The Only Way is Essex star Amy Childs is 'a mess' as her daughter, age 7, is taken for surgery in hospital

The 34-year-old took to her Instagram Stories yesterday (Thursday August 29) to share a photo of seven-year-old Polly she prepared for an operation.

While the youngster looked relaxed and happy as she was beaming at the camera ahead of the procedure to remove her tonsils, in he caption mum-of-four Childs revealed she was anything but calm. She wrote: "My brave girl this morning. All ready to have her tonsils out! One very stressed mummy."

On another photo of her daughter wearing a hospital gown, which was posted a short while later, The Only Way is Essex star wrote: “Polly has just gone down. She was so brave. I, on the other hand, was a complete mess.” She also promised her fans she would update them on her daughter’s condition soon, and thanked them for their kind messages of support.

At the time of writing (on the morning of Friday August 30), however, Childs had not yet issued an update on her daughter’s condition.

It came after Childs, who first came to public attention when she joined the cast of TOWIE in 2010, asked for support from her 1.1 million Instagram followers as she said she was “ at her wits end” because Polly had to have her tonsils removed due to recurring tonsillitis.

In her Instagram post, the TV personality shared an throwback picture of her daughter on holiday in Tenerife. In the caption, she wrote: "Just love this picture of you Polly. My darling girl has got to have her tonsils out next week, nervous and worried is an understatement, I had mine out when I was 4. Tonsillitis every 4/6 weeks, she really has been through it bless her, so the best outcome is to get her tonsils out."

She added: "Going to update you next week when she has them out.. a very worried mummy. How long roughly till she is ok after operation?? 2 weeks??"

It’s the second health issue Polly has had to contend with throughout the summer. Back in June, the TV personality told her fans that her eldest child had been diagnosed with dyslexia. It’s also the second health diagnosis that means she is following in her mum’s footsteps.

Sharing a picture of Polly in her school uniform on her Instagram page, she wrote: "My Polly . . . So we got the news last week that Polly is dyslexic.” Recounting her own struggles, she went on: “I got diagnosed with dyslexia when I was 4. The struggles that I went from day to day, struggling with school work, finding it hard to read, it was really tough, I failed every single GCSE, but I tried my hardest always."

She went on: "I was confident, I could go into a room and speak to anyone, I had amazing manners, and I become Head Girl at school, just because having a diagnosis doesn’t mean you can’t achieve what you want in life. I just want to say, Polly you are the most amazing beautiful girl, you are hard working, you are kind and the loveliest girl, I am so bloody proud of you Polly. You really are the most special girl in the world."

Childs shares Polly with her ex-partner Bradley Wright, and she also has six-year-old son Ritchie Jr with her businessman ex Ritchie. In April last year she gave birth to one-year-old twins Billy and Millie with her fiancé Billy Delbosq.