AIBU or should hubby request a tonsillectomy?

[LongLiveTheChief]

Hubby and I have been together 10 years and he's always had problems with his tonsils.

We worked out that, by eliminating crisps from his diet, he was able to reduce the amount of times he contracted tonsillitis. The doctor said this is because his tonsils are so scarred from previous infections that food sits in the scars and causes a new infection.

Last September he was hospitalised with Quinsy which is quite nasty and he was struggling to eat and breathe, needed antibiotics through an IV as couldn't swallow anything.

The NHS website says quinsy is usually an infection through the tonsils so when DH became ill again a few months later with just tonsillitis, he asked if his tonsils could be removed...they've said no!

He's now had tonsillitis 3 times since being in hospital and is currently recovering from Quinsy again now, but our doctor won't recognise the Quinsy as a tonsil related problem so has said he's not had this 'quota' of infections?

Reading the symptoms of Quinsy, I'm quite worried and I want him to be seen by someone but how do you get past a GP that won't help?

Thanks for any advice!

He's not seen an ENT specialist, so I guess he should be asking the doctor for that referral rather than their opinion on if he can have the op?

Unfortunately, both times he's had Quinsy, it's been dealt with at the hospital on a ward and sent home with 10-14 days worth of antibiotics and hasn't had to see his GP. X

See another GP and get them to refer you. Take your CCG guidelines for tonsillectomies with you (you can Google it and it will be called something like "Comissioning Policy for procedures of limited clinical value" ). Extract from my CCG's policy:
Unequivocal indications for tonsillectomy:
 Suspected malignancy
 Peri-tonsillar abscess (Quinsy)
 Acute upper airways obstruction
 Recurrent sore throat where the following applies:
7 or more episodes in the last year, OR
5 or more episodes in each of the last two years, OR
3 or more episodes in each of the last 3 years; AND
There has been significant severe impact on quality of life indicated by documented
evidence of absence from school/work.

If not, you can always pay for a private consultation (usually £100 - £150) and look for an ENT surgeon who also does NHS work. They can then refer you in for surgery on the NHS. It's not really a queue jump as your wait time for surgery will start when you enter the NHS system (so wait time for your consultation and any private diagnostics won't be taken into account) but it will help you get past an awkward GP.

So if I'm reading correctly he's had 2 episodes of Quinsy and 3 of tonsillitis in the last year? You can always ask your GP for a copy of your records to see his history over the last few years (for a small charge usually). Any hospital stays will have been relayed back to your GP through a copy of your DH's discharge summary.

Not got my work hat on as I'm on mat leave but a private tonsillectomy should be no more than about £3k (depends if he stays over or not). He has to meet their fitness criteria though.

Right ok, I really don't know if we can afford private which is a shame.

He's 28 and other than the tonsils, he's rarely ill!

I just hope the hospital have relayed the correct information back to the doctors, maybe that's something we can ask the GP too x

Well if not you can request a copy of his hospital notes too, again for a small charge.

I would see another Dr and push for an ENT referral. I had mine out about 10 years ago after 6 bouts of tonsillitis. Best thing I ever had done. Before if I caught even a slight cold then a sore throat would start and soon after tonsillitis. It is very painful afterwards but that is short lived and the benefits of not getting terrible sore throats or tonsillitis very much outweigh any pain from the surgery.

I'm not sure if things have changed so dramatically in the last few years but I finally had my tonsils out 4 years ago after repeated bouts of tonsillitis. I'd never suffered with it before, but at 23 I had it virtually every other month! I was referred to a specialist after 5 bouts and the specialist had no problem with me having them removed.

I can't believe he is being refused the op. Especially after repeated bouts of Quinsy!

Agree with pp who advise speaking to another GP- I had repeated bots of tonsillitis as a teenager/ student but rarely went to the doctor to get antibiotics, so most bouts were never recorded.

They were oversized and pitted, which meant I was getting tonsil stones and waking up each morning with a horrible taste in my mouth. I went to the doctor about something unrelated 3 years ago, mentioned a recent sore throat and they took a look. After seeing the size of them, he asked me if I wanted them out- I hmmm'd and haaa'd and he pointed out that I was going to keep getting tonsillitis until they were removed and really pushed for the referral.

I'm so glad he did- recovery was an absolute nightmare ( no complications, just very painful ) and it took another year of being on the waiting list for the operation but since then I've only had two very very mild sore throats and my breath doesn't smell like the Devils armpit every morning now!

I'm following with interest because I'm off work yet again with 3rd bout of horrific tonsillitis in 6 months. I get it all the bloody time but I always seem to just Miss he criteria, even though I have bloody private medical insurance!

I'm going to push to have them out, and I think your DH should too. Good luck.

My advice would b next time he's hospitalised he needs to ask the consultant he sees on the ward about having them removed. I had tonsillitis a coupl of times in 6 months and then hospitalised with a quinsy. The consultant just said "I think we might as well just have you back to take these out rather than going through all this again"

I doubt the doctor would have referred me. It is worth seeing a different GP in the mean time though just in case