Tale of A Tonsillectomy

Yesterday I mentioned that my son Alex had a tonsillectomy last week.   His recovery has been unpleasant (to say the least) for ALL of us.  The first few days he did great so I was hopeful the whole process would go rather smooth.

His doctor told us not to be surprised if by day five, Alex gets very cranky and irritable.   He said that for some unknown reason, kids always get really moody and cranky around the fifth day and that no one seems to know why this happens but it does.

Well apparently my son was no exception.  WOW!  It was like a switch was flipped and he completely freaked out.  This episode happened when I tried to give him his pain medicine.  Up until that point, Alex would whine and complain that he didn’t want to take it because it tasted “disgusting”.   It has been a full on battle to get him to take it every single time.  But on day five it was more like a nightmare.  I don’t know what happened but as I was trying to give him his medicine, he starting shaking and screaming and was crying incessantly.  He would not stop.  If you have ever witnessed a child having a night terror, that is what it looked like.  Scary.  It was almost like he was having a panic attack.  He absolutely did NOT want that medicine and was doing everything he could to avoid taking it.

I finally got him to calm down by speaking in a soft gentle tone and I told him he could wait and take it later.  I suggested that he take a few deep breaths and stop crying and then I would let him take a nice warm bath in the whirlpool tub (which he loves) to help him relax.  It worked.  Thank God.

Forty-five minutes later, Alex was calm enough for me to try again and after begging and pleading with him, he finally took it.  Ugh!  And to think I have several more days of this battle ahead of me.

So yes, it’s been a week now since the tonsils came out and my son is still suffering with a sore throat.  This seemed a little odd to me considering just a few days ago he said the pain was “almost gone.”  So naturally. I thought it would be a good idea to take a look in his throat to see what was going on in there.  Let me first say that when we met with the doctor right after he did the surgery he warned us NOT to look in Alex’s throat.  He said “Really. You DON’T want to look because it is not pretty trust me.   No. Don’t look.”

So what did I do?

I looked.

OMG!

What I saw was completely and utterly disgusting.  Ewww!

Where Alex’s tonsils used to be are now huge white cauliflower looking patches.  So so nasty!

Why in the hell did I look?  The same reason you can’t help but look at a car wreck on the side of the road - morbid curiosity.  I’m an idiot!

Seeing those “things” did clear up the question I had as to why my son’s breath smelled so rancid since the surgery.  Again.  Gross.  Sooo so GROSS.  The smell is something I couldn’t even begin to describe.  So I won’t.

But, now that I have already looked, I knew what to expect when I looked in his throat again so it wasn’t such a shock like it was the first time.   The good news is that those white patches are getting smaller and the stench of his breath is finally starting to diminish.  I’m serious it was THAT bad.  I know I must sound like a horrible mom for saying that but believe me, I DO realize that all of this is a small price to pay.  I would put up with all of it for a month as long as Alex having the tonsillectomy gives us the result we are hoping for - less sickness, coughing and strep throat infections.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it works.

Oh and if ever your kid needs a tonsillectomy for whatever reason remember my story and consider yourself warned because believe me…it’s not pretty!