<p>If a hurricane was not enough for a MT freshman year to remember, my daughter has been deathly ill for weeks and likely has mono (will know for sure by Friday but it is virtually certain). Long story short at one of her many late night visits to the ER or after hours clinic this past week one doctor mentioned something about a tonsillectomy. She doesn’t have the time for that nor to be sick nor to even drag herself to the health center or even a pharmacy during regular hours. As it is, she barely sleeps between studio time, regular classes and crewing a show. Many of you understand the demands of that schedule which combined is tough enough when you are in perfect health but is a disaster for a student with mono. I’m hoping there is nothing to the tonsillectomy comment but there could be and it made me want to get out in front of it in case it does come down to that and a decision has to be made quickly. </p>
<p>Is there anything special (type of doctor, procedure etc.) that one should insist on when a singer has a tonsillectomy or is it not a concern? CoachC? Anyone else with knowledge about it? I’d really appreciate any input in case it does become a necessity. Thank you!!</p>
<p>All I can tell you is that as a teenager, I was deathly ill with tonsillitis and strep throat. Over and over again. Anytime I got overextended and tired, I got sick. I had my tonsils out at 16 and have never had a sore throat (other than allergy garbage) since. It was totally worth it to not be sick as a dog and running to the doctor every other week. It is difficult to get strep once the tonsils are gone. Mono can lead to tonsillitis. See a good ENT or two!</p>
<p>I am not involved with these types of procedures specifically but our hospital does a ton of them, so here’s some thoughts based on what I see here. You want to have your daughter see an otolaryngologist (ear,nose and throat doctor) for a tonsillectomy, and not a general surgeon. The tonsils are located fairly far away anatomically from her larynx (voicebox) so if you’re concerned about possible danger to her vocal cords it shouldn’t be an issue. If they also want to take out her adenoids then since those lie higher up in the pharynx I suppose it could affect the nasality of her voice, but an experienced ENT who does these kinds of surgeries a lot could tell you about that. The surgery itself would be done as an outpatient and takes no more than an hour usually, and the ENT can tell you how long it would be till your child can be back singing at full force. So it’s a pretty routine thing as far as surgeries go, but make sure you get an ENT who does a lot of these (which shouldn’t be hard since it’s a big part of an ENT’s practice!) and make sure they know your child is a performer and see if they have any specific thoughts about that.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the quick replies and momcares for the link to previous threads on the topic. Figures it has already been covered. My CC search skills are terrible.</p>
<p>I’ll get reading. I want to be in front of it in case it does come up and not get an emergency call and not know what to tell her. There has already been plenty of that in the past couple of weeks but luckily because of someone I asked from CC months ago, I did at least have some tips on after hours clinics and ERs in NYC to send along when they were needed and wasn’t scrambling to find answers in the moment when the late night distress call came rolling in. Thank you!!! This forum is helpful well past the admissions discussions and I appreciate it greatly.</p>
<p>I’d further specify and recommend seeing an ENT who is a laryngologist. Most laryngologists will do tonsillectomies for singers. A consultation re: both tonsils and adenoids should be done with someone who deals clinically with many pro singers and understands that “worst case” recovery time frame with regard to your daughter’s schedule. The recovery entails waiting til scabbing and pain are done, b/c singing with throat pain can unintentionally cause muscle tension while singing. Adenoid recovery is also painful but definitely should be done if resonance is at all impaired.</p>
<p>And any time a singer has general anesthesia, care should be taken with the intubation and extubation, so that the vocal folds are not compromised. This is pretty standard thinking for ENT’s in general but worth mentioning gently.</p>
<p>Thank you so much CoachC! Glad that you spotted my post. I was hoping to hear from you as I know this is something that you do know a great deal about. </p>
