Adnoids and tonsil removal - post op food/drink refusal

[Mahjong]

Anyone who can give me ideas and help/advice would be forever in my debt!

Last tuesday DS1 had his tonsils and adnoids out and also grommets inserted in his ears.

Since then, he has been a nightmare to get anything into him drink/food wise.

We've just spent two nights in hospital from dehydration/lack of food, he was taken off the drip late last night after having two bags of fluid pumped into him over 48 hours.

We're home now again, BUT, the aversion to fluids nd food is still going on, it's an absolute FIGHT and I mean FIGHT Anyone here on BH who knows my son, knows he can eat when he's feeling good.

My question is, anyone else had their child do the same after their operation, how long does it take? The Surgeon and nurses just say "He'll get there, just keep giving him fluids" easier said than done.

Im tearing my hair out, I also have a 5 month old at home and Im finding it so hard to be in two places at once.... supervising DS1 and forcing him to drink and eat, whilst looking after DS2

Food wise, Im not so worried, it's the fluid intake I want him to have.
Bribery wont work, he's even knocking back hot chippies, ice cream, custard, jelly, chicken nuggets, you name it! Even Softdrink and milk wont work

[Just Add Water]

I can't believe he's knocking back ice cream, that's all I ate when I had mine out... are there any vegies he likes? Perhaps you could put them through a blender and make a mash, maybe get him to help? Also, maybe help him make some ice blocks from juice or cordial. Our kids tend to eat more if they're helping put it together.
Other than that..... good luck...

[ElizaDoLittle]

Oh Beth I wish I had a magic solution. Ash had gastro this weekend I got him to drink by offering green cordial (he would never normally get that!) with one of those straws that twists in spirally shapes (i hope that makes sense!) to you and Wy x

[JustJettAndMum]

Please please please take my advice.

My little boy had his tonsils and adnoids out about 3 months ago, and he refused everything. I force fed him and he just screamed and screamed. I would force his 'pain stop' medication in to him and he would vomit it back up.

My only advice is just to leave him. Leave a bowl of ice cubes out and he will suck on it as he pleases.

I took my DS back to hospital on day 3 because he was in agony and they just gave him a shot of morphine which wore off in a few hours anyway. They said i would know if he was dehidrating and if he was then he would have to go back and be put on a drip over night. But honestly, He would NOT eat.

Try the things yours giving him before he has it. Anything that is acidic, like fruits and stuff are going to burn the hell out of there throat.

On day 6 of me forcing his Pain stop in to him i finally tasted it, and bawled my eyes out in front of my mum. It tasted horrable. It burnt the end of my tounge. I could have only imagined how it felt on his cut open throat.

So just let him be. Jett went 6 -8 hours at a time with nothing. He just wanted to sleep and not talk.

Please dont let it stress you out. Its a horrable operation and there in so much pain

[peanutbutter&jelly]

Poor thing! Both of you for that matter...
I had mine out when I was 7, it was a very scary experience... and I was brave enough to eat weetbix (mushy with milk) the next morning At the strong encouragement from mummy dearest.

Maybe some 'magic jelly' would help? Or something like that... or a fave character sending some food or drink for him?

[Mahjong]

Thank you for the advice and suggestions. I seriously dont know what to do really. I stopped giving the pain stop after one dose as I could smell the alcohol content from an arms length away.

He also had grommets put in during the operation and he's in agony over them, anytime he drinks or eats, he immediately grab his ears and cries, I dont think it's meant to be like this 7 days after the operation for grommets. Tonsils and adnoids it's up to two weeks but grommets is meant to be 48 hours tops.

Im getting frustrated with the specialist as he keeps fobbing my questions off

[c38]

Poor litle man
I had my T&As out when I was 10 and till remember the pain...

I'm a Paediatric Nurse and have looked after lots of kids post ENT surgery and always feel for them....We dont see many return post op, but for some kids it's really awful. I'm assuming they checked that he has no post op infection and that the gromets are clear.

The ear pain is most likely refered pain from the tonsil bed. A lot of kids get this post tonsilectomy, gromets or no gromets. I'm told the pain often gets worse around day 5-7 and improves by day 10. (obviously they are home so we dont see them)
Unfortunately the only thing you can do for it is regular pain relief and try to get him to swallow/chew to help the swelling drain from the area, keep the tonsil bed moist and the eustation tubes clear.Chewing chewing gum is great for this..if you can get him to.... (In fact I remember being told this as a kid and living on Juicy Fruit after my op)
Painstop even though it tastes yuko is a great pain reliever...it might be orth persisting with it just for 24hours to see if it helps get him back on track. Otherwise be really strict with his paracetomol. If he's refusing to swallow this you can get suppositories.You could try and get a Dr to prescribe some plain Codine syrup that you could give in conjunction with the Paracetomol... that's what they tend to do in most kids hospitals as you can fine tune the dosing a bit better. I'm not sure that Codine syrup tastes great either though. I know we have at times discharged kids home with a few days doses of Oxycodine (a liquid narcotic) just to get them through the pain barrier and start them drink/eating again..as once he at least drinks regularly he will feel much better.
There is also a medicine called Xylocaine Viscous, which is basically liquid local anaesthetic. This can be given before food to help numb the throat. Its only on script though and is very expensive... and doesnt work for all kids..
Try and time his drinking about 1/2 hour after the Panodol.
Most drinks/foods sting..so its a matter of experimenting as to what suits him. Some kids tolerate room temp or slightly warm fluids better then really cold..so warm water, milk or black current juice. Other kids go for the ice, icy poles, slushies etc
Honestly the more he drinks and eats the better he will feel..but I know its really really hard to convince a 4year old of this. So all you can do is push on. It's nearly day7 now, hopefully he will start to feel better in a day or so.

'll be interested in what other BubHubber's experiences and solutions were.