Tonsillectomy as an Adult??

My experience wasn't very pleasant either (but wait it gets better). I had strep constantly, too. I wanted to die the first week. I couldn't even drink liquids...no ice cream, soup...nothing. My medicine made my tongue swell up, so I couldn't medicate appropriately. I literally wanted to die! I ended up having to get an IV because I was so dehydrated. After about a week, I was fine. I'm SOOOOO glad that I did it!! I'm rarely sick, and have not had a single episode of strep since ( I was 18 and am now 35) It was the best decision I've ever made. Good luck. You won't be sorry.

I work for an ENT and as a rule of thumb, you won't feel like doing much for at least 5 to 7 days. You should be able to resume a normal diet after 7 days. Good luck!

My daughter is 14 and for the purposes of medicine is an adult (5'9" and 180 lbs). She just had a tonsilectomy on Dec. 11. She, too, had strep constantly. My daughter has been on Loritab (tylenol with hydrocodone) and she basically slept for the first three days after the surgery. By Wednesday, she was able to go to school for an hour to meet with a teacher. Of course, Moms are made of a bit sterner stuff and not looking to milk the experience. So depending on your tolerance for pain, I'd say that you would be ready to take on your kids by the 4th day. The other thing that is hard is that you have to take the medicine round the clock to keep the pain manageable. You'll also need to drink half your weight in ozs of liquid. So my daughter had to drink 90 ozs a day. It was hard, but we made her drink water or gatorade. One surprising side effect of the surgery was that her tongue was swollen for the first week and it made it harder to talk. We told my daughter that this was the worst sore throat she would ever have again. Good luck!!

I hate to say this but I would rather have another baby than have my tonsils taken out. I had it done 8 years ago when I was 22, a year before I had my first child. It was about a good 4-5 days that I was out, on the sofa, not getting up for anything. The worst part is taking the pain meds because you have to swallow and it hurts so bad. If you can get through the first few days, then after that you will be fine! I hate to tell you all of this but you did ask and I had no idea it was going to be so bad going into it. I had piano students at 6 and 7 years of age going to school the next day following the procedure so I thought it would be a 'walk in the park'....not so! It is worse the older you get, BUT I will say that I do not get strep throat anymore and the only time I get a real sore throat is with the onset of a cold. So maybe knowing this will help you get through the first few days. :-)

M.

I had mine out as an adult. I had them out on a Tuesday and went back to my teaching job the following Monday. The first few days you will definitely need help because you won't feel like taking care of your children. The discomfort in your throat and the fatigue from the anesthesia will make it difficult. The worse part for me was how sore my throat was. Just be careful and eat soft foods. It is like having a big scab (I know it sounds gross - sorry) on your throat, so if you eat something that is not soft, it will tear off the healing part and really hurt. Just follow your doctors instructions and you should be OK within a short time.

Expect the first few days to be a little rough...REALLY sore throat, needing rest, etc. Have some soft food on hand and smoothies made with protein powder can be a good. I noticed someone mentioned room temperature foods, others have found cool foods can be soothing if you can tolerate them. The doctor can prescribe you liquid meds (pain reliever, antibiotic, etc.) that will eliminate the need to swallow hard pills. Be sure to ask! It's terrific that you have plenty of help. No surgery is any fun but you will get through this just fine. Good luck!

A.,
I was 25 y/o when I had mine. It was like instant relief. I am not saying that it didn't hurt after, but after years of what seemed like constant strep throat it was wonderful. I didn't have children at the time and did sleep a few days after due to pain meds, but it was worth it. I very rarely even get a sore throat now, and haven't had strep throat since. I pray that everything goes well for you, and what a blessing it is that you have such a helpful family. May God bless you all. S.

Hi!

I had mine out when I was 34, had a 3yr old daughter at home. It was awful! Sorry to be blunt, but that's the truth and no candy-coating it. I'd rather give birth to twins without any pain medication than do my tonsils again. It was painful, and it lasted for two whole weeks. I was rehospitalised after a few days because I couldn't eat or drink anything. Got stronger pain meds, which helped (suppositories; hurt too much to swallow).

