Tonsillectomy at 31year old

[encarter13]

Has anyone had their tonsils removed as an adult? I get strep and/or tonsillitis 1-2 times per year and my tonsils are huge. Removing them is not very poplar nowadays, but the MD thinks I am a candidate. He advised that my tonsils are large enough to cause sleep apnea down the road.

Everything I have read talks about extreme pain and one of the worst surgeries you can have. Average recover time for adults being 2 weeks to go back to work and 1 month to return to a normal diet. Not to mention most people loosing 20-40 pounds....

I am relatively healthy, workout, etc, and while he advised that those factors help with most surgery recovery, MD said that those factors will not help with the recovery time for this type of surgery.

[RichM]

Those were the same reasons I had my taken out. I was 19 at the time. The only things I remember are it hurt like hell and spent one night in the hospital. Wishing you good luck.

[handsfull]

Originally Posted by Rich Mickol

Those were the same reasons I had my taken out. I was 19 at the time. The only things I remember are it hurt like hell and spent one night in the hospital. Wishing you good luck.

Same here. Its miserable for a few days afterward but worth it.

[Etschell]

cant be worse pain than the shoulder pain i had after they pumped me full of gas to do an appendectomy.

i would go for it.

[Fleetlord]

Originally Posted by Etschell

cant be worse pain than the shoulder pain i had after they pumped me full of gas to do an appendectomy.

i would go for it.

Yep...I had my Gallbladder out 18 months ago.

I woke up and thought they ripped my arm off...

Damn gas.

[wantonebad]

Originally Posted by Fleetlord

Yep...I had my Gallbladder out 18 months ago.

I woke up and thought they ripped my arm off...

Damn gas.

Ok, clue me in with the arm pain associated with gas? I've never heard this before?

[mmutte]

Originally Posted by wantonebad

Ok, clue me in with the arm pain associated with gas? I've never heard this before?

It’s from the gas (carbon dioxide) that is used to insufflate the abdomen when performing a laparoscopic procedure. The stretching of the diaphragm from the gas during the surgery irritates the phrenic nerve. The origination of the phrenic nerve has the same origination of the sensory nerve for your shoulder (C3-C5), resulting in referred pain.

[wantonebad]

Originally Posted by mmutte

It’s from the gas (carbon dioxide) that is used to insufflate the abdomen when performing a laparoscopic procedure. The stretching of the diaphragm from the gas during the surgery irritates the phrenic nerve. The origination of the phrenic nerve has the same origination of the sensory nerve for your shoulder (C3-C5), resulting in referred pain.

Thanks for the info, clearly you have a medical background and my background is solely in hypochondria

[swils8610]

Get it over with. It beats a lifetime of dealing with strep and throat issues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[run23]

I had one on my mid/late 30s as part of a procedure to deal with sleep apnea. The recovery wasn’t bad at all and only took a few days. The biggest issue was sleeping as I would constantly wake up when I swallowed because of the pain. It wasn’t a huge amount of pain, but it was enough to wake me up during the night a bunch of times, which made me pretty tired during the day.

If not for the lack of sleep I could have gone back to work almost right away. Pain killers certainly helped too.

The doctor said I would probably lose weight, but I actually ended up gaining a little because of all the ice cream and mashed potatoes I was eating, coupled with not moving for a few days (I’m usually a pretty active guy).

[pickettt]

Originally Posted by run23

I had one on my mid/late 30s as part of a procedure to deal with sleep apnea.

Million dollar question (as far as I'm concerned.): Did it help?

[wantonebad]

If you can stand the long setup, this is a FUNNY story!! turn the volume up!!

http://hark.com/clips/kvgymcthdb-wee...lectomy-part-i

Cedric Maxwell is a former forward for Boston Celtics, he told this story on a sports radio station about 12 years ago, that's why it's only on audio LOL

[datejustrms]

Originally Posted by wantonebad

If you can stand the long setup, this is a FUNNY story!! turn the volume up!!

http://hark.com/clips/kvgymcthdb-wee...lectomy-part-i

Cedric Maxwell is a former forward for Boston Celtics, he told this story on a sports radio station about 12 years ago, that's why it's only on audio LOL

Gotta love "Cornbread", he's a hoot.

[HL65]

I had it done when I was 24 or so. It was pretty painful for a few days. The whole ice cream thing no chance - hurt like heck! I remember a lot of broth for few days. It wasn’t too bad overall and I was only out for a little while. I can tell you the sore throats I used to get a thing of the past so definitely worth it.

[jsg]

I had mine out at 23 . You are better off having these out now vs being 40 ... and yes they can be of one the factors contributing to sleep apnea . The surgery and recovery is only going to be more difficult...

[encarter13]

Thanks for all the replies. The big thing is being 30+ vs being a teenager. I am active so sitting still is going to kill me. More importantly, I am a business owner and being out of the office for a week or two is out of the question.

FWIW, wife is a Nurse Practitioner and really wants me to do it. I will basically have around the clock care as she can move her schedule around to accommodate the recovery.

[MILGAUSS88]

It is not the surgery that hurts, it is the possible loss of blood a week after the surgery,

Here is a previous discussion were some of the difficulties were discussed.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthre...hlight=surgery

[rfatm3f]

I would definitely do it. I hate ENT infections.

[Galibier]

Fiancé had it done last year aged 33. She was OK day one/two then was is agony for about five days. She couldn’t sleep properly because of the pain. Week two was better but still sore.

[MILGAUSS88]

Week one was fine for me, then the scabs came off at the end of the week.
Lost enough blood that I was pretty much incapacitated the second week, and not great for several more weeks.

That is the danger of having tonsils removed when you are older. The doctors usually don't mention that part.