Tonsillectomy?

[butler coach]

So on the 13th of aug I have to have a Tonsillectomy. Has anyone had one of these as an adult? How bad does it suck?
From what I read I think I would rather smash my nuts with a rubber hammer.

[JFK]

I have. I was quite attached to them....

All in all. It suck, it hurts, its lame.

[pangloss]

Interesting story: my great-grandmother had hers out sometimes not too long after WWI. Apparently her tonsils had been causing her problems for some time when a traveling doctor happened through town. My grandmother said that my great-grandmother sat in a kitchen chair, tilted her head back, and the doc just scooped out her tonsils. Problem solved.

I hope it goes well for you Butler Coach.

[BaiHu]

I had them taken out at 18 and it sucked like a bad sore throat for a while, but cold things help.

HOWEVER, knowing what I know about health today, I would never have taken them out. IMO, I exchanged a couple of sore throats every couple of years for upper respiratory infections once a year.

AFAIK and I am not a doctor, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn lately: it is my personal belief that tonsils prevent basic problems from going deeper into the body.

Good luck either way! It'll suck for a long weekend, but then you'll start getting better.

[NEPAKevin]

My grandmother said that my great-grandmother sat in a kitchen chair, tilted her head back, and the doc just scooped out her tonsils. Problem solved.


One of the Pawn Shop shows had someone selling an antique Tonsillectomy surgical tool, tonsillotome?, that looked like a cross between a paper hole punch, a melon baller and an hor devours fork. Tried to find it on Google, but got distracted by the medical videos. Thank God for laser surgery.

[theJanitor]

My doc wants me to remove mine. I'm 39 and I have tonsil stones, which are generally just a pain in the ass. They make my throat itchy, but once a week I dig them out.

After doing a bit of research, I elected not to have the procedure done. As Bai Hu said, I think that they are part of the reason I haven't taken a sick day since 1997.

[butler coach]

Thanks for the replies. I waited as long as possible but mine have started to get swollen to the point of causing breathing and eating problems. Since January I have had 10 " sore throats " lasting from 3 to 17 days. And cause me to use sick days. Just wanted to see what real people say about the pain instead of these soft people who say you can not eat for 20 days after.
I will let you know in a few weeks

[Mr_Rich]

My brother had his out at 42. Between the sore throat before and after he lost about 30 lbs. That was 15 years ago and he's been healthy since with no repeat of the recurring sore throats and infections that had bothered him for years.

Mine came out in the 4th grade.

Good luck.

Rich

ETA to correct spelling errors

[Nephrology]

I had mine out at 17. It was really crappy. I'm sorry. Don't refuse opiate painkillers and feel free to ask for more/higher doses if you need them. You'll ramp up a tolerance quick, but you shouldn't have serious issues with addiction as long as you begin to taper off once you heal.

You will probably lose a lot of weight. It's very hard to eat. One thing that is an absolute LIE - the whole "all the ice cream you can eat" nonsense. That stuff is sugary and sticky and adheres (and burns) just like napalm to the scabs in your throat. I would recommend you start with lukewarm soups and soft foods. Eventually you'll want to deliberately eat things that are tough (in texture) on your throat -t his will accelerate the healing process. Strawberries, saltines, etc. Do try to stay hydrated.

Last but not least, you will be hocking up some majorly gnarly stuff into the sink. Don't look at it too hard (unless, like me, you find that grosser it is the more interesting it becomes). You'll also find that you'll wake up in the night with a painful throat because your breathing will dessicate the wounds. Take a hefty dose of your narcotics before you go to bed, it will help reduce the pain and give you a better night's sleep.

Also, your tonsils are in lymphoid tissue and so to some extent they do influence your immune function... however, you have LOTS of lymph tissue in your body, including your spleen. AFAIK there is no evidence suggesting that you'll be more vulnerable to infection. I actually felt much better after getting them out and didn't get any sicker from my anecdotal POV. I found it kept minor colds from flaring my tonsils up to the size of golf balls. Life is much more comfortable without them.

[DocGKR]

When enlarged tonsils cause limitations with activity, breathing, eating, etc..., it is time for them to go. They hurt to have removed after adolescence. A lot.

I kept my then teenage son hooked to an IV for several days after his surgery so we cold continue giving him more potent post-op narcotic analgesics.

FWIW, my son has done MUCH better with less health issues now that the tonsils are gone.

Of course I am just a dentist, so what do I know...

[Nephrology]

I kept my then teenage son hooked to an IV for several days after his surgery so we cold continue giving him more potent post-op narcotic analgesics.


You are the best dad. I would've sold my left ....kitten.... for some IV morphine post-op. I was given something like 15 5/500 hydrocodone/APAP tables and my ENT had no idea how I went through them so fast. Dude was medieval.