Tonsillectomy and E?

[chmmr]

I'm just wondering if anyone here has had their kids tonsils taken out after an E diagnosis? My 4 year old daughter is having her adenoids and tonsils removed in just under 3 weeks for sleep disordered breathing/sleep apnea and the pediatrician is hoping this will help decrease her seizures because it will increase her sleep quality.

I've been through the surgery part with one of my other kids, i'm more worried about whether the pain post surgery is likely to trigger seizures etc. and curious how other E kids fared.

 

[Nakamova]

That's a great question. You should let the pediatrician that you want to reduce the stress around the procedure as much as possible to minimize the risk of seizures. Has pain been triggering for your daughter in the past?

Has your daughter had a sleep study done to evaluate how big a role the apnea may be playing? I hope the surgery will make a huge difference in the quality of her sleep.

 

[chmmr]

Thanks Nakamova. Our ENT is pretty dismissive that there will be any issues related to her E, but our Ped is great. She has already said she will tell the ENT he can dismiss her from his service the next day as planned and she will keep her until she is confident that she is ok and won't be back. She only got worse and started meds in September so she hasn't ever really experienced and significant pain (hasn't even really been sick other than one mild stomach flu which did trigger her) so i'm really not sure how she will react. She has complex partials (and possibly some simple partials based on her behaviour on her last admission) so i'm a bit worried that being groggy from the anesthesia will mask any of her CPS behaviour until later the day after surgery.

As for a sleep study, we talked about it but the wait list is long, and we have multiple videos of her having apneas, as well as obstructed breathing, her tonsils are massive and we also have a documented episode where when sick with Strep her tonsils got so large that they obstructed her airway almost continuously for 4 days or so whenever she slept so the pediatrician feels that even if the sleep apnea isn't triggering her seizures, her massive tonsils will make any illness be that much more difficult and sleep deprive her (and trigger seizures) which in her mind makes the tonsil and adenoid removal worth it.

 

[Nakamova]

It sounds like she's in good hands, and the procedure will make a positive difference.

 

[Belinda5000]

actually getting your tonsils removed when your older it's harder on you.
I was in my 40's and it took 2 months to recover with my E my asthma.

 

[helenwayne]

I'm just wondering if anyone here has had their kids tonsils taken out after an E diagnosis? My 4 year old daughter is having her adenoids and tonsils removed in just under 3 weeks for sleep disordered breathing/sleep apnea and the pediatrician is hoping this will help decrease her seizures because it will increase her sleep quality.

I've been through the surgery part with one of my other kids, i'm more worried about whether the pain post surgery is likely to trigger seizures etc. and curious how other E kids fared.

Just wondering how the surgery went? As soon as we got the EEG results with my son (he's 6) his Ped referred him to an ENT. She had suspected sleep apnea in the past (he's a mouth breather) and said the combination of seizure activity at night and sleep apnea just isn't good. I can get on board with that We recently just saw the ENT and she ordered a sleep study, but also diagnosed him with obstructive sleep apnea on the spot. She said his tonsils are enlarged and they will be taken out, but she wants to get the sleep study mostly to see how he sleeps - which will offer information on how he'll do during and after surgery. Have you noticed any difference since the surgery?

 

[KarenB]

Our Jonathan had his tonsils/adenoids removed in 2010 for that reason. It really was affecting his breathing at night (when he had most of his seizures). Unfortunately, it didn't help his seizures. In fact, he got pneumonia following the surgery, and then lots of other illnesses (tonsils are a sort of defense system for the body), and his seizures increased. After about a year, however, he became healthy again, and by that time he was on the Ketogenic Diet, which stopped the seizures.