Adult tonsilectomy - please calm me down and answer my --silly-- questions.

[FumblesandFrolics]

So, after years of pain, illness and begging I finally have a date for having my tonsils out...

... and I am FREAKING OUT.

The GA scares me to death. Is it like falling asleep or more like becoming unable to move before falling into unconciousness? How long will I be in pain? Will the pain be worse than tonsilitis? When will I be able to resume constant nagging of 2 yo DD and DH speak. 2 weeks off work - really?, will I feel that rubbish for that long? IS recovery like having bad tonsilitis or just the sore throat without the other 'feeling shit' bit that comes with the infection?

I know it sounds silly but I feel like I want DH my mum to come and hold my hand until GA takes effect. But DH has to take DD to the childminder and mum is 350 miles away and might not be able to get there the day before.

And what on earth am I going to do about work - team of 4 down to 2, really busy period and my colleague has an exam that week too.

[MedusaIsHavingABadHairDay]

Calm down..it will be ok.

I had mine out at 35... after years of suffering, and it was the best thing I ever did.

The GA will be fine.. usually they get you to count back form 10 and you are just asleep before you get past 5:) I hate masks so asked not to have anything over my face before I was asleep.

Afterwards..it hurts like hell. I'm not going to lie! There is no 'jelly and icecream' these days..they want you to eat scrapy food like toast to keep the site clean for healing. The first week I was counting down the minutes to the next painkiller...in fact ALL I wanted was painkillers. You really need to be kind to yourself and let everyone else look after you.

After the first week the pain dimished rapidly and by two weeks I was ok.

And I have never had as much as a sore throat since.. 9 years and counting.

I was terrified.. but it really was worth it!

Oh and if you want your Mum there.. why not?!:)

[Dahlialover]

GA is fine - I had one recently and the anaesthetist, whilst walking to the other side of the room, said I would start feeling woozy. I was going to reply yes, I already was and it was quite nice, but the next thing I knew, I was waking with a sore derriere (my op was the other end).

The worst thing about them is feeling tired off and on for days afterwards, but they are getting better. This time, I was tired because of the op. It was my best GA ever.

My friend had her tonsils out at the same time. She was worried about the same things as you. I would say go into it with your eyes open - it does hurt, you need to be very organised with painkillers and you do need to allow yourself time and space to recover. She says it was very definitely worth it.

[Dahlialover]

Usually you see the anaesthetist before and you can tell them if it is your first time - my first was an emergency and they were very kind. There is usually a nurse or theatre assistant around as well. My second was for wisdom teeth with a very experienced consultant who was instructing a student. He was very clear about what would happen before and after, and that is exactly what happened. This time was a young chap (or I am getting old ) who discussed post op pain as well with me, and a very kind nurse.

[drjohnsonscat]

you are totally doing the right thing.

Had mine out at 30 - the GA is easy. They tell you to count to ten and at a certain point you just black out. Like falling asleep - no paralysis or anything like that.

RE the pain mine was relatively easy. It was painful - like having a bad bout of tonsilitis but just the pain obviously, not the fever and awfulness. Dsis had hers done and had a lot more pain than me. But both of us would say totally worth it. Have had sore throats since but these are like comparing a graze to having your leg cut off!

[FumblesandFrolics]

Thank you. Feel a bit calmer now.

I do so hope this works. Am so tired of feeling awful over and over. The throat usually doesn't feel that bad although I am often told it should.

I'm not a very good patient generally so 2 weeks seems like a very long time to be off work, but needs must.

[MrsMorton]

Yes for some of my GA's they count you down from 10 and I have never got past seven. Other times, as described above they will say "you'll taste a metallic taste" and I thought oh ye....zzzzzz. That was for tonsils.

It hurts like nothing else but after it's all healed it's such a relief to get rid of the festering fuckers. I had a suppository at the hospital because I was in clip and I couldn't swallow anything.
IIRC the surgeon said it's more likely to get infected if you're out and about so 2 weeks is for your benefit.

As an aside, I never ate crisps before I had it done and now I'm a crisp monster so beware!! Bread sticks are good to scrape the scabs off...