Surprisingly, things have been going pretty well so far. My right side barely hurts (which is where I had the really bad tonsil) and the left side is moderately sore. I have been drinking water like it's my job, and have a humidifier running constantly. I am hoping that it stays this easy, but from what I've read online, this is the easy part. Keeping my fingers crossed.
The doctor said my right tonsil was severely scarred and filled with pus/tonsil stones, whereas the left one wasn't so terrible (which was totally reflective of my experience).
It's amazing... at this moment, my right side hurts less now than it has over the last year. I am already thrilled that I had this done
Great news, Theresa! It should only get better as you heal. So glad you finally got what you needed, and are already feeling better.
Thanks Lady! This has been a really tough journey for me.
Anyway, so I ended up having the needle aspiration, and it came back pretty normal except for extremely high neutrophils. After the ENT who sent me for this procedure got the results, he actually pulled the same thing the first ENT pulled; "come back in 2-3 months". WHAT?!
I was smart enough to double book myself for another ENT while seeing this one (I was going to see every ENT in town if necessary), so just a couple days after seeing this ENT, I saw the third one.
The third one was amazing. He listened to my concerns, took my pain seriously and agreed to take my tonsils out. I was supposed to have them out in March, but had some issues and was brought in on the 1st of February.
He said that I had necrotizing tonsilitis caused by some evil antibiotic resistant bacteria...apparently uncommon which was why it was so damn hard for anyone to diagnose me. It explains the 'rawness' and the bleeding I kept complaining about however, as my tonsils were literally being eaten away. In addition to this, my right tonsil was full of crap. He took out my tonsils, adenoids, some of my soft palate and he said he took a node as well (presumably on the right side because there is a gaping hole there). He also said I had scarring unlike anything else he had ever seen and it was a good thing I did this because it was only going to get increasingly worse. My post-op appt. isn't until March, so I have to wait for a better break down on what happened, but this is what I gathered from his brief visit to me in the hospital after the surgery.
So I am currently 7 days post-op, and I have to admit that the pain sucks (like... a lot) ... but I am so relieved to have the damn things out and that this is almost over with that I can't be too upset. This has been a nightmare of an experience.
I am thinking of writing a "guide to/my experience with tonsillectomy as an adult" at some point, but I am still going through it and can't hold up for too long.
Anyway, I hope my giant thread has helped someone else out there. There *IS* light at the end of the tunnel. Just be as persistent as you possibly can and don't take no for an answer... eventually SOMEONE will help you.
Last edited by Administrator; 02-08-2013 at 02:02 AM.
Theresa,
Yours is a painful story but a success in the end. Necrotic tissue is dead tissue, like gangrene. No wonder you felt so horrible. It is nice to get a good explanation like this to put the pieces together, understand it and finally put it to rest. The high neutrophils in the node were from the infection. You should not only be rid of your sore throat soon, but feel better overall when your immune system isn't trying to deal with infection and dead tissue constantly. I'm happy for you!
Wow! Thanks you Theresa for posting this! I may not have the exact same issues but I can totally empathize with your search for a decent doctor (I am also in Canada) and having to push to get doctors to take you seriously.
For the past few months I have had very minor bleeding from some where inside my mouth. It could be gums (but I highly doubt it), it could be a minor nose bleed and the blood dripped into my throat (but I highly doubt it -- especially since it evidences itself later when I blow my nose) so it seems to be my tonsils or back of throat (which is very red and I can see a visible vein). I have tonsilitis on and off but I admit it is minor and the white debris comes out when I use a Waterpic machine... the thing I hate is the mystery bleeding that happens every 4 months or so and the raw throat. I have posted about this elsewhere but my ENT thinks it is LPR or silent reflux. Anyway it makes me want to have my tonsils removed... anyway, I would love to hear your next update. I realize you may not get this reply for awhile but hope you are well and we would love to hear from you soon.
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by Theresa15
Thanks Lady! This has been a really tough journey for me.
Anyway, so I ended up having the needle aspiration, and it came back pretty normal except for extremely high neutrophils. After the ENT who sent me for this procedure got the results, he actually pulled the same thing the first ENT pulled; "come back in 2-3 months". WHAT?!
I was smart enough to double book myself for another ENT while seeing this one (I was going to see every ENT in town if necessary), so just a couple days after seeing this ENT, I saw the third one.
The third one was amazing. He listened to my concerns, took my pain seriously and agreed to take my tonsils out. I was supposed to have them out in March, but had some issues and was brought in on the 1st of February.
He said that I had necrotizing tonsilitis caused by some evil antibiotic resistant bacteria...apparently uncommon which was why it was so damn hard for anyone to diagnose me. It explains the 'rawness' and the bleeding I kept complaining about however, as my tonsils were literally being eaten away. In addition to this, my right tonsil was full of crap. He took out my tonsils, adenoids, some of my soft palate and he said he took a node as well (presumably on the right side because there is a gaping hole there). He also said I had scarring unlike anything else he had ever seen and it was a good thing I did this because it was only going to get increasingly worse. My post-op appt. isn't until March, so I have to wait for a better break down on what happened, but this is what I gathered from his brief visit to me in the hospital after the surgery.
So I am currently 7 days post-op, and I have to admit that the pain sucks (like... a lot) ... but I am so relieved to have the damn things out and that this is almost over with that I can't be too upset. This has been a nightmare of an experience.
I am thinking of writing a "guide to/my experience with tonsillectomy as an adult" at some point, but I am still going through it and can't hold up for too long.
Anyway, I hope my giant thread has helped someone else out there. There *IS* light at the end of the tunnel. Just be as persistent as you possibly can and don't take no for an answer... eventually SOMEONE will help you.
Sorry one more thing... I think there are hundreds of people on this forum who would love reading your tonsillectomy guide for adults... me being one of them :-) :-)
