My Tonsillectomy: Background

Hey Internet friends,

I figured my neglected blog would be a good place for me to talk about my tonsillectomy experience because it is one of my few public things and it might be helpful to people out there about to get a tonsillectomy.

So, first a little bit of background on why in the world I would get my tonsils removed. Around the time I was 12 or so I started to get strep throat about 2X per year. My doctors didn't seem to think it was such a big deal and decided to just keep an eye on it. It was pretty much the only kind of sick I got with any regularity and went away with antibiotics no problem.

Now, flash forward to 9 years later. I spent the fall of 2010 in Scotland on a study abroad program. As usual, I got strep once during the semester and carried on. Near the end of my time there it started to come on again. It was just the beginnings of a sore throat the day before I left to head back to the US, so I decided to just tough it out and deal with it at home.

Welllll....snowpocalypse London edition hit when I was supposed to fly out. Long story short 5 hours sitting on a plane, one night sleeping on the floor of an airport and winter in the UK don't make a great combo for someone already getting sick. In the end I wound up with a horrific case of strep (or as I found out later, something worse...) and because of my week delay in getting a flight back home, a lovely trip to a London hospital.

In the end I made it home. I was in ROUGH shape. My throat basically constricted on my flight from London to Los Angeles and it was the most miserable pain I have ever been in. Probably a 15 on a 0-10 pain chart. After I landed back in the US it didn't get any better. From December 24th-January 7th I was in and out of urgent care, trying to get someone to fix my terrible case of strep throat.

On January 8th I saw my primary care doctor, who took one look and said I needed to see an ENT. She said the word that would come back to haunt me after that day (hahahha such drama)...peritonsillar abscess.

That same day I went to have my first peritonsillar abscess drained. It was a sucky procedure but luckily I had a great ENT who did it quickly and well. The next day I flew from California to Washington DC for school.

I had been doing better for about a month when my throat started to get sore again. I could tell what was going on. For anyone out there wondering, once you have one abscess you will know when another one is on its way. My throat would get completely dry, even if I had been drinking tons of water, I would get these abrasions on the tonsil that was flaring up, and the one tonsil would be huge while the other looked normal. Also, having a peritonsillar abscess is the worst pain imaginable (other than flying with one). I would swallow my own saliva and it would hurt so bad that it would bring me to tears, make me kick my feet frantically if I was laying down, and the pain would continue up until it was time to take the next swallow. PURE. MISERY.

So, the beginning of February was abscess #2. Got antibiotics, got it drained, recovered. Felt great for about 2 weeks.

Beginning of March. Hello abscess #3. Back to the ER 3 times (long story here, won't go into it, but eventually it got drained). This is when the doctors start saying: "Have you thought about getting your tonsils out."

Well, clearly.

And then they say, "When?"

I say, "I am already planning on doing it as soon as the semester is over. In May."

They say: "Is there any chance you could do it sooner? Like spring break?"

Okay yeah, a week from now...in the middle of the semester...sounds like a plan.

..and I change my plane ticket home to stop this madness.

So, yesterday I had my tonsillectomy. This will continue in a new post since I figure not everyone cares to read this one...