Those that had tonsilectomy as an adult

sunandsand

Talk to me about it. Why did you get it done? How was the recovery?

 

I am strongly considering it. I have had 4 serious sore throats in a 12 month period. I don't always get them cultured to see if they are strep or tonsilitis because I work in an office where I can get treated without a culture. But at least one culture came back positive for strep and I am waiting on results from this culture. I also get tonsil stones which I think contribute to my illnesses, and more than 1 doc has told me I have large tonsils.

So on one hand, it would be nice to get them out and not worry about being in pain 4 times a year.

However, I dont HAVE to do it. We don't really have the money for our deductible right now so I would be making payments on that. This is the only day I've missed work in a year so other than the cost of a prescription, it doesn't hurt me financially to be sick every once in a while. We are also TTC so I would have to put that off for at least a month which bums me out because we've already been trying several months. My DH and I work separate shifts which means I would have to line up sitters while I recover to watch my DS.  And yeah, I'm worried about the pain and the anesthesia risk. 

I really can't decide. 

zigby

If the ENT thought it would make a difference then I would do it...I wouldn't worry about the anesthesia risk unless you've had problems in the past.  As for pain I've heard it's worse for adults, but I can't imagine it's that bad and lasts that long.  I assume you'd have dietary restrictions for awhile til it healed.  I'm sure they will give you tons of good drugs to make you feel better...but from surgery experience I'm usually out for 2-3 days and would need help with DS and then it's not so bad and I've taken him on my own...

(and I still have my tonsils somehow...they been threatening to take them out for years but have yet to actually do so...it's been a couple of years since the ENT went over the procedure with me)

wanttobeamom

I was supposed to have mine out 2 years ago but didn't do it. I just got yelled at by my PCP because I have now been sick for 18 days and the swelling in my tonsils will not go down. So I am getting mine out in July because that is when I have more vacation time coming to me. They said that I will probably be out of work for about a week.

DandelionMom

I had it when I was a teenager and it hurt like hell. I was testing postive for strep throat even when I didn't have any symptoms so was told they had to be removed. 

SMHWife

I had mine removed at 19 years old.

I'm not gonna lie... it sucked.  I didn't do well on anesthesia and was throwing up for 3 days after my surgery.  So - I had to stay in the hospital.  The soreness in my throat was one thing, but it was the pain in my ears afterwards that was awful.  Thank god for good drugs, but those drugs made me very sleepy.  I slept a lot post-surgery.

It took me 2 weeks to fully recover.  I lost 11 lbs. in those 2 week (WOO HOO!), but it was rough.  I blame most of it on being sick in the hospital for 3 days, but the doctor wasn't lying when he told me that I would need the full 2 weeks to recover.

CantWait2Be

I had mind removed at 21yrs old.  I can't remember for sure how long it took to recover but I had to go back to the hospital twice.  Once my throat started bleeding and I had to get it cauterized and then again at like 3am a clot broke lose and my throat was bleeding really bad and I was throwing up blood and I was dizzy and had to go back to the hospital and be put under to cauterize again and was admitted overnight.  They had to pump a bunch of blood out of my stomach and I threw up blood again the next day.  It was a freaky experience!  I wish the docs would have listened to my mom when I was younger and let me do it then because as an adult the recovery and risk is much worse from everything I hear and my own experience makes me believe it.

Rebekah1021

I had mine out when I was 19. I had a really decent recovery. Not a lot of pain, but I couldn't eat other than broth. Lots of sprite  that week. I was off work about a week and a half.

They needed to come out because I had tonsillitis that wouldn't go away. I will say that I when my allergies act up or get cold, I get really bad sore throats. I find that cough drops really help with that.