Tonsillectomy

I happened to see in Guy's throat one day when he was laughing. I wondered if I was looking down the throat of a cartoon character, the way his tonsills were enlarged and dangling in the back of his mouth. They were each the size of a large grape. I wondered how he had been eating and why he hadn't complained of a sore throat.

I took him into the Dr. thinking he may have been exposed to Strep Throat, which Frankenstein was just getting over. The quick test in the office was negative. His cold symptoms cleared up, so I figured he was over whatever it was, but when looking at them again a week later, they were still just as enormous. I took him in again to have them do the test that goes to the lab, the culture. It also came up negative.

I suggested to his Dr. that he might need a tonsillectomy. He proceeded to give me this lecture about how several years ago they would take a child's tonsills out more readily, but in children his age, it's normal for their tonsills to swell, especially when they are fighting a virus. Then when they turn, about 10 they tend to shrink back to a normal size. This was before he looked in his throat again. He realized immediately that needed to come out, so he referred me to an Oncologyst.

I got the same lecture from the Oncologyst before he looked in his mouth. He asked me if he is experiencing sleep apnea or if he compains of a sore throat, or if he has any trouble eating. Guy did not indicate to me that he was experiencing any of these symptoms, so the Oncologyst was surprised when he looked in his throat and saw the size of his tonsills. He said they use a scale of 1 to 4 and 4 is touching, but Guy's were actually pressing against eachother.

It didn't take any more convincing for him to realize that they needed to come out. He said that Guy has probably only been getting 60-70% of the sleeps that he needs. He said his body is working hard just get enough air while he is sleeping that he can't really relax and go into the deep sleep as in the REM state.

By the time he was done I half expected to have a new child after the surgery was over. He would get more rest, which would mean he wouldn't be as irritable, he wouldn't be constantly sick and irritable.

December 14th, we went early in the morning to the surgery clinic. Guy was so very brave when he had to leave with the nurse. He didn't even cry. He wasn't too happy when he woke up from the anestesia. After resting for an hour he woke up with a bunch of energy. He even thought he wanted to eat some of the nachos we brought home for lunch. After a few minutes at the table, he just slithered down from his chair and put himself to bed with his Blue Bear that he got for being so brave.

He recovered fairly quickly. In plenty of time to enjoy Christmas.