Tonsilectomy - diagnosis for surgery

Brian D · Newbie Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 4

I'm almost 25 and going in for a tonsilectomy surgery in about two & a half weeks. They have been treated (unsuccessfully) with different anti-biotics several times.

Before this happened, I went through quite an ordeal to come to this point.

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17 weeks ago- Tonsils first started to swell but the holiday season allowed lots of R&R. They didn't cause any problems.

14 weeks ago- Full tonsilitus and my throat closed in and could not swallow. The next day at the doctor I was given anti-inflamatries & peniciline. This was quite painful.

13 weeks ago- Infection cleared up. Swelling continued but throat was open. A few visits to the doctor for further medicationand invertigation after face cheeks swelled up, rash on upper part of face, red dots on back and difficulty breathing.

11 weeks ago- Tonsils closed in again but no apparent infection. My nasel passage now was swelling & I had trouble breathing as I slept. Doc sent me to specialist government hospital A&E. This was closed for a few days and was sent to public hospital. They determined that I required the operation but I still had to go to the 1st hospital for their opinion.

10 weeks ago- Specialist hospital were of the opinion that I would need to be in extreme agony or stop breathing before they would do anything. Another anti-biotic perscribed even though they were not working for the past 3 weeks.
My own doctor arranged an appointment with a consultant in a public hospital. He informed me that I did need an operation but it would be very costly under private care (which I cannot afford). He sent me to the Specialist department in the A&E that treated me and reassured me that they would do more.

8 Weeks ago- Appointment with public hospital gave a nasal camera inspection, blood tests to determine problem.

1 week ago- Follow up: the results of tests show no apparent cause - disease, virus, bacterial infection, auto-immune disorder, or otherwise - for my tonsils to be swollen.
As there is no risk of infection (my blood being clear from all the tests), it is reasonably safe to perform the operation. They prefer not to perform the operation with swollen tonsils but they can’t get them to go down.

Pre-Operation:

3 Weeks to go: I’m on antibiotics for the next two weeks to kill anything bad in my system & try further to reduce swelling and one week for them to leave my system. I will be informed of more details in due course.

By the time I have the surgery they'll have been swollen for 20 weeks without any alternative to an operation. As an adult, it's supposed to be quite painful. This is considered serious surgery. My tonsils have been swollen the whole time. Anti-biotics do nothing and constant anti-inflammatries can be dangerous.

Any questions, do not hesitate to ask.

Billy · Site Admin Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 303

Hello Brian,

Thx for posting on steadyhealth.com! Do you have any special concerns regrding your surgery? I hope everything goes well and the pain won't be as bad as they say! Wish you good luck! Let us know how it went!

Best of luck
Billy

Brian D · Newbie Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 4

I'm going into hospital on Monday. Surgery on Tuesday.

Questions:

What should I ask the Surgeon beforehand?

Any foods that I should avoid?

Any clever ways of passing time while on pain-killers / in pain?

Thanks Brian

helene · Supporter Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 363

Oh, you have the weekend in front of you! I hope you will be fine after the surgery. I know the recovery period isn’t the best ever, but you have to be strong and go through it, for your own sake.
Do you know how many days will you be lying in the hospital after the surgery? I know the first days you will be getting some painkillers, I think injections the most likely, and also you won’t be able to talk properly. You will be eating only soups and later some soft food, people say the ice cream is the best for relieving the inflammation, and the pudding will do you good afterwards. If you smoke, you have to make sure you don’t light any cigarettes until you are completely recovered.
You will feel pain for days after the surgery, maybe even for weeks. You should take good care of yourself, you must not catch the cold now. Try breathing through your nose.
As the matter of the questions you want to ask the surgeon, I think you know the best what you are curious about. You ask him these two questions you asked here, he is the right person to give you the answer.

Brian D · Newbie Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 4

Thanks for the reply. It's three days since the operation and I'm at home with my family. It wasn't as bad as I expected. They gave me plenty of medication to take & some for extreme pain (if it happens).

Still weak and consentrating is difficult. I've day seven (theoritically the worst day) still to come. I did wake early this morning in pain. I keep well hydrated at all times and eating plenty.

I'll keep the site posted. Thanks for the support.

Brian

Guest · Guest

Thanks for all the info. Glad to hear it wasn't as bad as you were expecting. I'm due for the surgery in about a week - if all goes well - and like you, my tonsils haven't gone down for several weeks.

Keep us updated!

Guest · Guest

Hi All,

This is great information, thanks for sharing. I am 33 years old and have to have a tonsilectomy in 2 weeks; needless to say I am a little anxious. Anyway, thanks for sharing the information, it is helping me with expectations of pain and healing.

Tonsilectomy - diagnosis for surgery

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