Hi Robert...  I am not one for elective surgery either and I am not sure if my info will be relevant but I thought I would try. My son (who is non-classic CAH) needed surgery shortly after the CAH diagnosis (completely unrelated to CAH). Needless to say I was flipping out and spoke with everyone about the meds he was supposed to take. The anesthesiologist basically told me that he wasn’t giving him any extra hydrocortisone because the surgery would be just under an hour with minimal stress to the body. I went crazy and searched for our endo who defered everything to the anesthesiologist as she can only suggest. All in all everything went well, but we haven’t ever had any problems with adrenal crisis.

On the other hand, my daughter (who does NOT have CAH) underwent surgery for her tonsils and adenoids. Her tonsils were quite enlarged, she never slept well through the night and in the morning filled up many tissues trying to clear out her nasal passages (due to her many allergies). She too had a nasal voice. After long consideration, we opted for her surgery and are pleased with the results. She is a better sleeper and her daily attitude has improved drastically as she is not walking around tired all the time. Her sinuses have improved but I don’t know if I can contribute that to the surgery or the allergist we now see. She takes singulair daily and her asthma has been kept at bay.

It was a very difficult decision to make about giving her this surgery in the first place becuase we knew she was going to need another surgery for her spleen due to an underlying anemia. Many people thought we were overreacting because it was "just" a tonsillectomy but unless people walk in your shoes they do not understand. August of 2001 we did the tonsillectomy and August of 2002 we did the splenectomy. After the splenectomy, while my daughter was waking from the anesthesia she went into a full blown asthma attack that sent the nurses running in a flurry for medicine. They apologized profusely as they did not know she had asthma. My best advice is to make sure that all your i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. Annoy as many people as you have to. Don’t take anything for granted. After all, they are only doctors.

Good luck with your decision. From my experience, I can assure you that kids do bounce back.