Tonsillectomy after age 50!

I am 51.  Today is day 7 after surgery.  I followed all instructions and I can tell you it definitely wasn't as bad as everything I read.  I set my clock every 2 hours round the clock either to drink water, eat ice chips or take my meds.  Day 1 and 2 were not bad at all.  Wednesday night was starting to get a lil bad, but bareable.  The weekend was not to good, BUT, I ran out of pain meds and decided to take liquid tylenol until I saw the dr today.  Of course, that tylenol was not strong enough for that type of pain.  Back on pain meds today and doing well again.  So the answer to the question, yes if you need the tonsillectomy, I would say get it done.  Good luck.  

Hi - I wanted to give an update. I had the surgery on 6/24 and it is now 7/11. I still have scabs in the back of my throat so I am still careful not to eat any hard or crunchy food. Other than that, I have no pain, but my tongue still feels a little swollen and I feel like I talk a little funny but people say I sound normal :-P

The first 2 days were rough. I followed lots of the advice from this and the medicinenet forum and they were VERY helpful during my recovery process. The first 2 days, I survived by constantly eating ice chips/cold water. I knew that I had to stay hydrated and I also forced myself to eat before each dose of tylenol w/codeine. I was able to get down some soft scrambled eggs, even though it took me like 20 min to eat one egg! It was painful and slow going those two days. A lot of things stung my throat, like jello and applesauce in the beginning. Only a few days later, was I able to eat those items without a stinging pain. Salty things hurt too, so don't put salt in your mashed potatoes. I was eating mac n cheese on days 3 and 4 although I got more pain on the 4th day. Luckily I never had much ear pain, and I think by sitting up while sleeping helped because you don't put pressure on your ears. Well, that's my theory.

One thing you don't hear much about is the pain in your tongue after surgery! OMG, that was rough. The sides of my tongue were black and blue and very swollen. So, when you chew, the sides rub against your teeth and hurt as much or more than your throat. Very painful. Took a few days for the color to return to normal but it was still painful for a while.

At my one week checkup, my doc told me to ease off the codeine, so I started taking Extra Strength Tylenol. After 3 days, I started taking Regular Tylenol and then after 2 more days, I stopped taking pain meds.

So, all in all, was it a rough experience? YES, worse experience I have had. Would I do it again? YES. It was rough the first week, but now I don't ever have to think about tonsillitis/enlarged tonsils ever again!

I'm 50 and just having my tonsols out ...very painful but the meds are taking the edge off. not all of it ..just the edge. drinking lots and lots ..I'm determaned to get this done with out complaining to much..I hope you did well with your proceedure, it's been a long time since you wrote your comment here.. just letting you know that you're not alone and I'm not alone for having this done at 50yrs old~

Well this says exactly what I feared. just went to an ENT and the first thing out of her mouth is "you need your tonsils out". I am 62. She said I wasn't "tolerating my CPAP". First I had heard about that. Well, after I stopped laughing I just said "Not only No, but H... No" Then she gives me the usual talk of if I don't have this done I could die from this, that and the other. Well, I'm going to die any way. I don't smoke, never have. And I will keep my tonsils til I die.

I am 52 years old. I had my tonsils out two weeks ago. Room temp stuff worked the best for me. I was warned days 2-10 each day getting worse. That part was so true. Having trouble with pain meds I have only taken 1-2 doses per day. I also had scar tissue removed from my windpipe.  It has been the worst pain I have ever been in. The silver lining the weight loss. I have asthma with a chronic cough which has hindered healing.  It's a slow process but in the end I am sure it will be worth i

Thanks, I am 54 and I have a horrible snoring problem. I have to have a sleep study in order for my insurance to cover a tonsillectomy, but my ENT said let's rule out any other sleep disorders and if nothing comes back then it is good news and the tonsils come out and that will fix my sleep problems. I have been trying everything as my husband has had to start sleeping in another room at times.

It looks as if I may need one, after a sleep study is done. If nothing else comes back with the sleep study, then the ENT wants to take my tonsils out. My issue is lack of sleep and severe snoring. I am 54 years old and my tonsils have always been huge but lately it has gotten so bad with the snoring my husband has to move to another room. I tell him that it is because he doesn't eat right, right before bed and he can't sleep some nights or get back to sleep if he gets up for the bathroom. Thanks for the post.