<p>I sure hope it doesn’t come to this since I have absolutely no idea when she could ever have enough time to recover from a tonsillectomy but if she must have it, she must. I hope it won’t be right now and she can finish out the semester. I’ll have her home for a week the middle part of this month and hopefully she can rest. It’s hard to help her from the other side of the country.</p>
<p>In her book A Little Bit Wicked, Kristen Chenoweth tells an interesting story about having her tonsils out. Her voice teacher called the surgeon and told him how special her voice was!</p>
<p>My S had to have sinus surgery a couple of years ago. We had the same concerns. In addition to the above great advice, our ENT had us talk directly to the anestheiosologist 3 times prior to surgery. There is something about how they lay the tube/contraption that may or may not affect the vocal cords. We were kind of anal about all of this, so every time we saw the ENT we reminder her, that S was a singer (even up to and in the operating room,lol). Good luck. A tonsillectomy was a miracle cure for my daughter who had one strep throat case on top of another even to the point where she even had strep while on antibiotics.</p>
<p>We went through this last year - and she pushed it and auditioned for a college MT program only 3 weeks after the surgery. Suffice it to say it was a tad too soon:) She felt ok but her voice “slid” a lot - control came weeks later.</p>
<p>We did use a cold ablation (sp?) process and also had some sort of cover that shielded her vocal chords. I know any good ENT will be able to discuss these options with you.</p>
<p>It’s a really nerve racking thing but I will say my D is sick far less than she used to be.</p>
<p>^^^Thank you both and everyone. I am truly grateful for the advice. I hope it doesn’t come to that but it very well could and I feel much more empowered having some knowledge about what to ask for. I’ve even gotten some PM advice specific to doctors in NYC and that is a big help too. It does indeed take a village. Thank you!!!</p>
<p>Oh yes and AdaQuince reminded me of something - be sure you talk DIRECTLY to the anesthesiologist prior to the surgery - as they are the ones who do the “protecting” when they put the tube in, etc. I felt more comfortable looking him in the eye and having him acknowledge that he understood the concern and walked through his process with me for protecting her.</p>
<p>When my daughter had a tonsillectomy we stressed the need for protecting her vocal cords with her ENT and the anesthesiologist. They used an intubation method called Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) which doesn’t touch the vocal cords. It worked beautifully and her throat was less sore post-op than most adults experience. She was able to begin singing within a week or so.</p>
<p>halflokum - I received your PM but I can’t reply because I don’t have the minimum # of posts on CC. Yes, I am in Bellevue, WA. Please send me another private message with your email and I’ll answer your questions. :)</p>
<p>I missed this thread originally. I don’t have advice but there is lots of it on this thread. I just want to check in to see how your D is doing. I am so sorry to hear she is this sick. As if the BFA program was not already tiring.</p>
<p>Thanks for checking in soozievt. She’s in rough shape and hanging on by a thread. Turns out she has mono. She’s flying home this weekend for spring break and I hope she can get the much needed rest. The Tisch BFA program is a bear on a good day but add mono into the equation and it’s truly a killer. She is also crewing a show that is still ongoing so she has to be at the theatre to 11:30 PM most nights. Anyway, if ever I doubted her commitment to this field of study (which I never did), the fact that she is determined to hang on even it it kills her is more than enough to make me faithfully write that whopper tuition check. May the force be with all of you that this NEVER happens to your MT during their college career (or ever). Thanks for all of the support everyone!!</p>
<p>Halflokum, I feel so badly for your daughter. I would think some accommodations could be put in place given her mono diagnosis. Thankfully, spring break is almost here. </p>
<p>I had mono at age 33 and had a 2 and a 4 year old at the time. It is harder when you are older. In my case, I was so weak that I was confined to a bed for weeks and could not even bear to sit up. I had to have relatives and sitters come to care for my young ones. I know it is not as bad for teens but it is still extremely tiring and I don’t know how your D is doing it. I hope that by the time spring break is over, she’ll be recovering and ready to go back at full throttle. She surely sounds like a trooper. I know how much you must be concerned though!</p>