said it probably was the change in pressure with the larger tonsils they can cause, and said people also have trouble with things like flying.
So our decision seems to rest upon her dental issues pertaining to the larger tonsils and I don't know what to do. I've given birth at home to 3 of my 4 children, breastfed them, delayed vaxed and now I'm considering a surgeons knife and I just don't know what to do.
Her dentist/orthodontist and the ENT said they already see her jaw growing longer and downward from the daily and nightly pressure of her tongue on lower jaw. You can hear her if you are paying attention breathe thru her mouth all day long. So she would at least have to have braces, spacers etc but they may not actually work since the underlying problem is still there, she is heading towards having an "adenoid face", longer jaw etc and already has a small crossbite.
She DOES NOT however have health issues. In fact she is a very healthy child really. Now it could be because she hasn't been exposed and this could be very true. Next year however she is attending a school where strep is very prevalent so we may see a whole different picture.
I just don't know how to make this decision. There hasn't been a sleep study done but my intuition says that maybe she has a bit of apnea in the winter or when she's sick but otherwise just sleeps with her mouth open (causing the dental problems). Is mouth breathing and the consequent problems enough to justify surgery? General anethesia? I just don't know. I don't want her to end up with tMJ or something or gum issues but life isn't perfect right? Or am I being stupid and it's really obvious she should had the procedure?
I just don't know if taking a perfectly healthy child and subjecting her to major surgery is warranted. Most kids have a host of other issues ( if she were having to be on antibiotics a lot and large tonsils this decision would be easier for sure) but it seems she's on the less impacted end of the spectrum. I also worry if we wait, they will deteriorate and end up giving her problems later on when surgery is much harder. I've tried eliminating dairy and they are still very large. It's just how she is and they've been this way for years.
There is so much conflicting information out there I don't know what to do. What do I make this decision on? I have many docs telling me to do it. I know I can wait and see what happens next year but what if she gets sick all the time and I really wish I'd have done it? I know people who have waited and wished they'd have do it sooner. Then the sugery is more risky. Anyone else been through this? Thanks for reading so far.
The rest of the year, like right now or in the summer when there doesn't seem to be such a load on her immune system, she just sleeps with her mouth open and I hear deep, consistent breaths. She is noisy, her sister is quiet as a mouse. When she does the snorting thing I hear her pause every now and again but it's not for a really long time, like maybe 4 seconds I've counted and it's not every breath, depends on her position.
She is a daytime mouth breather however, pretty consistently and takes a long time to eat. It's almost as if she's out of breath when eating but it's fine. Iv'e asked her to put her hand over her mouth to see if she feels compelled to take it off because she can't soley breathe thru her nose and she can't do it for a long time.
But, she hasn't had recurent strep, only had one tonsil issue (either tonsillitus or strep don't know) last year. Only has had 2 "ear infections" but both were handled with just Motrin for pain relief. One was related to a pressure change from going underwater so I think this did have to do with her tonsils, I'm too scared to find out though because since then I've head her wear earplugs during her swimming lessons. Her ENT said it probably was the change in pressure with the larger tonsils they can cause, and said people also have trouble with things like flying.
So our decision seems to rest upon her dental issues pertaining to the larger tonsils and I don't know what to do. I've given birth at home to 3 of my 4 children, breastfed them, delayed vaxed and now I'm considering a surgeons knife and I just don't know what to do.
Her dentist/orthodontist and the ENT said they already see her jaw growing longer and downward from the daily and nightly pressure of her tongue on lower jaw. You can hear her if you are paying attention breathe thru her mouth all day long. So she would at least have to have braces, spacers etc but they may not actually work since the underlying problem is still there, she is heading towards having an "adenoid face", longer jaw etc and already has a small crossbite.
She DOES NOT however have health issues. In fact she is a very healthy child really. Now it could be because she hasn't been exposed and this could be very true. Next year however she is attending a school where strep is very prevalent so we may see a whole different picture.
I just don't know how to make this decision. There hasn't been a sleep study done but my intuition says that maybe she has a bit of apnea in the winter or when she's sick but otherwise just sleeps with her mouth open (causing the dental problems). Is mouth breathing and the consequent problems enough to justify surgery? General anethesia? I just don't know. I don't want her to end up with tMJ or something or gum issues but life isn't perfect right? Or am I being stupid and it's really obvious she should had the procedure?
I just don't know if taking a perfectly healthy child and subjecting her to major surgery is warranted. Most kids have a host of other issues ( if she were having to be on antibiotics a lot and large tonsils this decision would be easier for sure) but it seems she's on the less impacted end of the spectrum. I also worry if we wait, they will deteriorate and end up giving her problems later on when surgery is much harder. I've tried eliminating dairy and they are still very large. It's just how she is and they've been this way for years.
There is so much conflicting information out there I don't know what to do. What do I make this decision on? I have many docs telling me to do it. I know I can wait and see what happens next year but what if she gets sick all the time and I really wish I'd have done it? I know people who have waited and wished they'd have do it sooner. Then the sugery is more risky. Anyone else been through this? Thanks for reading so far.
) when I asked her if she was tired ever at school and she said all the time, I asked her just recently or the whole year she said the whole year and that she gets headaches at school.
Friday afternoon and evening went well but things started to go downhill Saturday. By Sunday he ended up being admitted to the hospital (which we had planned for and figured would happen- he stopped drinking so got dehydrated and was refusing to take his pain meds). He spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the hospital and went home Tuesday afternoon doing so much better. We switched to tylenol suppositories for pain relief and by Sunday he was doing wonderful, no more pain meds, eating and drinking, etc.