However, and this is the good part, I've NEVER been sick since then (I'll be 40 in just over a week), not even a cold. So for that, it was so worth it.

Go in to it knowing it's painful. Have some help. Have some nutritional drinks you can have so you get nourishment (helps healing). And take your pain meds regularly. It will go over and you'll be glad it's done when it's over.

And if your kids can have it done as children - do it! My daughter was 6 when hers were taken (adenoids as well) and she was eating the next day and running around like a wild heathen after just 3 days (was supposed to be quiet for a week until the sores healed to prevent bleeding). Kids recover much better!

Good luck!

It is as bad as they say - if not worse. I just had mine out in June - worst thing I have ever done - and I gave birth to a 10 pound baby with 4th degree tearing with no drugs!!

It was a full 2 weeks of hell - I couldn't even swallow my own saliva for over a week - let alone drink! The first day was awful - was rehospitalized for severe vomitting (blood) and the inability to swallow the pain meds and keep them down (b/c of vomitting) gave me a migraine! Then about day 4 or 5 I felt better - only to get way worse when the scabs started coming off... it was the worst 2 weeks of my life.

To this day - I have lost most of my sense of taste, as I had nerve damage from the surgery!!

I really didn't have a choice - when I would get strep (which was often) - I would end up hospitalized every time on IV antibiotics! But truthfully, if I was a person who responded well to oral antibiotics and got better - I would NOT have the surgery - I would just deal with the recurrent strep!

That is just me, because my experience has been so bad - and the loss of taste thing is so depressing!

I had mine removed when I was 33 y.o.
It was definitely worth it BUT it was a VERY difficult recovery.
Someone else said it and I will second it... I'd rather have another child and go through labor and delivery than a tonsillectomy.
I didn't have very much help and my kids were 2 and 4 at the time.
1 week after my surgery, I was crying from the pain and the Nurse told me she couldn't prescribe anything stronger since I was caring for small children.
I was on liquid hydrocodone.
Make sure you have someone with you to take care of your kids AND someone to help take care of YOU!!!
Good Luck!

I had my tonsils out when I was 40 because I got so many infections from my kids (aged 7 and 5). I've had a couple of infections since but they responded much better to antibiotics since my tonsils didn't also have to be treated. Take the liquid medicine as directed - it helps. If you have a reaction, call for something different. My husband had a similar bad reaction for a nasal surgery when the stitches didn't work - immediately go to the emergency room, don't wait. Mashed potatoes were also my favorite, as well as plain jello instead of pudding jello. Plus, I liked frozen treats (plain fruit flavors) to help ease the pain. The worst part of my experience was that both kids ended up with strep throat right after my surgery, so we were all in the living room together - couch, chair, and mattress on the floor. The best thing about the surgery was that I lost about 10 pounds and have been able to keep it off for the most part. Good luck!

I also had my tonsils out at 30. At that time I was working. I had it done on a Friday and took the next week off. I did great except I did spend the night at hospital due to fever. Just remember to swallow and do as the dr says. You can do this!!

I had a T & A when I was 15. That's the last 3 day span when I was quiet. SORE SORE SORE throat, all of that ice cream, BUT sore throat. After about 3 days, it all started to disappear. THANK GOD.

I had mine taken out when my son was only a few months old. It was very hard but thank God for family and friends. I can tell you this. If you have a sensitive stomach you are going to want to make sure you have something like mashed potatoes on hand. I had a horrible time with the liquid pain meds. It made me so sick and at one point I even threw up which of course is very bad on your throat. I discovered that mashed potatoes in my stomach helped a lot. The liquids like soup and jello did not help with the nausea from the meds. Make sure you drink lots of warm liquids too. This also helped me with the pain. I was able to take care of my family again after about 7 days. Just make sure you get lots of rest or you won't get better. Let your family take care of the kids until you feel up to it or you won't get better. (This was my doctors orders) I hope you get to feeling better. Good luck.

