Hi all! I'm new here but have been reading quite a bit of info here on adult tonsillectomy. My daughter (16) has had problems with sore throats, tonsillitis and strep for many years. Last fall she got mono, and her tonsils were just hideous looking. They were completely covered with pus and huge. I took her to the doctor, where they did a strep test. It was negative, so I was told, as often happens, to go home and give her Advil, plenty of fluids etc. She was in severe pain and cried for three days. She's had two or three incidents since where I've taken her in to be tested for strep, and each time I've been told the strep test is negative and to take pain killers.

Well, she's missed a lot of school because of the whole sore throat thing, so I finally decided to call myself and get her an appointment with an ENT. She went this past Monday, and he asked many questions. She complains almost daily that her throat hurts. Her tonsils look horrible--very large and pitted and she often gets tonsil stones too. He seems to think she may also have acid reflux, and told me to get her Prilosec and to make another appointment for three weeks from the day her saw her. He said it was very likely that she would need to have her tonsils removed, and kind of kept nudging me toward the answers he would need to his questions to validate the need for the tonsil removal. Well, I'm more than willing for her to have it done. I explained that I would like it done before school starts again (Aug. 1st) so we see him again on July 12th.

I've gone on quite a bit here, but one of my questions and concerns it this: She says she constantly feels sick and run down. Believe me, I hear her complain all the time too. I wonder if the tonsils could be keeping her sick? Has anyone had experience with having them removed and seeing a lot of symptoms of just generally not feeling well disappear?

I really could use any advice anyone could give me here. Thanks for listening!

Hi~

Your daughters tonsils sound like mine when I was young. One year I had scarlet fever twice and tonsilidice (sp) 3 times....I had my tonsils out when I was 16 too. I hope that you can schedule it for before school starts, (you are wise about this, as I missed a good 2 weeks of school). I have to honestly say that since I had them out, I went from strep and all those illnesses and feeling "run down" ALL THE TIME, to them all but disappearing. I am 36 now and so for 20 years, I've had strep once and no other throat problems.
I hope it works out for your daughter. Nobody should have to walk around feeling like that!
Best to you both! Good luck.

Geenah, thank you so much for your reply. I have been sensing for quite some time that a lot of her constantly feeling sick has to do with the tonsils, since quite a few people have posted that they seemed to always feel sick and never really knew what it was like to not feel sick until their tonsils were removed.

I do think the doctor will take them out, and I'm hoping for a quick recovery for her and a healthy new school year. At 16 and going into her junior year in high school, she really needs to be feeling good and enjoying her life.

I hate to admit it, but hearing "My throat hurts" has become so common in our house that we scarecly can muster up any sympathy lately, and that just isn't fair to her.

I had my tonsils out when I was 18 and it was the best thing I ever did! Everyone told me it would be horrible because I was so "old" and that the blood vessels would be grown in, I would need stitches, etc, etc...It got to the point where I was sick every three weeks. The doctor said that, unless I had a fever, he was taking them out, as he couldn't wait for me not to be sick. I had NO problems AT ALL. I didn't need stitches, the pain was there, but bearable. Now, of course, this doesn't mean that your daughter might not need stitches and what not, but she'll probably feel much better when it's all over. One thing I would recommend, given the chronic condition of her tonsils, is to have her take an antibiotic for a week leading up to the surgery (they'll have her on antibiotics after as well). Even though it's not strep doesn't mean that they're not infected. If the doctor is willing to give her anti's before the surgery, then she'll probably run less risk of infection later.

Good luck and let us know how it goes....

Inq

Impatien,
Hi, welcome to the boards. I just thought i would put in my two cents worth. I am 27 and I had my tonsils removed at 17 after having many bouts of strep and tonsilitis. I too have had no more problems with sore throats however I still get ill frequently and have had mono twice in the last 3 years. I feel it is a good idea to have your daughters tonsils removed but please don't feel that it will be the cure all for other upper respitory infections, she may still get ill frequently, she just won't have a sore throat. I guess it all depends on her immune system and family history. Sorry if I upset you in any way but I don't want you to think this will be a miracle cure for her being ill either. Please keep us posted and best of luck! :)

Thank you for all the nice replies. Yes, I guess down deep I am hoping this will be the answer to all her problems, and that probably isn't realistic. I am still holding out hope, however, considering how many people have said that they feel 100% better since their tonsillectomy. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Right now, her tonsils are almost touching each other and she's getting those tonsil stones every day. That alone will be a good thing to be rid of. I just hope it stops a lot of the other problems as well.

Hi again, all! Just wanted to say that my daughter's tonsillectomy is scheduled for this coming Monday, Aug. 1st. I took her Thursday for her pre-op appointment and got prescriptions for roxicet for pain, and an antibiotic, all liquid form.

Unfortunately her first day of school is also this coming Monday. We've been trying to get this done since school got out at the end of May. Ironic huh?

Anyway, I've been reading everything I can find on these boards about the procedure and your experiences, and I feel like I have learned a lot of really useful information. I've stocked up on banana and white popscicles :) lots of gum etc. I am really worried about her recovery, because I've never had my tonsils removed, and DH had his done when he was three. Of course after reading everything here, I'm getting really nervous.

One thing I found out after looking up roxicet on the net, it said that it is important to take the medication when you are scheduled because it's easier to control the pain that way. Apparently it isn't as effective if you miss a dose and let the pain get really bad. I will definitely wake her up to give her the meds. Hopefully she won't have any trouble with that. Her doctor said it was stronger than Tylenol with codeine. It will be new to her.

Well, please keep us in your thoughts on Monday, and I really appreciate all I have been able to learn here. All of your tips are so helpful to us uninnitiated!

