What to expect after Tonsillectomy???

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Robs a

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My 15 year old son is scheduled for a tonsillectomy tomorrow. I am feeling very anxious about the recover. doctor predicts a longer than usual recovery time of about 10 days due to Crohn's. Feel so sorry for my son, he has had 5 infusions of Revellex, which have now been brought closer together to every 6 weeks. He has such a great, positive attitude but somehow his spirit is being tested by the hurdles he keeps facing. Anybody able to advise on the tonsillectomy?
 
My daughter had her tonsils out when she was 4, before her diagnosis but I believe she has had UC since she was a baby. She recovered fairly easily. She ate a lot of popsicles, pudding, scrambelled eggs, canned pasta, mashed potatoes etc. One thing her dr told us, was to give tylenol 15 min BEFORE the four hours was up. They also told me to piggy back with Ibuprophen. But ibuprophen should not be taken by anyone with IBD. Just stay on top of the pain meds and offer cold or room temp soft foods. Good luck!
 
Hi, just wanted to wish your son good luck for the op. My son has had a couple of operations over the last few years and I have to say I have not really noticed any difference in the length of recovery to "normal". I agree - lots of fluids is great. Ice cubes to suck will help and ice cream if he is allowed it. Soft foods for a few days so it doesn't scratch the throat and I wouldn't give anything too hot.
 
Hey there . I hope everything goes smoothly for your son and he has an easy recovery.

The advice may be different depending on your consultant, but some doctors recommend getting them to eat as normally as possible. Even though it is tempting to give them soft, soothing food, eating things like toast help to keep the area clean and gets rid of any debris. Make sure food and drink isn't too hot and get him drinking lots, if he will tolerate it try to get him to gargle an antiseptic mouth wash to reduce the risks of bacteria.
 
my son also having his tonsils out soon.
we were told specifically to avoid hard food- no chips, pretzel's, crackers etc.. since they can cause the area to bleed.
We were told to give lots of soft foods for a few days and then normal food after two weeks.

good luck
 
Post Operative Care Instructions Following Tonsillectomy
The following instructions will help you know what to expect in the days following surgery. Do not, however, hesitate to call if you have any questions or concerns.

Physical Activities
After this surgery, children should rest but may play inside after one or two days and may be outside after three or four days, if they feel up to it. Strenuous physical activity following surgery is discouraged. Children may return to school whenever comfortable; a week is average, but 10 days is not unusual.

Diet
The more your child drinks, the sooner the pain will subside. Water, apple juice, grape juice, and Gatorade are excellent sources of liquid. Soft foods such as ice cream, sherbet, yogurt, pudding, apple sauce and jello, should also be encouraged. Other soft, easily chewed foods are also excellent. Avoid hot or spicy foods, or foods that are hard and crunchy. Often, chewing gum speeds comfortable eating by reducing the spasm after surgery and can be started anytime after surgery.

Pain
For the first several days (occasionally up to 10 days) following surgery, pain in the throat is to be expected. This can usually be controlled with Liquid Tylenol (acetaminophen) or Tylenol with Codeine (prescription will be given at time of surgery). Avoid medication containing aspirin, ibuprofen, or other anti-inflammatory medication, for two weeks. Pain is often worse at night and may prompt the need for additional pain medication. Ear pain, especially with swallowing is also a common occurrence; it is not an ear infection but due to referred pain from the surgery. Treat it with Tylenol or Tylenol with Codeine. Occasionally a stiff neck may occur. Please call if it becomes excessively painful.

Ice Collar
An ice collar can also be helpful for post operative sore throat. Make this by placing ice cubes and water in a large Zip-Loc bag and wrapping it in a towel. Gently lay the ice pack on the front of the neck.

Fever
A low-grade fever (less than 101 degrees) following surgery may occur and should be treated with Tylenol (acetaminophen). Follow the directions on the bottle. While children have a fever, they should play quietly or remain in bed. If the fever persists (more than two days) or if a higher fever develops, call. Fever may indicate that you have not taken in sufficient fluids or may have an infection.

Bleeding
Post-operative bleeding is unusual, but it can occur up to two weeks after surgery. Most bleeding is minor and you may only see a little coating of blood on the tongue. Put your child into bed, sitting upright, and place an ice collar on their neck. Watch for spitting, coughing, or vomiting of blood. If you suspect bleeding following surgery, call immediately.

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/head-neck/treatments-services/tonsillectomy-postop-care.aspx
Click to expand...

My two haven't had a tonsillectomy but my son has had other surgery and having Crohn's did not affect his recovery. The one thing you may find is he may feel a little off or sick on the stomach if he has swallowed blood but this is not unusual and if there were to be an issue regarding this he would normally still be in his post op hospitalisation period.

Good luck! I hope all goes well and his recovery is smooth and speedy! :goodluck:

Dusty. xxx
 
My non-IBD son has his tonsils out a few years ago. He decided he didn't like the taste of the pain med and refused to take it... BIG mistake. Since your son is older you might be able to reason with hi better, but I think it's critical to stay ahead of the game on pain. Lots and lots of fluids too.

Most important, just relax. Enjoy some time with him, chill out, and recover.

Good luck!
 
Stay away from anything acidic, orange juice, tomato soup etc. I had my tonsils out after my Crohn's diagnosis at age 22. It took me two weeks to be 100% back then. Learned the hard way about this. I love tomato soup but it is an unimaginable burning searing pain to eat it due to the acids naturally occurring in it.

