I'm a 45 year old woman who is having a consult with my ENT to schedule a tonsillectomy. I've had tonsil issues my whole adult life and now suffer from chronic cryptic tonsils that are constantly filled with tonsil stones and get sore when I can't get the stones out (which most of the time I feel like I'm just touching the tip of the iceberg). I can push on the tonsils with a q-tip and see the white bulging out but can only break off small bits of it. I know there is ALWAYS a lot more in there that I can never access. It's really awful. Sometimes a given tonsil will get sore because of the stuff being trapped in there. If I CAN manage to get some of the stones out, it will make the tonsil feel better but they just keep on coming back and back and back.
I feel like my tonsils have become even more deeply pitted over the years after infections. I don't get the requisite 5-7 infections a year but I do get tonsillitis about once a year and it seems like it's more severe and takes longer to heal the older I get. This season I have had two bouts of bad tonsillitis within a 4 month period. This last one was particularly bad.
The tonsil stones have been virtually non stop for many years. The ENT I go to has told me that he will authorize a tonsillectomy and it's been really up to me to make the decision. I have been scared to do it and have put off the idea for a long time. He has explained it's a very non-fun recovery and has not sugar coated it. After reading many posts on here from adults post-tonsillectomy it certainly does sound like a rather horrifying ordeal. But I don't want to go into my 50's, 60's 70's or beyond still dealing with this. I'm afraid at some point I'll end up with an abcess or an infection that simply doesn't heal. Despite what doctors say, I cannot possibly believe having that rotting, stinking tonsil matter in your tonsils (the 'stones) is in any way normal or healthy!
I am hoping to post here throughout my experience and just wanted to get thoughts of any adults (especially 'older' ones like me) who've been through this experience. I think I'll need a LOT of support.
I appreciate any thoughts you have and if you felt, in the long run, that it was worth it.
Re: Adult Tonsillectomy - was it worth it for you?
Hi.
I'm not an older gal, in fact I'm still quite young.
But I've had immune system problems for 20 years now, including problems with my tonsils. Since october I've had strep throat and tonsillitis about 7 times. I know how miserable it is.
I recently had my tonsils taken out on February 28th. I'm not quite out of the healing process but healing is different for everyone (for me it just may be a bit longer than normal). Although dealing with the pain hasn't been fun, if I don't get as sick anymore after this, to me it will have been worth it. Its only two weeks out of your life. My doctors gave me plenty of pain medication and antibiotics so I've been in good hands. It has been hard. Its still not fun. But I think the way you should look at it is if you feel better in the long run (which is what most people say), two weeks will seem worth it.
I personally got tired of being in the doctors office so often. Although I'm used to it because of my other conditions, I didn't need this to be another one. Although its entirely up to you, if you've had that many problems with your tonsils, I would go for it- take 'em out!
Re: Adult Tonsillectomy - was it worth it for you?
Jordan, thank you, I'm sorry you had to deal with so many of these infections among other things that you say you are handling. :-( I've come to the conclusion there's never a 'good' time for a tonsillectomy and I'd rather do it now than if I end up with an abscess or infection that won't resolve.
You are right, the weeks of hell are in the interest of long term relief and that's what we're all striving for. My ENT told me he just did a tonsillectomy on a 52 year old man so at least I won't be the oldest!
Glad for you that you are getting this out of the way. I hope it helps you and makes the other issues you're dealing with that much easier to handle.
Re: Adult Tonsillectomy - was it worth it for you?
I had my tonsillectomy in July, 2010 at age 58. No horror story here. I got along amazingly well. If you click on my name, you might be able to find some of my posts. Not sure how that works nowadays. I don't check the boards very often anymore. I don't think I ever started a thread. I just posted replies in others. I think the best advise I gave was about setting up a recovery zone.
My uvula swelled during surgery, so my ENT clipped it off. He said I didn't need it anyway. I have since discovered a few silly things that I used to do that I can't do without a uvula, so I kind of wish it was still there. No big deal, though. I can live without it.
Yes, I'm glad I had it done. I didn't have problems with tonsillitis. I just had one very enlarged tonsil and I was afraid it might be cancerous, so I decided to get rid of them. There was no cancer and I received great peace of mind.
Re: Adult Tonsillectomy - was it worth it for you?
choirgirl, can't thank you enough for your post! (hug!) I feel quite isolated in being this age getting this done. I'm scheduled for April 10th. I am hoping my recovery is not as 'eventful' as many that I've read. My ENT actually chastised me lightly for pouring over tonsillectomy recovery forums because everything I asked him about (in terms of severe post op issues) he tried to reassure me were not the 'norm.' I hope he's right and your story gives me hope. It's a scary process to go through. I did ask about the tonsil tissue being sent to pathology and he said they automatically do that. I have no reason to suspect anything other than cryptic, crapped out tonsils, but I will certainly anxiously await the pathology on them.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts and I'm so glad your experience was not as awful as so many I've read. :-)
Re: Adult Tonsillectomy - was it worth it for you?
