Tonsillectomy

I had it done when I was a kid. Not sure how much good it does though, kind of like a circumcision.

 

I've heard its really painful and takes awhile to recover from.

 

I had it done as an adult, along with other nose and throat surgery, 12 years ago.

You'll have a sore throat for 2-3 days, then you'll feel better. If you get it done, be sure to stock your freezer with a couple of boxes of popsicles or fruit bars. You'll thank me later.......

 

Thus begins the story of how RocketMan Tex learned how to suppress his gag reflex...

 

Rimshot!!



Ladies and Gentleman, Xerobull will be bringing his unique brand of comedy to the Starlight Lounge every day this week, with two shows on Sunday! Bring the kids!

:grin:

 

What do you mean by "hella sick"?

 

I'm thinking about having this done as well sometime this year - mostly to see if it helps my sleep any at night. I'm not sure what all it entails, but as for the pain well... you'll be getting the good stuff from your doc at any rate. My ENT tells me it puts you out of commission for about a month though.

 

Can you swallow? How much can you eat? Weight loss? Ability to breath? Have you been hospitalized? Needed steroids? Are they progressively getting worse? Do you snore or have diagnosed sleep apnea?

 

If you are having sleep apnea or snoring, make sure it is you tonsils and not your nose, tongue base, or palate.

Snoring/Sleep apnea are multi-level problems any of those areas can cause them, and it is often different patterns dependent on the person. The level of surgery also should be based on you how bad your sleep apnea is, and not just because you have sleep apnea.

 

Does your doctor think you need to have your tonsils removed? He mentioned the procedure, but what is his diagnosis?

 

A cousin of mine got her tonsils removed a while back and after she got them out she ballooned out. She got fat. Poor thing... Be careful man.

 

At least you won't get smelly tonsil stones

 

I got it done about a 2 years ago at 33 for the same reasons (chronic infections, sickness). Recovery time was a little less than 2 weeks but the first few days will be hell. I lived off of popsicles, sherbert, ice cream, gatorade, and protein shakes. Some good advice my doc gave me which was helpful was to make sure you take your pain medicine right before you try and eat anything. Makes it alot more bearable.

 

Maybe it's cause you miss your girlfriend.

 

Listen, if you're worried about how much the procedure will cost, maybe you can work out a deal with the doctor to take a couple of puppies in trade?

 

Given what you said most insurance plans won't pay to have it removed as an adult. You need a higher frequency of infections, more severity to them, or diagnosed snoring/sleep apnea.

As per the actually procedure, it will depend a bit on who is doing it, but typically you will have a bad sore throat for 10-14 days that will be quite painful while swallowing. It will be similar feeling to one of your bad infections.

You should definitely plan on taking it easy for at least 7 days in all aspects and not doing much heavy exercise until those 2 weeks are done because you will be highly dehydrated and weak during that span.

There will be all kinds of people that will say that is too long or "I recovered in just 2 days." Don't listen them, simply because every person is a little different with how this goes. The recovery is all about pain tolerance and continuing to eat/drink fluids. Most people can keep up so it drains them overall. Some people just don't feel pain. It also sounds better if you tell them you will be out for 7-10 days and then come back quicker. (Perception, Perception.)

Also, many ENT's actually avoid doing tonsillectomies on adult males, because they seem to have the longest and most painful recoveries compared to women of the same ages and children.