Tonsil removal. Anyone have any advice?
Saturday, July 10th, 2010 at
5:08 pm
I am possibly going to be getting my tonsils out.
I am afraid of hospitals and so I would like to know if there are any specialist that will do the surgery for me instead of going to a hospital.
How do I find one?
What are they like?
Will they keep me over night?
How long do I stay after surgery etc.
I"m 17, so how bad will recovery be for me?
Also from what I’ve heard hospitals nowa days only keep you for a few hours after the surgery.
Filed under: Tonsil Removal
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I used to work Head & Neck surgery so I believe I can help you out. Tonsillectomies are done on an outpatient basis so unless you have a preexisting condition that would warrant an overnight stay, you’ll go home the same day. Yes, the anesthesia will be general.
An ENT is a specialist and often a head & neck surgeon. This is the doctor who will perform the procedure. There are ambulatory surgery centers and day surgeries (same day surgeries) are done in hospitals as well. It all depends on where your surgeon has privileges and prefers to do her/his procedures.
If you have HMO insurance, your primary must refer you to an ENT for consult. The ENT will determine if the tonsils need to come out or if there is a less invasive way to handle you. If you have PPO insurance, ask your insurance (speak to customer service, the number is on the back of your card) and get the name & number of an ENT in your area. ENTs are, for the most part, wonderful but then I’m biased. Go with one with whom you feel comfortable.
Like I said, tonsillectomies are exceedingly common and low risk. It’s a same day procedure. Once you’ve recovered from anesthesia in the post-anesthesia recovery room (PARR), you’ll have to be driven by whoever came with you, probably one of your parents. It’ll take 2-3 hours before you can be discharged. You’ll be advised to sleep it off at home. Once the full effects of anesthesia have left your system, you’ll be in pain. You’ll be given a prescription for an antibiotic and liquid pain med and I suggest it be filled on the way home. You stay in the car.
Recovery at your age will be rough, I kid you not. Hang in there. You may not feel like eating at all for the first 3 or so days. You can take liquid nourishment instead, so pick up Ensure or Boost at the market while the prescriptions are being filled. Very cold things may actually cause more pain so you’ll have to see how they affect you. You’ll be back to 100% in 2 weeks or less.
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They have to do it under general anesthesia, and observe you afterwards, so it can’t be done as an outpatient procedure, sorry. They’ll only keep you one night. Recovery should be fast, but be prepared for the Worst. Sore. Throat. Ever. Stock up on ice cream and sherbet in advance.
Getting your tonsils out isn’t so bad. I hate hospitals too; I practically end up in one every few weeks. Anyway, I don’t know of anyone who will do it for you. They won’t keep you over night because the surgery isn’t so critical. After I got mine out, I stayed about two hours. Recovery… probably two hours. It depends on you.