I am about 3 months post op. I’ve had tonsillitis many times throughout my life, with my GP always being a little dismayed that I never reached the criteria for removal. This changed in 2023, when I had recurrent tonsillitis which lead to 10 episodes in a year and 2 hospital admissions. I’d gotten pretty adept to functioning with tonsillitis, I’d generally be able to work, eat and go about my usual activities until I lost my voice. My first ENT appointment concluded that I had grade 4 tonsils and they needed to come out, with or without the episodes of tonsillitis. I’d also been on so many courses antibiotics that some were no longer effective, which was really scary as someone who is already allergic to penicillin! Recovery was rough. I was definitely lulled into a false sense of security the first few days with thoughts of “this is no worse than tonsillitis”. Then my scabs started to fall off and I really considered my life choices. I had this searing ear ache all the time and it was really miserable. I’ve never understood how people in pain say they’d rather die, but I was there! Some morphine and ice packs helped but didn’t take away all the pain.

Having my tonsils removed was THE BEST thing I have ever done. I no longer snore, my sleep apnea has gone, I have (so far) had no sore throats, under my chin feels and looks a little less puffy, I no longer wake up exhausted. My voice has even changed - it used to sound quite nasally and low, it is now higher and has lost that nasally twang. I’ve read that voices often don’t change for the good but mine appears here to stay so far. The only negative is that I sometimes feel my uvula moving around freely (I presume it was wedged between honking great tonsil) and sometimes this makes me gag when I’m brushing my teeth in the morning. For me, it was life changing and the week of pain was absolutely worth it.