I was 20 when I got mine out. I was laid out for about two-three days afterwards. I could only eat room temp. foods. But like the other post said I was no longer suffering with strep every few months. I have only had strep once since then and it has been 14 years. Good Luck and think of the positive side of not having to deal with strep anymore. I do wish I had them taken out when I was younger. My daughter had her out at 2 and was running around and eating everything the next day.

Hi A.,
I have some silly advise for you!

My tonsils were removed when I was 25 and only had one child at the time, he was too young to want to yell at so other than a really sore throat, the only thing I had a problem with was waking up after the surgery (it was outpatient).

Oh, and the silly part..the first solid food I tried to eat was a quarter pounder and to this day I can't eat them! My throat closes up and I can't swallow..so my advise is to eat something you can live without in the beginning...LOL

Of course I'm better off without the quarter pounders, but they used to be my favorite and it would be a nice treat on occasion :)

I will be praying that you have an uneventful surgery with a quick recovery. I was 24 years old and had no children. However, I had a terrible experience because of a reaction to a drug I had never had. I began throwing up 10 minutes after I got to my room. I ruptured several stitches, so they had to take me back into surgery. I was in the hospital for 5 days. I could not keep anything down and they had to feed me through an I V. I am now 43 and believe it was worth every painful moment. I have not had strep since and have rarely been sick.

K.

I too had my tonsils out at 32 and I must say it was brutal and absolutely worth it. It took me about 10 days to start to function and about a month before I was 100% and this was before children. Good luck...but make sure you have lots of help and support for awhile. If you want to talk, feel free to contact me.
=) A.

I had mine out when I was 20 - had strep constantly. I am 40 now and haven't had it once since! Well worth it! Everyone is right, it is more painful recovery as an adult, but it is worth it. Now for the gory details. I did have something unusual happen - this probably won't happen to you. (also keep in mind this was 20 years ago!) In the middle of the night while I was sleeping a stitch or something came loose and I woke up throwing up blood that had gone down to my stomach. I was rushed to the hospital throwing up clots of blood. They had to cartarize the stitches back togeter - it was horrible! Like I said, this will most certainly not happen to you, but you asked for the gory details! :) Good luck - you'll be fine! You've have children - this is nothing in comparision :)

A. I had tonsils and adenoids removed in July. I'm 35. It was very painful but take ur pain meds as often as you are prescribed. Drink LOTS of fluids. Don't push starting to eat to soon, u'll know when ur ready.
My mom came into town to help out, I have 2 kids so it was a huge help. For me I was probably feeling close to 'myself' within about 10 days... I'm not gonna say it was easy cause it certainly wasn't but it was definately worth it. At one point I was feeling very sorry for myself because it was sore and I just wanted to feel better. As long as you have good support and take it easy, rest, fluids, drugs ;) you will be fine. Goodluck and best wishes for the new year strep free!!!

I just had mine taken out in August. It was worse than I expected. The worst part in my opinion is the horrible taste in your mouth. As it starts to heal, you will have really bad breath too. At the time I had a 4 month old and a 2 year old. It took me about 4 days before I felt comfortable caring for them alone. I didn't fell normal again until about 2 weeks. Oh and my doctor told me to stay away from dairy products because they cause flem and extra flem will cause you to cough etc... He recommended water based popsicles. I drank warm tea. It felt good to me, but everyone is different. I wish you a quick recovery.

Hi A.,
I had my tonsils removed as an adult. It's been over 10 years ago, but i don't recall that it was that bad. Maybe it was because I didn't have kids at the time so I was able to rest and recuperate per the doctor's orders. I do remember being a little weaker/fatigued than normal because my diet was so limited, it was tough to get full. I encourage you to get as much as rest as you can and rely on your husband and fanily as much as possible.

Yes, my husband had this 1 month before our now 2 year old was born. He was awful but then again, men are so much worse then women when it comes to pain or illness. I can say to stock up on lozenges with benzocaine (sp?) in it. That's the only thing that helped him a lot. To top it off, his surgeon went on vacation the day after his surgery so we had to call the on call for pain meds and things. He also had his uvula (punching bag in your throat) and some sinus stuff done but the scars took about a year to stop coming out from the tonsils. He has not had an infection since though! Good luck to you!