Sleep Apnea and a Tonsillectomy.

My son is 9 and was diagnosed with sleep apnea through a sleep study this year and the ENT dr reccomended a tonsilectomy and we opted to put off the surgery due to the risks. His pediatrician totally supports us on it.

Random Comment.. I actually work for a sleep disorder doctor. My son is 9, he's been through the sleep study, and is scheduled for a tonsil/adenoidectomy next month.
The risks of surgery are pretty scary, I'm with you on that.. but it's always SUCH a small percentage.. that the benefits outweigh the risks.

In my expierience with our pediatric patients, what happens is that they come in, doctor looks at tonsils/airway, talks to the parents about the symptoms, answers any questions you may have. They then schedule you for the over night sleep study. You'll go back in a week or so to get the results. The doctor will typically refer you to an ENT, who will then evaluate for the surgery.
The sleep doctor will see you back after surgery (at my clinic, it's 3 months after surgery) for a repeat sleep study, to see if the apnea has gotten any better.

I'm looking forward to my son's surgery, hoping that it helps with his behavior/school problems. I've heard great things from parents of our patients, such as "My child is a completely different person! Better grades at school, no more attitude or behavior problems, etc."
So I'm looking forward to it, but also a little nervous about the surgery.

I'm sure that things will be perfectly fine. I'd be happy to try and answer any questions that you might have, if you wanted.

ღ.Expecting #3

My fiance has apnea and huge tonsils, I don't think it's something they grow out of. He has those symptoms too and hes 28! I heard the surgery is more painful the older you get so I guess now is a good time to consider. My best friend had that surgery and she was miserable. she couldnt speak above a whisper at work. So I guess its up to you guys. But I wish you the best with whatever you do!
♥.Audrey.♥

I don't know if it will help any, but my 4 year old is recovering from an adenotonsillectomy. They never confirmed that he had sleep apnea but like your son, he had the sudden mood swings and looked tired ALL the time. However, we also had 5 cases of strep throat within 5 months. 3 cases of strep, back to back to back. It seriously sucked.

Like you, I weighed the pros, cons and risks. The actual surgery wasn't that bad. It took about 30 minutes total time, the team that did his were absolutely amazing. Our total time in the hospital was completely worry free because I felt like we were in good hands. The recovery is hard. I'm not going to lie to you. It tough. Last week Thursday he had the surgery and he has been running a low grade fever since Friday. As soon as he's done with his abx, if it's not gone, I'm going to call to see what is going on, because you just never know.

I think in my case, the surgery was the right option. Anything can happen, but like another commenter said, it really is a small percentage. Talk to them and really think everything through.

My younger brother had sleep apnea when he was under two. At 18 months he had to have an emergency tonsillectomy because they were too enlarged and he suddenly couldn't breathe one night.

A lot of people I talked too said that they had enlarged tonsils as kids and they had them out as adults because of sleep apnea. It's much harder on adults and teens than it is on kids.

Definitely ask a lot of questions, do your research. You will make the right decision for your family And if you have any questions about what we went through, feel free to ask

star.light

ryc: No, I totally understand!! It's a mommy thing! If I didnt have so much expierence in the department, I'd probably be scared out of my wits too. I think that's the only reason I'm not, since I deal with it on an almost daily basis.
Like everyone else is saying (and like you're already doing), just be sure and ask lots of questions, and you'll know that you are making the right decision!!

I need my tonsils out too.. but i've heard that the recovery for an adult is SO much more painful than it is for children.. that I'm too scared to do it for myself. LoL
I have sleep apnea as well, and usually with sleep apnea in adults, a tonsillectomy will only reduce your snoring, not your apnea. So knowing that, I'm not sure it'd be worth it to me anyway.

Good luck with everything!

ღ.Expecting #3

How odd - surely they'd have to observe him sleeping to see if he has sleep apnoea. I have huge tonsils, and no doc has ever suggested this might give me sleep apnoea.

Actually, occasionally I do stop breathing in my sleep and then wake up gasping, but I find if I sleep on my side or tummy I'm fine - just if I sleep on my back it happens. I wouldn't get my tonsils removed for it, even though my tonsils are huge, because the apnoea is controllable and not causing any problems, and besides, tonsils protect you from infections going down below the throat.

On the other hand, if he does have his tonsils removed, it's quite a simple surgery, and back in the day practically all kids had their tonsils removed - I know so many adults in their 50s and 60s with no tonsils and they're quite healthy.

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