We were told yesterday that Sam needs to have his adenoids removed. They are exceptionally large. They also make him snore a lot (even when he's awake) and cause him to breathe through his mouth. They do not, however, affect the quality of his sleep or his consumption of food.
I'm wondering, then, is this just one of those cases where doctors in the U.S. jump to surgery as an option when a bit of inconvenience will do? It's hard to say, and Sam certainly doesn't know how to tell me what a bother the large adenoids might actually be.
And on the other hand, it's a hugely common procedure with an easy-ish recovery. We could just have them out lickety split. He'd probably never miss them.
But why put him through an invasive procedure when he might, at six or seven, have enough space in his head for his ginormous adenoids?
I just don't know. This, right here, is a dilemma.
6 comments:
Good luck with your decision. I'm sure you guys will make the best choice for your little guy.
Tough call - does Dave weigh in on this, with his M.D. and all? I mean, I can tell you my opinion, but a Ph.D. doesn't count for much here...
JJ also has very large tonsils and adenoids. He snores, breathes through his mouth and was a terrible sleeper as a toddler, although those things may not be related.
We had a conservative doc in Mpls who never even floated the possibility of removing them. When we moved to DE our new doc suggested we get him x-rayed and consult with an ENT surgeon. That doc asked lots of questions: Does he sleep well? He does now. How often has he had strep? Never. How frequently does he complain about a sore throat? Rarely. Does he wake up well rested? Yes - more energy than anyone else in the house. Does he have any behavior or learning problems in school? No.
So he told us although most surgeons are eager to cut, and he would remove them if we wanted him to, that he didn't think we should. So that's our experience.
Good luck!!
Jill,
Thank you! This is so helpful.
Dave and I are on the same, ambivalent page here -- not wanting to jump to surgery. Sam is rested, eats well, no behavior problems, has never had strep or an ear infection, etc. He has had tonsillitis, so that's something to consider and watch for again, but otherwise, he's not suffering any ill effects from the large adenoids.
We've been thinking we would approach this with a "wait and see" attitude, and your experience supports that.
Thank you, thank you for sharing it!
But won't his adenoids grow right along with him?
Oh, good! I'm glad it's helpful.
We went through the same with Shef. His tonsils and adenoids are ginormous. We went as far as scheduling the surgery, and then I chickened out. I didn't want to do it. The <1% chance of death via surgery was too much for me. Probably a case of raging, untreated anxiety.
Turns out, six years later, and he's totally fine and the mouth-breathing has subsided. Also, he stopped getting strep so much after awhile. When he was Sam's age, he was sick constantly, but now he's fine and he still has large tonsils and adenoids.
Mac's are even bigger, but we haven't had any issues there.
Post a Comment