After many cases of strep throat from kindergarten on, our family doctor recommended that we have our seven year old son’s tonsils removed. My son also suffers from some food allergies and some outdoor allergies, all of which are difficult to avoid, and they all cause to him constant, clear drainage down his throat, thus enlarging the tonsils. I consulted various doctors over the next few months, and I got a variety of opinions about removing his tonsils. All were conflicting, and that left me wondering what to do. The determination of whether a tonsillectomy was necessary did not come easily for me, being the protective mother that I am, as I was pretty determined that the tonsils were not coming out during our first visit with the ENT. I told him I would like a chance to make sure that surgery was truly necessary before we headed down that path. Our ENT agreed that it was fine to give our son time and prescribed my son steroids, a round of antibiotics to help with infec-tion, and Singulair to help with the allergies that were irritating his tonsils. The enlarged nature of his tonsils lessened a tiny bit with the medicines, but the overall enlargement did not ever go away. I have looked in my son’s little mouth a number of times since we started our concern with his ton-sils, and realizing that they were too large, always irritated, and that mine have never looked one bit like his made me realize the necessity of the surgery for his overall long-term comfort and wellbe-ing. After thoughtful consideration, research, and a few visits to the ENT, the doctor’s words, “It will only benefit him” stuck with me and helped me realize taking the tonsils out was the best thing for him.

The day we went for pre-op, one week before surgery, was an emotional one. I had to meet with the lady at the doctor’s office first to obtain the doctor’s orders to take to the hospital, and that was a tough one. She read aloud to me a list of everything that could possibly go wrong during surgery: quadriplegia, paraplegia, death, to name a few on the list of possible complications. I swallowed the lump in my throat and thought I’ll always wish I had never done this if something terrible happens. I also thought of all the children we know who have successfully had their tonsils removed without any complications, and I went with my gut instinct. I wanted to improve my son’s life, and I believed this tonsillectomy was in our future for a reason.

When we planned it a month earlier, it seemed so distant, but the day fast approached for my son’s tonsillectomy. Since he is seven, he was very well aware of the upcoming surgery, and the weekend before surgery was long and difficult knowing it was looming ahead of us. Just like me he wished we could just head on over to the hospital and go ahead and get it behind us. We prayed a lot, and I felt the prayers of family and friends uplifting us during the procedure. The Tuesday morning of the surgery finally came, and he was fortunate to be slated for an early morning time slot. We arrived at the hospital at 7AM and waited for the doctor to complete one other surgery immediately ahead of us. It was finally Ethan’s turn to go back to the operating room. He received lots of hugs and kisses along with his sedation medication, which relaxed him, and they wheeled him back for surgery. A short time later a nurse called the room to tell me that he was almost through the surgery and we would soon be called to the recovery room. The surgery was truly fast, lasting approximately thirty minutes.

In the recovery room, I was very happy to see a lethargic, yet awake young man. He recovered from his anesthesia well, and he slept most of the afternoon. He showed a lot more alertness by the following day. Today is day four out from the surgery. He is still healing, and I have never pur-chased so many varieties of ice cream and popsicles in my life! I was impressed the moment I looked in Ethan’s throat to see that the huge, yucky tonsils were gone, and in their place the black and white spots that remain from surgery soon will be gone, too, leaving him healthier and happier in his future. For me making the decision to remove my son’s tonsils was a good one. Such deci-sions are not easy and should never be taken lightly, but I do believe you will feel comfort if you have to make such a decision once you make the right one for your child. Special thank to Dr. Stephen Ryals and all of the Gordon Hospital staff for seeing us through this surgery. We appreciate your dedication to helping your patients.