Also crush Tylenol between 2 spoons add a little water and take like a liquid med, way easier to swallow! :)
 
Thanks everyone for notes of advice and encouragement. Tonsillectomy over thankfully. Lots of pain but I have a warrior of a son who declined some intravenous pain meds in favour of going home soon after the procedure. He is making headway slowly with soft foods, jelly etc and lots of water. Early days but things look hopefull. So grateful!
 
Thanks for the update! :)

So brilliant to hear all has gone well and your lad surely is a champion! :thumleft:

I hope all continues to go smoothly and his recovery remains uneventful and speedy! :goodluck:

Dusty. xxx
 
By the way has anybody heard of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy as a treatment option for Crohn"s? A friend of mine in Israel has some interesting info regarding this treatment for one of her son's friends who has suffered with Crohn's for many years and has not yet found any meds that have helped. She resorted to HBOT a few months ago and has had absolutely no symptoms since. Sounds amazing!
 
Hey Robs a...there has been a number threads on the forum regarding HBOT. Put Hyberbaric Oxygen Therapy into the search function and it will pull up loads of past threads to read through.

Dusty. xxx
 
Glad the surgery is over and recovery is beginning! Hope it goes smoothly for him! :ghug;
 
Jae will be having a tonsillectomy in December. Let us know how your son's IBD does. Our ENT said it could potentially cause Jae to flare. I hope not.
 
Today is 3rd day since operation and although my son has less pain in his throat area which seems to be healing nicely, we are have some tough times with regard to his tummy! He just cannot eat!!! It is kind of tricky because of the pain factor when swallowing but this is more to do with the Crohn's! He literally has no appetite! Have tried small "meals" through the day but he just wont! Yesterday I made up a Modulen shake which would at least give him adequate calories but he couldnt get past one sip! Got him into the shower yesterday and almost cried when I saw how thin he is! My concern really is to do with the Revellex! Jusyt not sure it is working!!!! The first 3 infusions brought amazing results but ever since he has just never felt great! Quite honbestly I still have not made friends with Revellex and perhaps my attitude is a bit of an issue! Help!
 
We had to use an oral medicine syringe and push the peptamen jr two teaspoons at a time.
This get the formula in him.
He has no appetite but keeping ahead of the pain helps with swallowing .
.
 
So the appetite issues preceded the tonsillectomy?

What symptoms is he displaying that makes you think the Revellex is not working?

What are his bloods doing?

:hang:

Dusty. xxx
 
Dusty Kat I need your wisdom!! Prior to the tonsillectomy my son was not feeling great. In fact the 2 weeks preceding his last infusion he felt pretty bad. GI wanted some bloodwork done, everything came back normal except for a slightly raised CRP. Calprotectin raised at 67. GI suggested adding methotrexate which we are slowly introducing as well as shortening the intervals between infusions to 6 weekly.. Now I have mentioned before that it is so difficult for us to know exactly when he is having a flare up because quite honestly he doesn't have the usual symptoms, no diarrohea, no cramps etc. He just feels listless, sleeps a lot, gets into a bad mood and has zero appetite. In the 5 days since his tonsillectomy he has lost almost 4kg which he can ill afford. He is also having terrible constipation issues. He has also been on an antibiotic since the tonsillectomy which one would have thought would have caused a running tummy. I am going overseas tomorrow on business and will be away for a week. so hate leaving him like this, although both the GI, local GP and my husband are very hands-on. What in your opinion would determine whether the Revellex is not working?
 
No great words of wisdom here, but just wanted to send you lots of healing thoughts, hope things get better soon!
 
My kids have never been on a biologic but for any medication I would be looking to clinical markers, so bloods and the like, and also objective markers...what he looks like to you. If the two don't marry up then I would be asking questions and in your lads case they don't seem to be marrying up.

Where is your son's Crohn's located?

I will go on spec and say if it is the ileum I would have bloods done for:

B12
Iron Stores
Vit D
Magnesium
Zinc

Deficiencies here can lead to many additional symptoms of which loss of appetite and fatigue are just two.

Again looking to the ileum, diarrhoea and bleeding are often not a symptom, they never were for my two.
The aperture of the small bowel means that narrowing down due to inflammation and/or scarring is very easily achieved. This narrowing can cause any or all of the following: pain, loss of appetite and weight loss, nausea, vomiting, constipation.

The other thing to establish is if there is scar tissue present. If he has small bowel disease then imaging needs to be done, preferably an MRE or CTE (E being an enterogram). If a pill cam is suggested ensure they do a dummy run first just in case there is narrowing there.
If there is scar tissue then no amount of medication will alleviate the problem. It will also mean that bloods and faecal tests will likely return normal or near normal results.

I would not go off the most recent CRP as it is a general indicator of inflammation and his tonsils may have been feeding into that.
Do you mean 670 for the Faecal Calprotectin? If it is 67 then it is only just above normal and quite acceptable for someone with IBD.

Dusty. xxx
 
Sorry to hear you are having such a rough time. My son had no taste or much appetitie so I researched it further and found low zinc could be the problem. i got it tested on his bloods and lo and behold I was right the level was too low and when they phoned to tell me they had already faxed the prescription for a supplement to my GP. didn't even stop to ask so it must be important! We are about to start this supplement and hope is has an effect before he comes off his exclusive shakes diet and starts to reintroduce food. ask for zinc to be tested
 

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