The ENT Surgery Experience

 As promised, our surgery experience story.

When doctors finally took C's breathing while sleeping seriously, we were referred to a paediatrician. The paed didn't really pay much mind (in fact, he was wildly overrunning and barely gave C a second look during the consultation). It was only when C's dad (who was involved at the time) mentioned C plays with his ears a lot, that the fluid build up was identified.

We were then referred to an ENT. The ENT wanted to check for large adenoids and asked to insert a camera up C's nose. He did this WITHOUT numbing C or putting anything in place to make it more comfortable and he made C scream in pain. He also wasn't able to see anything and then gave C a nosebleed. The worst experience ever.

In any case, I moved house so we were referred to a new ENT. This consultant referred us to St Thomas' for a more experienced ENT specialist. This whole process took two years. First up was a sleep study. This was when C was 3. It involved an overnight stay in St Thomas' while C 'slept' (and I use that term loosely) attached to monitors. The results came through the post and determined moderate obstructive sleep apnoea. A few months later, we finally had our appointment with a consultant. 

Dr Tweedy was fantastic. Great bedside manor. Really seemed to care. He determined C's tonsils were too large and needed coming out and given how much time this was going to take, he put a rush on the surgery date. It was booked just as Covid hit and just before lockdown, but two parents were allowed to attend.

C was one of the first on the surgery list. He was on a children's ward, which was quite depressing. When we went down to the theatre room, we were told to hold C down while they put an oxygen mask on him. C thrashed and fought with all of his strength, terrified of what was happening. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, though, and I can still remember how heavy he felt when he did.

The next part was the hardest. We had to wait until the surgery was over. I was a mess. Eventually, but what was only a couple of hours, we were called to meet C in the recovery room. He was screaming - I could hear him from down the corridor. We ran to him and he was a hoarse, angry mess. They warned us that children recover from anaesthetic differently, and C didn't react very well at all.

Up on the ward, he refused to eat, and was very tearful for quite a while. Dr Tweedy came to update us and said his tonsils and adenoids were horrifically large and definitely needed to come out, but that the surgery was a success. The grommets had gone in well too. We were allowed home that evening.

It took a few days for C to recover and he was back to nursery within the week!  It was a very easy recovery.

We also had to repeat the surgery a year later when his tonsils grew back! It was very much the same experience again. But the surgery was definitely worth it and his sleep was so much better as a result.