I had my tonsils out when I was 7; this would have been in 1966 or so. I must have been lucky, because I don’t really remember any pain. I was quite miserable when I woke up, crying, after surgery; I’ve always blamed that on the anesthetic (ether?), but I suppose I could have been in pain from the surgery itself and that caused it. After a few hours, though, I didn’t have any problems. They were careful to give me only ice cream, jello, and a little mashed potatoes, and that may have been one reason why I had so little pain.
Don’t a lot of doctors now believe that this procedure is almost NEVER necessary? I was under the impression that this once common surgery was pretty much a thing of the past.
My Father was subjected to a procedure in his youth (1930’s) where they burned the inside of his nose with some flammable powder, in an attempt to reduce the incidence of colds and flu. He was robbed of his sense of smell, and consequently his ability to taste and enjoy food. Apparently this was done to a lot of people around that time. I would be very hesitant to subject my child to any alteration of the body, and get a second opinion.
As a tonsillectomy survivor (:rolleyes:) I can tell you that while your child may be mad at you for a few days, she should bounce back within two weeks, max.
I had mine removed when I was 9. I was mostly mad because I felt betrayed by all of the adults when I asked “Will it hurt when I get them taken out?” and they replied “No! Of course not!”. Of course, what they failed to tell me was that it’ll hurt like a mother afterward. I was also mad that yeah, I can eat all the ice cream that I want like they said, but I don’t want to eat any! So unfair! Just be prepared that she might feel that way, too. Swallowing hurts and she might not want to eat anything the first few days. It was frustrating. I can’t even remember what I had, maybe a little ice cream, jello, and mashed potatoes. My recovery took two weeks and everything’s been great since.
And believe it or not Stan, sometimes it is necessary. My tonsils were three times the size they were supposed to be, caused snoring, and left me prone to tonsillitis. I’m glad to have them out and I highly doubt that doctor’s are all tonsillectomy-happy as they were back in the day, as evidenced by the vast majority of people I know who still have theirs.
So it is still sometimes needed, but not as much as was once thought. I do really have a mistrust of the medical profession. Doctors know far less than most people presume, and many times either cannot help you, or do things that don’t really help, in my experience anyway.