Hi Impatien, I am 31 and just had my tonsils, adenoids and uvula reconstruction on June 30th. Just some tips for the aftercare, at least what seemed to comfort me: make sure she has a humidifier in her room when she sleeps - her mouth and throat may get very dry at night, which equals pain - my wife ran out & bought a humidifier for me and it made it more tolerable. Gatorade is going to be essential - but make sure she drinks a lot, I did at least 1/2 gallon per day (I stuck with the tropical-mango). I also found Arizona green tea. You don't want her to get dehydrated, so she is going to have to work through the pain. For food - I lived on oatmeal, cream of wheat & grits - the oatmeal was the best, nice & soothing. And watch out for extremes - things at room temperature seemed to be the best.

And yes, as you stated keep the roxicet scheduled. I think they will prescribe 2 teaspoons every 4 hours. I started to feel the pain come on after hour 3 - if she feels the pain before the scheduled time, don't be afraid to give her the roxicet at that moment. I spoke to my doctor about it and he said that everyone's body tolerance is different - so if the pain is felt earlier, it would be ok to medicate the pain and that the directions are a guideline.

Good luck on Monday, I'm sure she will do great!!!!

Hi,
I just read your post. Good Luck for Monday! I had my tonsils and adenoids out at age 17. I had complications with adenoids, but tonsils came out just fine despite 'advanced age'. I have had strep throat once in 25 yrs since, and overall would say I get less colds and other infections than average person. Prior to surgery I had permanently inflamed tonsils and snored so loud I could be heard through closed doors two floors down. The only thing I do have is a resistance to some antibiotics, which the Dr's believe is a result of the frequent and large doses I was given for recurrent tonsilitis.

Thank you for the tips! I do have a vaporizer that I will put in her room, and I will get some Gatorade. I hope she'll drink a lot. I keep stressing to her how important that is. She is only getting her tonsils out. I never thought to ask the doctor if during surgery he could possibly decide to take out the adnoids too. I don't know if that ever happens. I have thought of a few things I didn't think to bring up during her pre-op appt.

He mentioned that she may want to eat Jell-O or something like that the first day, and then on to soft things like scrambled eggs or oatmeal after that. He stressed nothing hard like French fries or chips or anything that could cause bleeding. However, it sounds like a lot of people on this board have a real problem eating at all for awhile. We'll just see how that goes, I guess.

Thank you for your good wishes for Monday. We have to drive an hour to the place she'll be having the surgery and she has to be there at 6:30 AM, so it'll be an early day for us. I'm glad that it will be over early though.

Hi,

I just read your post and was wondering how your daughter is doing. My 8 year old son had his tonsils and adenoids out one week ago today. This past week has been a nightmare! Somehow my son along with 4 other children that had surgery last wednesday ended up with a stomach bug. Of course the hospital is not taking any responsibility, they're just saying "there's a lot of that going around" The hospital that my son had his surgery at is rated 3rd best in the nation too! Anyway my son didn't stop throwing up for 4 days and ended up back in the ER twice due to dehyrdation. We are at day 7 now and he still isn't eating anything. He's surviving on Gatorade and water. I've offered him everything else imaginable. The only thing his stomach can tolerate is regular Tylenol. We tried Roxicet but it made him sick. The days are bearable for him but he is up half the night just crying that his throat and ears hurt even though I make sure he continues to get Tylenol every 4 hours throughout the night. This has been such a long week. It's so hard to see your child in such pain. I would gladly trade places with him! Hope things are better for your daughter. :) Thanks for listening.

Oh, my gosh, I feel so sorry for you and your poor little guy! I can't imagine him having to suffer some kind of bug and throw up along with just having his tonsils out! I sure hope he starts feeling better soon. Did the doctor suggest any other kind of pain reliever for him? I would imagine if he's only able to take regular Tylenol, that he must not be getting the pain relief that he should be getting. The dehydration was probably really hard on him too. I really hope this is over for you and him very soon. It's so hard to see your kids in pain.

My daughter just had hers out this past Monday, Aug. 1st. Today is day 7, and she claims her throat feels worse today than it has so far. Her ears are bothering her a lot too, although she says the right one hurts far worse than the left. From all I've been reading here, it does seem as though from somewhere around day 5 to 8 things do feel worse before getting better.

Her doctor did her tonsillectomy "the old-fashioned" way, as he put it. He said he feels the recovery is much less painful that way. She was prescribed liquid Roxicet and liquid amoxicillin. A couple days ago she was complaining about how swollen her tongue was and that it was numb. I called the doctor and was told that that was probably an allergic reaction to the Roxicet. They switched her to a generic liquid Demerol. She is doing pretty well with that. I have been giving her the pain medication every 3-4 hours, depending on how she's feeling. I have been setting the alarm to get up in the night so that she wouldn't miss a dose. They told me that was very important. Apparently if you miss out on that medication overnight, you will have a hard time bringing the pain under control after that.

She actually has been able to eat right from the start. I bought lots of popscicles, soups etc. She has had macaroni and cheese and ramen noodles. I was really surprised as I expected she would not be able to eat anything for days. She's been laying around and resting, but overall I really expected a lot worse.

Hi,
Have you seen an ENT? I would usually just either go to my PC doctor or he'd call me in scripts....It just got to the point of being ridiculous and the last time I called him he said I needed to see an ENT so I went to my father's ENT......It was in a matter of minutes of looking at my tonsils he said how diseased they were and should come out. That they actually harbored more bacteria which in turn makes me constantly feel like crap with a swollen gland feeling and sore throat.....I think I just got used to it after awhile....I am looking forward to after the tonsillectomy heals to see if I feel differently without that annoying throat pain being sore....Best of luck to your daughter!!!!