Tonsilectomy at 40?

I was 17 when I had it done and it was rough for a few weeks, but I rarely get sick now. My son had his out at age 4 due to sleep apnea and it has made a huge difference! He sleeps soundly and functions better during the day. I had a friend get hers out at 32 and she agreed it was rough for a few weeks. Stay hydrated no matter how much it sucks to drink water.

I had chronic tonsil issues my entire childhood (as in sick with tonsilitis at least twice a year, usually 3 times, from pretty much birth until college), plus a pretty much constant sinus infection from November to March every year. I SHOULD have had my tonsils and adenoids out when I was like 6, but my pediatrician refused saying "we're trying to get away from taking them out". Moron. :grumble:

My junior year of college, I got tonsilitis so bad that was on a triple dose of antibiotic and had to spend three days in the nurse's office while we waited for the drugs to kick in, so that they could monitor me while I slept to make sure I didn't stop breathing because my tonsils were THAT swollen. When I was home for Christmas break, I went to an ENT who was shocked that I hadn't had them out earlier, and immediately scheduled my surgery (tonsil and adenoid-ectomies) for a week after I got home from school in May.

Now....when you're 6 and you get your tonsils out, you're out of it for like two days, get to eat lots of ice cream, and are pretty much back to your normal self in 3-4 days. But, when you're an adult (I was 21) and you get your tonsils out, you're out of commission for like two WEEKS (as in it's a good thing I didn't start my summer job until June, because I would NOT have been able function properly for two weeks), and you don't feel like yourself until about a month after. Oh....and F the ice cream. I barely ate for the first week (I subsisted on baby food, literally), and graduated to plain mashed potatoes and pastina in week two. I lost about 15 pounds in those two weeks. :frown:

But was it worth it? Heck yes! :bigsmile: I haven't had tonsilitis or a sinus infection in the almost 16 years since I had them out. Heck...I can count on one hand the number of days I've been sick (if I exclude my bout with the flu...which was one year over Christmas, and technically only used 2 sicks days for...the rest was holidays and "shutdown").

Side note...my ENT told me that my "healthy" tonsils that he removed were by far the largest he had ever seen in his 30 year career. He would have liked to have seen them while I was sick. :huh: He asked me if I wanted them (uh...nooo)...and if I didn't, if I would mind if he kept them (umm...whatever floats your boat).

Side side note - I can't tell what infected tonsils look like on the average person. My hubby was sick a couple weeks ago and asked me if his tonsils looked swollen...I was like "no, not at all"....he was confused because they felt swollen, so he had me take a picture. When he looked at it, he was like "those are definitely swollen! you can see them". I said "really? I could see WAY more of my tonsils that that every day of my life until I had them out." I didn't know that you're not supposed to be able to see healthy tonsils. :laugh:

ETA - oh! before I had my tonsils out, I snored like mad. Literally loud enough to wake other people in different rooms up. now, I don't normally snore unless I'm sick.

My brother (who wasn't overweight) had his taken out in his late 20's. He was in major pain for 2 to 3 weeks or so, and had to return to the emergency room twice - it wouldn't stop bleeding. Once, it even started bleeding while he was asleep, and he started choking on the blood going down his throat. Luckily, his girlfriend at the time was there to wake him up, and we took him to the emergency room.

I had mine out at 18 and the recovery is more difficult the older you get. I had a blood vessel in my throat rupture while I was napping. I couldn't get it to stop bleeding until the doctor met me after hours to perform an emergency procedure.