About the Book
Nearly 500,000 adenotonsillectomies will be performed on children this year. Will you be ready?
The new 3rd Edition of this bestselling book helps parents understand and organize the necessary medical and emotional components that accompany their child's surgery. In an easy to follow timeline for events prior to and following a tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy, the authors provide reassuring and accurate guidance that eases the process for the patient and family. As caregivers, you will:
Get the facts about tonsils and adenoids in simple terms.
Reduce your own anxiety about surgery and recovery.
Learn how to best support your child through the medical and emotional events surrounding the procedure.
Have scripts available to guide your conversations with all of your children.
Discover the sequence of events leading up to surgery and how to prepare for them.
Find out what you need to have at home while your child recuperates.
Understand and respond to any unforeseen complications.
Become confident that you have maximized your child's comfort and adjustment during the weeks surrounding surgery.
A handy and valuable guide for parents who face the ultimate decision to have their child undergo a surgery, this book unravels the fear, answers the questions and makes it understandable and reassuring. It is much needed in the field and its joyful illustrations make it easy to follow and comprehend.
-- Donna Geffner, Ph.D., Ed.D (Hon.), CCC-SP/A, Past president of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA)
When reading the book, you feel as if Dr. Laurie is right in front of you and leading you through the whole process. This book provides a useful, simple and straight forward approach for parents and children to deal with the anxiety that precedes any surgery.
-- Zev Ash, M.D., F.A.A.P. (pediatrician)
As owners and directors of a nursery school and summer camp for the past 27 years, we are often asked how to prepare a child for a medical procedure. This book is an excellent roadmap for parents on preparing not only your child, but also yourself, for a scary and often intimidating experience.
-- Adam & Amy Langbart, owners of /Merrick Woods Country Day School and Camp, Merrick, NY
The use of actual possible scripts to use with your child to help explain procedures and ease a child's anxiety, well organized helpful to-do lists and timelines serve to make this a required read and practical guide for parents or any caregiver with a child about to undergo a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.
-- Steven H. Blaustein Ph.D, CCC, BCS-CL, Speech-Language Pathologist, Board Certified Specialist- Child Language
This book spells out in clear and concise language what parents need to know and how to prepare children for the surgery. Suggestions on how to talk to children in developmentally appropriate language will be especially helpful to parents. I enthusiastically recommend this book to parents of children facing this medical procedure.
-- David A. Crenshaw, Ph.D., ABPP, Board Certified Clinical Psychologist, Author, Clinical Director of the Children's Home of Poughkeepsie
Learn more at www.DrZelinger.com
MED085020 Medical: Surgery: Oral & Maxillofacial
HEA046000 Health & Fitness: Children's Health
FAM502000 Family & Relationships: Health - General
About the Author :
Dr. Laurie Zelinger, a Board Certified Psychologist, was born and raised in New York, and is a successful product of the New York City public school system. She earned her Master's degree and Professional Diploma from Queens College over 40 years ago and later went on to earn a Doctoral degree from Hofstra University. Dr. Laurie has held elected positions on the Board of Directors of the New York State Association for Play Therapy, and at the national level, she served on the prestigious American Board of Professional Psychology for two years. Her interest in children dates back to her days as a babysitter and became the foundation of her later pursuit of school psychology and play therapy. During the course of her professional career, Dr. Laurie Zelinger and her psychologist husband, Dr. Fred Zelinger, raised four sons. As parents, they learned firsthand the difference between reading about children and living with them. This book represents the author's actual experience with her son Jordan's tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, as well as her hope that others will benefit from this information. Her concept of preparing a child for surgery is based upon the premise that information and preparation will reduce anxiety and help families to better manage the experience. The suggested time lines may also be used as a guide for children undergoing other hospital procedures. Dr. Laurie's ongoing devotion to children continues beyond her retirement as a school psychologist in the public school system, as she is now in full time private practice as a child psychologist and credentialed play therapist. She works and lives on Long Island, New York with her husband, Fred. Visit me at www.DrZelinger.com Dr. Perry Zelinger, the youngest of the Zelinger sons, is completing his Medical Residency in the Rusk Rehabilitation / NYU Langone Health System. When time permits he enjoys an active lifestyle that includes soccer, surfing, bicycling and trivia games. Perry and his wife live with their two rescue dogs in Manhattan, New York.
Review :
Wow! What an amazing book for parents and children. I only wish such a book had been available to me and my parents in 1948, when at age 4, I had a tonsillectomy and suffered severe bleeding on my return home. This book spells out in clear and concise language what parents need to know and how to prepare children for the surgery. Suggestions for how to talk to children in developmentally appropriate language will be especially helpful to parents. I enthusiastically recommend this book to parents of children facing this medical procedure and commend the Zelingers for writing such an immensely practical and useful book.
-- David A. Crenshaw, Ph.D., ABPP, Board Certified Clinical Psychologist, Author, Clinical Director of the Children's Home of Poughkeepsie
What do parents do when they have just been told that their child needs an invasive medical procedure involving a hospital and anesthesia? Reach for and read, Please Explain Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy to Me. Blending personal experience, relevant factual references and engaging illustrations, Dr. Laurie Zelinger and Dr. Perry Zelinger present a clear, logical and highly informative book that will guide parents on a journey from the initial visit to the pediatrician to the return home following surgery. The use of actual possible scripts to use with your child to help explain procedures and ease anxiety, well organized helpful to-do lists and timelines serve to make this a required read and practical guide for parents or any caregiver with a child about to undergo a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.
-- Steven H. Blaustein Ph.D, CCC, BCS-CL, Speech-Language Pathologist, Board Certified Specialist- Child Language, Associate Professor- Touro College Graduate Program, Speech-Language Pathology
Please Explain Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy to Me is a handy and valuable guide for parents who face the ultimate decision to have their child undergo a tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy. So many fear the procedure and procrastinate, but this book unravels the fear, answers the questions and makes it understandable and reassuring. It is much needed in the field and its joyful illustrations make it easy to follow and comprehend. Easy to read and grasp, it is sure to allay most parents' fears and make the surgery clear for both the parent and child. When parents and children are informed, enlightened and understand the process, the child is well positioned to have better health, hearing, speech and language development. It is a winning combination.
-- Donna Geffner, Ph.D., Ed.D (Hon.), CCC-SP/A, Past President of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, Honors Recipient, ASHA
