Alright, let's start with the big question:
WHY did I decide to get my tonsils out?
Answer: Tonsil Stones.
I've always had large tonsils. New dentists or doctors would comment on them saying "Wow, those suckers are big!" and I've been told they were between a 2-3 on the size scale. Nice reference picture below:
But I never had too many problems, only a few instances of strep throat growing up, so I was never advised to get them taken out. Fast forward to high school and college and I started getting tonsil stones. If you don't know what they are, and are kind of squeamish, you may want to skip this part. Tonsil stones are basically calcified bits of food and bacteria that form in the crypts/holes of the tonsils. Sometimes you can cough or gargle to get them out, and some people resort to picking or squeezing them out if they can stand it. I've also heard water picks on low settings can blast them out. (If the pressure is too much it can damage or tear the tonsil) But once you start getting tonsil stones, there's no way to permanently get rid of them besides removing the tonsils completely.
Another fun side effect of having tonsil stones is that you have pretty terrible breath. Especially in the morning. Like super rank. And trust me, I brush, floss, and use mouthwash before bed but it was always terrible again in the morning. I thought this just happened to everyone, but apparently tonsil stones are the culprit. Once my recovery scabs finally come off I'm very much looking forward to not having such nasty morning breath. Alright, now back to the main point...
I tried all of the methods of getting rid of my tonsil stones (also known as Tonsilloliths or tonsilar calculi) using all of those methods I mentioned above. It would work for the smaller stones or the stones I could reach but never for the big ones in the back. And the problem with picking or squeezing or prodding very sensitive tonsils is that they get super mad. They turn red and swell up and get infected. If I didn't get the stone out, then a day or two later I'd get cold-like symptoms and feel really terrible. Sore ears, sore throat, coughing, runny nose, and all of that. Once I got the stone out though, those symptoms went away almost immediately. As the years went on this pattern only increased. Although it was never bad enough to send me to the doctor's office it was still a miserable few days to a week. And as I got older I saw the stones getting larger, meaning the crypts I was poking and prodding must have been getting bigger. I searched endlessy for solutions online but just came across what I already knew.
I hit my breaking point at the start of this year and started seriously researching tonsillectomies. I found out about laser cryptolysis which is where a doctor uses a laser to close up the crypts in the tonsils and also reduces their size. I was pretty interested in that option since a lot of online sources said the recovery time was far less painful and much shorter. I didn't find too much information about them though or specific doctors that did them. I also read about traditional tonsillectomies and typical adult recovery time. SO many sources said adults need a minimum of 10 full days to recover. I couldn't believe it would take that long, but the more I read the more I saw accounts of people needing two weeks. The best source for me was a good friend who is around my age and had her tonsils out last year. I must have emailed and texted her dozens of times with questions and brought it up every time we were together. (Katherine, you were an invaluable resource, so thank you!). Alright, so about 2 weeks... I could luckily fit that into my work schedule so the next step was finding a doctor.
I actually used www.zocdoc.com/ to find an ENT in my area that took my insurance. I settled on Dr. Jack Williams since he had over 20 reviews, and all 5 stars. I booked my consultation online and a week or two later I was in his office. He made the usual comment about how big my tonsils were and once I told him about getting cold symptoms from the stones, he immediately said I should not be suffering like that and to just get them out. I had a pesky tonsil stone that visit so I asked him to take a look at it. He got a long
skinny metal tool with a tiny scoop at the end and got that guy out
first try. (Maybe I should have just bought one of those!) I asked about the laser cyptolysis and the pros and cons and why it isn't done more often. His answer was that it doesn't really work as a long term solution. And if the tonsils aren't completely eliminated, they can grow back. Clearly that was not going to be for me. We discussed tonsillectomies and went over what to expect during and after. He said if I chose to do it I would be cursing him during recovery but praising him afterward (so true). He said to think about it, get a second opinion, and gave me the surgical coordinator's card if I decided I wanted to book it with him. I felt really comfortable with going ahead with the surgery but happened to have a doctor's appointment coming up.
My primary Doctor admitted she didn't know much about tonsil stones but did print out some information about tonsillectomies and gave her okay for me to get it. She also gave me a list of other doctors that could perform the surgery, but I already had my mind made up. I called my mom to see if she could come take care of me for the first week and talked with my boyfriend (we live together) to see if he could take some time off work to watch me once my mom was gone. Once that was settled, I called the Feldman ENT Group to book my appointment. Since the recovery is so long, I scheduled surgery for Wednesday, May 22. That way I'd have Memorial Day built in and one less sick/vacation day I'd have to use.
The surgical coordinator mailed me a packet of information as well as a pre-surgery physical health form my primary care doctor had to fill out 30 days or less before surgery. Luckily, again, I already had an appointment booked within that range and got those filled out and mailed in no problem. Leading up to the surgery I did call the coordinator a few times for random questions I had and they were always very helpful. I had booked the surgery more than a month in advance and got the time off approved at work, so now it was just the waiting game.
Part Two will get to the surgery, then we can go through how fun my recovery was! Stay tuned!
(I'll also add before pictures of my tonsils and even some stone pictures I think I have if anyone is interested...)
goodmorming siss :) can i ask you? how are you today? does your breath remain odorous/bad or tonsillectomy cured it? hope for your response..thank you :)
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