<p>My D went in for what we thought was a basic surgery. Evidently for the age group 17-22, there are some very serious risks. She is 10 days post op and has been to the emergency room twice for nearly bleeding out, gushing pulsing blood. The second time she went in for emergency surgery. We were never told of this risk but when it happened were told, Yep, 7-8 days after surgery THIS AGE group has the highest risk for this to happen. Had she not been awak she could have died easily. Had I not been right there she would have died.</p>
<p>Is this a high % risk? No
However, this age group has this risk and we were not aware of it.
I don’t want other parents or students to go into this relatively “simple” procedure unaware.</p>
<p>Now she is suffering from acute trauma, having nearly died twice…can’t sleep alone. Her tonsils as large as they were…never really “threatened her life.”</p>
<p>I hope your D has a speedy recovery from here on. Back in 1982 I had my tonsils taken out at age 21 and was told those risks and that it would be a painful recovery, which it was. Still, I can’t imagine what she’s been through. However, once the swelling and pain went away, it was the best thing I could have done. Having suffered years of frequent bad sore throats (back then it was labeled tonscillitis, probably what is now strep thoat) and always missing a few days of school or work each month, it is now a rare occurence for me to get a sore throat (once a year at most). </p>
<p>So I hope she has the same long-term outcome and am sending my prayers for her improving health.</p>
<p>I am so thankful for all the prayers. Mentally and physically she is a wreck right now. With time I hope she will trust she can go to sleep alone…for now that is what we are there for to reassure her we won’t let anything happen to her. </p>
<p>We were told the risk of slight bleeding, but never told she could bleed out a whole sink full of blood. My bathroom looked like a crime scene from CSI. Evidently the tonsillar region is over major blood vesicles and the carotid artery. That is what I am talking about. I guess having it happened makes us wish we had known that this might happen. It happened to her twice which as I understand it is rare.</p>
<p>Atlmom; {{{{(((((BIG HUGS))))}}}} to you and your D. Mine had her tonsils and adenoids out at age 11–with very similar results. But we were told of the potential problems beforehand so we were prepared. She was rushed to Children’s Hospital in Philly at midnight, 6 days after her routine surgery. She had emergency surgery at 3:00 a.m. to stem the hemorrhaging. It was not a fun night in the hospital! Luckily, the surgery was a success, with no more bleeding but the damage had been done. She was definately traumatized and was extremly clingy for months afterwards. All I can say is, this soon will pass. She will get over it, although how long it will last I can’t say. I tried to talk to my D about what was bothering her and at first she wouldn’t talk but eventually she did open up. They determined it was just luck of the draw; as they get older, the chances of hemorraging do go up. She was just one of those people. Best of luck to both of you. Keep us posted as to how she’s doing!</p>
<p>This happened to me when I was 5 years old. Very vivid memories of all the blood. I was out of school for a month, very sick, lots of pain. It can happen at any age. Once I recovered though, I stopped having frequents sore throats.</p>
<p>Hugs to you both, it must be very hard to relax with that hanging over your/her head. The longer you go without problems, the better, obviously, and the scabs in her throat will heal and fall out (which is a whole other bit of agony). My niece went through this last summer at age 17 and it was horrible. </p>
<p>Even knowing the risks and as bad as my niece was during it, the benefit has been amazing - not a single throat ailment after years of the worst, repeated every 2 months, kinds of throat problems. Hang in there. Use a baby monitor in her room so you can sleep in your own bed. Maybe she’ll start to relax knowing you will at least be able to hear her.</p>
<p>I am so sorry this happened to your daughter. It sounds like a nightmare. Thankfully you were there and she got help and hopefully from here on out she will have a speedy recovery. </p>
<p>Perhaps once she is physically healed, she can talk to a doctor and possibly a counselor who can inform her that this is behind her and cannot happen any longer (I’m assuming she will be past that point in the healing process). Hopefully they can assure her that there is no longer a risk. It is understandable about her fears. Once the risk is gone, I hope she is convinced of that. It might take time for her to get past the traumatic level but eventually I think she will. It just is too soon and she is still healing too. </p>
<p>Best wishes that everything goes positively from this point forward.</p>
<p>We recently had a family member go through a procedure that should have been a “simple” 20 minute procedure. It ended up in a 2 week hospital stay with half of that in intensive care. All surgery is risky. We were not warned either. They told our family that this was a minor procedure, and she would be out in 20 minutes. She almost died in the operating room.</p>
<p>What an absolutely TERRIFYING experience! I completely understand your daughter’s being traumatized by such a frightening set of events. My kids would absolutely have the same reaction…</p>
<p>I am sending positive thoughts and prayers for her speedy recovery and calming vibes for her justifiable anxiety. I hope that as she begins to recover, her fear and anxiety will begin to lessen, and she won’t be as ruled by these emotions. </p>
<p>This was a truly unfortunate set of events. None of my kids has had his/her tonsils out, and now, if that surgery were suggested, I’d absolutely think twice about following that recommendation. I appreciate your relating this painful story for the benefit of so many.</p>
<p>{{{{{{{more gentle hugs}}}}}}}, and take care of your precious D.</p>
<p>LEt me also post the procedure for dealing with this for anyone’s benefit who goes through this. SOmetimes this surgery is not a matter of choice.</p>
<ol>
<li> Be aware of the risk so you do not panic. It can be a massive amount of blood.</li>
<li>have on stock, lots of banana popsicles (so you can see the effect on the blood and if the bleeding lessens) and ice.</li>
<li> be alert to this in the 7-8 day range.</li>
<li> calmly, gargle icewater and shove popsicles down to be held onthe throat area alternating left and right unless you can tell which side is bleeding.</li>
<li> in the meantime, call for assistance form dr. office.</li>
</ol>
<p>This procedure will usually work to stop/slow the bleeding, but you should still be seen.</p>
<p>I hope she’s starting to improve, Atlmom. We have hemophilia in my family, so the 7-10 day range as well as during and directly after surgery is very dangerous for us for any procedure. I completely understand your fright. I am so glad that she now seems to be over the worst of it.</p>
<p>Atlmom, so glad to hear D is on mend. My s, 9 had same thing and need emergency surgery in middle of night. So frightening!! I think I slept with him for 2 weeks.</p>
<p>I’m glad she is doing better now, Atlmom. My son (20) had a tonsillectomy in Oct. Even though he was still in much pain and not really eating at day 10, he wanted to go back to school. His Dr. said “no”, that risk of bleeding was still too high and he needed to be home where someone would be watching him. He slept in a recliner in a room beside my bedroom for 2 weeks. Luckily we didn’t have any bleeding problems–but the pain was pretty bad.</p>
<p>However, now that it is all over and done, he is so glad he did it. He feels so much better now than he has for the last couple years.</p>
<p>Does anyone know why the 17-22 age range is MOST at risk? I’m just wondering, because for most medical things, being 17-22 is pretty ideal-- young bodies heal quickly.</p>
<p>I don’t remember son’s physician saying anything about people older than 22 having less risk, but he said that younger ones tended to have less developed throat musculature, generally smaller tonsils and tonsils that had not had the sometimes years of on and off again infections.</p>