Hi briz350, how did your surgery go? I had my tonsillectomy last April 19 and it's been one of the most difficult experiences of my life. I'm glad I found this board because no one I knew could really understand what I was going through. I hope you are doing well.
The following user gives a hug of support to aliber: briz350 (04-26-2012)
Re: Adult Tonsillectomy - was it worth it for you?
Aliber, did you mean you just had your tonsillectomy a week ago on the 19th? I had mine on the 10th.
It went as I would have expected. Truthfully, it was not as brutal as I had been scared to believe. I had read so many horror stories. Also, I believe it is definitely mostly a mental battle. You have to be able to just swallow through the pain and get your meds, your liquids and your soft foods in. I know it is excruciating and I found that Percocet just barely took the edge off of things and let me swallow. But you've got to push through the pain and just do it.
I did not have any bleeding or any complications. I did not get dehydrated and I tried to drink Ensure or Slimfast drinks along with baby food oatmeal and some custards, to keep my calories up and get vitamins. I also have a protein powder and made shakes with that (they were very thin and easy to get down). Protein is essential to healing and if all someone ate is mashed potatoes and popsicles, you are severely protein deficient and it will impact your healing.
What has happened in your recovery that made it so hard for you? Do you mind me asking how old you are? Was it the pain, did you have bleeding? I am 45 and believe me, I expected the very worst, but it wasn't as much of a nightmare as I had thought. I did have vomiting the night I came home from the hospital (from the anesthesia) that was not relieved by anti nausea meds. But I was okay the next morning.
I also was NOT put on an antibiotic after surgery and was glad for that. My doctor does not believe in prescribing unless you have a documented infection. It only makes your body have a harder time healing if you are on antibiotics (if you have no infection) because they knock out all the good bacteria in your gut which is part of your immune system - hence part of what helps you stay healthy and heal. Add that to taking powerful pain meds and if you are on antibiotics too, it wreaks havoc on your system and especially your stomach.
Let me know how you're doing!
Last edited by Administrator; 04-26-2012 at 09:19 AM.
Re: Adult Tonsillectomy - was it worth it for you?
I had a tonsillectomy at age 21 to get rid of perpetually infected tonsils full of crypts and tonsil stones. I 1,000 percent am glad I had the procedure done, even though I was shocked at how much pain I suffered as an adult recovering from this surgery. I thought I'd be sitting around enjoying ice cream and jello desserts -- instead, I could barely swallow my liquid codeine! However, a couple weeks of pain were so very worth the outcome. I have far fewer sore throats and, of course, zero tonsil stones.
Re: Adult Tonsillectomy - was it worth it for you?
Thanks so much briz!
Yes, I had my surgery last Thursday. I'm on day 9 now, if you count the day of the surgery as day 1. I had the coblation tonsillectomy under general anesthesia. I was sent home the next day. My problem was two large tongue sores from the surgical instruments. My ENT said my tonsils were small but loaded with tonsil stones, and they were infected during the surgery, even though I had taken a week-long course of antibiotics two weeks beforehand. I'm still on antibiotics now; this is my last day.
The tongue sores have been very painful. I couldn't eat at all for the first week; I lost 11 pounds in 7 days. I also struggled with excessive salivation, which may or may not have made the pain worse. Even drinking was hard. I had ear pain only one night; mostly it was the tongue pain that made things difficult. And of course, the surgical site hurt as well. It was just so much pain coming from different directions.
Probably because of the antibiotics, I also had diarrhea for the first few days. That coupled with not eating, and the pain, made me pretty weak and depressed. I was taking only antibiotics plus a benzydamine oral rinse, which is pretty mild as pain relievers go. Two days ago (day 7) I went back to my ENT to ask for an increase in my pain medication, and he actually prescribed local anesthesia for my tongue sores, plus carbenoxolone gel. I haven't had to use the local anesthesia yet because I haven't been inclined to eat much. Yesterday and today I had small meals of soft food (fish yesterday and noodles in beef broth today) without the aid of local anesthesia.
The carbenoxolone gel has helped, as well as diclofenac, which I started 3 days ago without even asking my ENT. I've had minor surgery before and that's what my surgeon prescribed that time. I'm feeling a lot better now that I can eat a little, and it's also comforting to read posts from people like you who are going through the same thing. I'm 33, by the way.
Adult Tonsillectomy - was it worth it for you? 