Im own my 7 day woae what challenge very afraid so hard to drink it.hurts 53 years old spit up a little blood drinking cold water just hurt to swallow

I am 60 year old female and really need to have my tonsils out. I have had a life lone battle with being sick all the time, but I am very scared. My ENT Doc does not make me feel better about the surgery because he says it is very hard. Would you recommend it? I would like to know what my life would feel like without having infection in it all the time.. Thank you.

I was told today that I need my tonsils removed. I am 53 and hope I can live through it. Help.

hello. I am 55 and was very hesitant to removing the large tonsils. They were a heaviness , I always had -especially the last 6 months. I got used to the fullness of my throat. Problem was, the slightest sore throat had me down and out from work or active life. Finally, I decided to get them removed.  I think its good I read all the heavy /hard stories about the pain. I braced myself. i am in shock... the moment out of surgery,I felt the heaviness lifted out of my throat area.  2,3,4,5,6 days later NO PAIN. I have ahd worse sore throats than this. I looked inside and saw my inside throat neatly "gutted" by the excellent surgeon I had. I am on day 7 and now the scabbing kicks in. its tight, and sore and very raw feeling. drinking lots of fluids, and drinking every 20 minutes.24/7. the trick I did, which my dr supported...right after surger when you are still under anathesia after leaving....take that first dosage of pain medication :liquid tylenol 3 and Childrens grape ibuioprophen(every 4-8 hours8 hrs). Non stop for 2  1/2 days I was on a regimen, set my alarm and drank that stuff as directed on time. Worse thing was, I felt a little woozy-slightly sea sick. I mean slightly. By day 3 I was eating progresso soups, low salt. (room temperature). fast forward to day 7, and now the worse pain I feel is the scabs. I am ok with this. In comparision to what everyone across the board wrote-- I missed out onthe first half of "the worse pain i n my

life". I can handle this scabbing thing. It is painful-but the fact I missed the original painfrom this whole operation- I am happy. I will suffer another 7 -15 days with the scabs but  with drinking, it will dimenish. trying to stay away from any food that  could scratch my scabs off. The longer they stay, the less it will hurt. they are protecting my throat  for now.

Ihope thishelps. I was such a big baby about this!  my dr said it was easy for me due to my health is in good order and i am moderatly fit.  first operation too!  thought I would have major regrets.  so far, its been a brave move on my part.

HELLO, please read my post below, I am 55 and I just posted my experience. 55 yr old female.

I got my tonsils and adenoids removed 6 days ago. I am 50 years old female. I was scared of all of the horror stories, but my tonsils were touching for the last 4 months. The doctor also found lymphoma in my right tonsil. Recovery has been rough. After surgery, I was fine and the next day was good, but days 3 till now has been brutal. I had diarherra on the third day all day. Day 4-now I have bad stomach pains, I stopped taking meds and just take ibuprofen and Tylenol, which seems to help with the throat pain. I have pain in my jaw also. I am not wanting the scabs because of all the things I have read about them. I am trying to stay hydrated and I am going to start chewing gum to keep the moisture in my mouth. I have been eating jello, pudding, yogurt, toast, anything really soft, and drinking water. If the stomach pains would go away, I think I would be alright. I hope this helps you.

I am 54 yrs. of age, female, with obstructive & central brain sleep apena, so i elected to get my tonsils and uvula removed. I felt weak after surgery, and was on duladin(morphine) which was not strong enough to cover the severe pain, i could barely eat or drink, thus lost 15lbs in one week, and the stitches have been poking my throat and gagging, choking me even heading on 4 wks post-op. The view looks like I have an extra set of shark like teeth in my throat, i even tried to snip stitches today as I have had enough. I lost 3 more pounds, losing weight thus far the only advantage to this wicked 3+ week recovery. Should you decide to get it done, do not return to work for over 8 days you will not be up to it, expect a minimum of 3wks to recover. I do not know if this 'cured ' part of my apnea but it cannot cure the 2/3'rds of apnea that are central brain apnea (doubtfully).

I am 60 and just had tonsils removed, Have suffered for years with left tonsil having opened and drained several times. Enough, I was so tired of food hanging in throat, It had to be drained by ENT doctor. That was so painful. I told him to get me in asap, The pain is bad but each day I tell myself I'm one day closer to getting better, I couldn't stand it any longer....