General Chat

thanks everyone for your well wishes, back to work tomorrow, Helen

Hi Helen ,tonsils are the first line of defence against bugs and deseases,and are NOT now normally removed unless they give a lot of trouble.
Mine wer removed whilst i was in the airforce ,in the persian gulf.because they became badly infected and i had a temperature of 102f .
I still get the odd sore throat ,yes ,and don't forget ,the doctor should tell you ,they CAN grow back,though thankfully ,mine never did.Fred :-)

Glad you are getting over the op Helen but do take it easy, any operation takes it out of you. I hope it will prove to be the answer to your health problems.

Expert opinion about tonsillectomy has never been in agreement. ;)

I had constant tonsillitis as a child in the 50s, but our paediatrician didn't believe in it.

At 21, in my first year of law school, I came out of a long bout of bronchitis only to get, as my doctor said, the pusiest tonsils he'd seen that month. So I had them out after finals. Coming after a year of torts class and cases in which people died after tonsillectomies, the idea prompted me to write a will first.

I guess I haven't had tonsillitis since, but the twice yearly ear infections continued for years, until a friend introduced me to peroxide: a little drop in each ear periodically (and especially when I have a cold), and I haven't had an ear infection in 20 years.

Anyway, after having mine out, I didn't follow doctors instructions to take life very easy. In the week after the surgery, I travelled several hours by train to spend a few days fighting with my boyfriend, then another couple of hours to home where I painted my bedroom.

The next night I haemorraged when the blood clot dislodged (causing the nurse in the emergency room to say, when it finally made its appearance after I'd been convinced I was going to choke; large thing, it was: "oh, there really is something wrong with you" ...) and was hospitalized again for two days.

Moral of story -- take it easy!!! until the healing is complete.

Better out than in Helen.My son's tonsils were some of the worst his consultant had seen.Whipped them out and he has not had a bad throat since.
I'm sure you will know you made the right decision.

Helen
It's good to see that you are recovering well from your op. and the pain is now decreasing.
It sounds as if the tonsils were doing you more harm than good, so probably your health will be much better next winter.
I hope so.


Gwyn

Quick update. Had tonsils out on 16th May, was warned that pain would get worse for first week then gradually better. Was manageable (on painkillers) for first few days, then got pretty bad, especially referred pain in ears. Finally had a day free of painkillers yesterday (so 12 days after the op). Had small amount of bleeding (oozing really) 9 days after op as a couging fit dislodged some of the "scab", but nothing major. It remains to be seen how well I feel now I am without them, I guess the test will be next winter. According to consultant they were "full of muck" so probably better out than in. Helen

well, seen the consultant, he says its up to me! kind of hoping he would tell me what to do. Apparently not so bad that he would say I must have them taken out, but not so good that he thinks its not worth it. Need 2 weeks off work and apparently pain v bad for at least a week, so need to weigh it up. He did say that often tonsillitis gets worse / more frequent after having a baby but that by the time little one is 5 or 6 it settles down again, not sure I can wait that long. Thanks to everyone for their responses, just need to make a decision now!

Had mine out in 1947 when I was 6. I do get sore throats but mild ones with a cold.

OH used to suffer badly with tonsillitis, when he was in his early 20s and in the R Navy he was told, the next bout of tonsillitis, out come the tonsils. He never had another bout. (to my knowledge!) He has still got them and they don't seem to give him any trouble (he is 72 now!)

thanks everyone, off to see consultant on Monday so will see what he says

It was over fifty years ago I had mine out,along with just about everybody else in my class.

The one thing nobody warned us about was the fact that they do bleed a bit afterwards and it drips into your stomach.Mine did anyway.

This caused sudden vomiting. I can remember being in the middle of the ward playing when it was about to happen. Luckily a passing nurse was holding a bed pan.

I had to stay in an extra week because my temperature would not go down.Eventually they decided it would stay where it was anyway.Must just be hot blooded I suppose.Could explain a lot!

My son had his tonsils out 3 years ago (he was 4) with an excellent consultant. He had developed sleep apnoea because they were so big all the time and he got quinsies the last bout of tonsillitis he had. He lost weight because he couldnt swallow properly.

Our consultant told us after the age of about 3 your tonsils are of no use to you as part of your immune system, I had heard you are more prone to meningitis without them, he told us that was wrong.

I had my tonsils out when I was 6 because I always had tonsillitis, I am in my 40`s now and its never caused me any more problems.

I have a friend that had her`s out in her 30`s two years ago. She said it was painful after, but nothing painkillers couldn`t control. She had to have two weeks off work and had to rest, but she has had no problems since.

I think you have to weigh up how ill you are each time with tonsillitis and how much effect it has on your life against a couple of weeks of pain and discomfort after the op. No-one is the same so the op will be different for each person. Have a good chat with your consultant and if you dont feel confident with them ask to see a different one.

Good luck

Isn't this'trend' amongst medicals for people to have things done
interesting?
I'm the youngest of 4 -the others being 7, 6 and 4 years older.
Unlike the others, I never had my umbilical cord bound-and my navel stuck out.
They all had their tonsils out aged 4 to 7 (followed by copious amounts of ice cream), I didn't.
I had all my double teeth filled aged 12 (only 1 needed a filling-they did the others 'just in case') - the other's didn't have this.
My daughters missed out on the 'Swiss coating of their teeth against rot- because they had no fillings! (now,aged 28 and 31, they still have no fillings) -they've also never had their tonsils out, despite the younger suffering from a lot of swollen glands and tonsillitis as a child.

I had mine out at 40 years old, no problems as a child started with sore throat about every 2 weeks winter or summer, saw consultant sent me straight to his secetery booked appointment, 3 weeks later, best thing for me no problems ever since, I do remember giving me fish & chips to eat when I asked why they said it would help to clear all musus, it took me ages they were freezing cold by the time I managed to swallow, but believe it or not next meal I swallowed easier, I feel it was best for me because my throat would never have cleared up
Mabel

I remember back in the '50's it was almost a snobby thing. Yummy Mummies, as we would know them today made a big thing of having their kids tonsils out, whether their child needed it or not. Sad really as lots of kids had theirs removed when it was completely unnecessary.

These days, hopefully, the operation is only performed when it is really needed.

I had mine out about three or four years ago - I'm 39 now. I was always getting throat infections and then I was in hospital with a quinsy, which is when I was advised to have the tonsils out.

It wasn't a bad experience really - in fact I remember sneaking out of the hospital the same night to have a fag - and my throat has been much better since. I've actually got swollen glands now (which I am sure means they are fighting infection?) but I think this is the first time since I had them out.

You don't say how old you are.

My sister had her tonsils out when she was in her early 20's and she was poorly for weeks.she said she wished she had never had it done..

Nowadays they give Crisps and Cereals to eat and they recommend eating a lot of Crisps as it helps the throat to heal.

i had mine out at 27 and still used to get quincy quite abit aftewoods.

Hi Carol. I was 29 when I had the job done. My tonsils were perferated and swollen to such a degree I found it hard to swallow. the pain after the operation was terrible worse than having the condition but in the long run it was the best thing i ever did. These days I would think there would more medication that would help. Be brave and go for it you'll not regret it cheers, Trish

My husband had tonsillitis about 3 times a year and had his out age 21, he was in hospital for a week.

Years later after still having bad throats his doctor said "oh I see you had your tonsils out, well what do you expect"

Carol