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Worried because her toddler
was a snorer and a mouth-breather, a New Jersey
mom visited an otolaryngologist —an ear,
nose and throat specialist.
“His tonsils are enormous!” the
specialist said.
The youngster became one of about 500,000 children
each year in the U.S. who undergo tonsillectomy —an
operation to remove the tonsils. It was done
almost routinely in the era before effective
antibiotics. “But today we’re much
more selective about who benefits from the procedure,” says
Michael A. Tavill, M.D., an otolaryngologist
and head of pediatric ear, nose and throat surgery
at Monmouth Medical Center, who does about 500
tonsillectomies a year.
The tonsils are masses of lymph-type tissue
on both sides of the back of the throat. The
adenoids, which are often removed along with
tonsils, are similar masses behind the nose.
Both are now believed to play an infection-fighting
role. But when they become infected and enlarged
themselves, they can cause fever, sore throat,
painful swallowing and sleep problems. If this
happens to your child a lot, it may be time to
consider surgery.
These days, Dr. Tavill explains, tonsillectomy
is done on an outpatient basis. The operation
takes about half an hour, and the child is in
the surgery unit as little as two hours before
and two hours after. A week of recuperation follows,
with pain medication. “And the old theory
of sticking with soft foods or clear liquids
for a week or two is out the window,” says
Dr. Tavill.
Sore throats became such a sorry
routine for Troy Baldwin of Little
Silver, now 8 (left, above),
that his pediatrician greeted
each call with, “Oh no,
Troy, not again!” Then,
two years ago, the boy’s
tonsils were removed by Monmouth
Medical Center’s Michael
A. Tavill, M.D. (right). The
operation’s side effect?
Literary inspiration.
With a little help from his
mom, Diane, Troy wrote My Tonsil
Story, a step-by-step account
of his experience, complete with
pictures. Conceived as a way
to tell his friends what he’d
been through, the narrative features
several moments of high drama
(semi-awake on anesthesia after
the operation, Troy yells, “I
can’t deal with this. I
want my tonsils back!”).
But mostly it recounts the experience
in simple terms perfect for helping
other young tonsillectomy patients
understand what they face. That’s
why Dr. Tavill is looking for
a pharmaceutical sponsor to help
publish the book in an interactive
form that would allow young readers
to follow Troy’s story
and also record their own.
“We know that kids recover
faster when they understand what
they’re going through,” says
Dr. Tavill. “Troy’s
done a great piece of work— something
that I think helped him a lot,
and that will help many other
kids too.” And the verdict
on the operation itself? “It
absolutely gave him back his
life,” says Diane. Apparently
that is now enough; Troy reports
that he no longer wants his tonsils
back.
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 Your
pediatrician can help you decide
if your child’s symptoms
warrant investigating the surgical
removal of tonsils and adenoids.
Signs that the procedures might
be needed, says otolaryngologist
Michael A. Tavill, M.D., include:
• recurrent bouts of
tonsillitis or strep throat
that causes throat soreness
and sometimes fever, rash,
ear pain and/or decreased
energy and appetite which,
even with antibiotics, interfere
with school and other regular
activities
• obstructive sleep
apnea, marked by heavy snoring
or other breathing difficulties,
daytime sleepiness or excess
irritability. The procedure’s
benefits must be weighed
against the inconvenience
and discomfort of surgery
and recuperation and the
slight risk that general
anesthesia always brings.
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Pediatric Surgery
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