I had mine out very young but my ex had his out at 30. It was a tough two days after and then about a week to fully recover. Best wishes to your daughter.

I had my tonsils out when I was 29 due to recurring strep, and it was a pretty painful recovery! Way more painful than my two c-sections (although from what I understand I had easy c-section recoveries). Days 8 and 9 after the tonsil surgery were the most painful. I highly recommend taking the pain meds as prescribed. You definitely want to try to stay ahead of the pain.

My surgery was an out-patient surgery. It didn't take very long and then I was able to leave the surgery center soon after I woke up in the recovery room. I was nauseous when I got home though, and had to throw up. I was really scared to throw up right after having my tonsils removed, but it didn't hurt at all! I think I was still numb from the anesthesia. I think that if they had given me Zofran or something similar before the surgery, that could have helped with the nausea. Ask the surgeon about that at her pre-op appointment.

I think that I ate soft food for a couple weeks afterwards. Lots of pudding/oatmeal/chicken noodle soup/yogurt, etc.

I'm sorry that your daughter has been so sick and will need this surgery. The good news is that it should take care of her strep problem! I haven't had any issues since I had mine out.

My 25 yr old son just had his out April 28 and he wasn't feeling bad for the first couple days and then it hit him, it took a good week or so for him to recover and he ate soft foods for all of that time. Cooled mashed potatoes, creamy mac and cheese, jello, pudding, soups, plain simple chicken salad and tuna salad. Glad we finally got it done because his tonsils have always been large but with minimal sore throats. It had started to affect his sleep. Good luck to her and a fast recovery!

I had mine removed for the same reason when I was 21. Recovery was beyond miserable, but the worst of it was that it didn't help! I continued to have the painful strep infections for another two years, mystifying my doctors completely. Then they just went away forever.

I hope your dtr and Kathy's son get quick relief.

I had my tonsils out as a child but ended up getting strep when my children were in school so I think it is a misnomer about the tonsils. People can also be carriers but never have symptoms and I have also heard dogs can be carriers. My husband and I were tested when our oldest son seemed to get strep every couple months in first grade, we weren't carriers, pediatrician thinks someone in his class was a carrier or wasn't being treated. Thank you, sheesh, he already feels better and notices a big difference in his sleep. He was tired no matter how much he slept.

I actually don't recall if I had my tonsils removed as a child. But I know enough parents who were baffled when they contracted strep as adults, who thought they were immune because they had had their tonsils removed. I'm sure your DH, though, has looked into this and has weighed all of this with the surgery option.

My first and only bout of strep occurred as an adult. It was so terrible that I can't imagine your daughter having recurring infections for a year. Especially during finals! Good luck to her, and hope all goes well.

Mine were removed at 20yo. Too many painful infections. Always told tonsillitis, but this was in the late 70s and no one ever had strep (that I knew). Had to stay overnight. About a week to recover. Soft drinks hurt. Ice cream too cold, so hurt. I ate a lot of Jello that week. The thing I remember most was as soon as I woke up in the room, I threw up.

Good luck to your DD!

I do hope that this helps your daughter from contracting strep in the future, yet don’t feel that having the tonsils removed eliminates that threat entirely. I had my tonsils removed when I was 8, yet have unfortunately had strep throat four times during adulthood. I hope your daughter has better success, and do know that you’ll personally do everything you possibly can to make it as comfortable as possible for her.

Stock up on applesauce, puddings, mashed potatoes, soups, oatmeal, cream of wheat and lots of fudge sickles.........

Our DD had hers out when she was 21 during a Christmas break from college. The recovery was absolutely horrible, but the worst part is it didn't help! She's 23 now and continues to be be plagued by strep throat and something new that started after the tonsillectomy: constant thick mucous in her throat. We regret that she had the surgery. I hope your daughter's is successful!

I had mine out when I was 5 and I've had strep three or four times as an adult.

My oldest DD has hers out her sophomore year of college on NY Eve. She was home within a few hours of surgery and slept in her own bed. The worst part for her was that she got a mild GI bug on day 3? and felt horrible from that. She had monthly sore throats before and rarely has a problem now. Totally worth it, fairly quick recovery, ready to start classes back in 10 days or so.

I had an undergraduate who had them out because of recurring strep. She still continued to get sick, unfortunately.

It wasn't my tonsils but I did have a similar surgery done when I was in my 40s, laser surgery to remove tissue from my throat (ulvula?). The procedure was fairly simple, local anesthesia only. I was at the clinic for about an hour and drove myself home.

Even so, I was on some heavy-duty liquid pain meds for a number of days, maybe a week. I had stocked up on popsickles, ice cream, soup. The only thing I could tolerate eating for almost a month was room-temperature, unseasoned mashed potatoes and the only thing I could stand drinking was water. I emphasize unseasoned because I couldn't even stand a little salted butter with the potatoes.

It's probably a good idea to have food/drink options available because, obviously, other people were able to tolerate different things than I was.

Even though I didn't drive while using the pain meds, I was able to return to full-time work after three days or so. I don't think I was terribly effective or clear-headed but I was there!

I was much much younger when I had mine out and I started hemorrhaging badly...throwing up lots of blood a couple of days after surgery, and had to go back to the hospital. As soon as we got to the ER, I fainted in my dad's arms.

What caused it was me ignoring the advice of NOT eating anything hard. I snuck into the kitchen and are a few flakes of dry cereal. After swallowing one bite, I knew I did something bad. Plus I didn't tell anybody for a full day until I made such a mess.

Tell her to follow the doctor's advice, and not to hide it from you all if she gets sicker because she did something stupid. :)

I had mine out when I was 18. It was awful. It took me a week to drink a milkshake. As much as we are told to give them all of the ice cream that they want, don't expect your daughter to want that much. Don't force her to eat when she can't. It will take her longer to heal, but she will on her time. Just make sure that she has enough liquids to drink, and enough pain meds. She may not want to take them, but if she knows they won't hurt her or she can't become addicted just taking them for a few days, she will probably feel better about it. She'll be okay.

Maybe your daughter had an allergy texanjana? Have you had her tested?

I had mine out in my late 20's. I don't remember much about it so I guess the recuperation wasn't too bad. Or it was so bad I've blocked the memory. :-)

Two of my nephews had repeated strep infections as kids. They never had their tonsils out and they no longer get the infections as late 20-somethings. I don't have infections since my surgery. It's interesting that some of the above posters continued to get infections without tonsils. I wonder what the secret is?

Good luck to her and you.

Thank you all so much for your stories, and/ or your suggestions. Boy, do I appreciate them all! I'm writing down all the food suggestions and dos & don'ts. Thank you also for the many good wishes. I had many strep infections, myself, as a kid, a teenager and a young adult. Never had my tonsils out, but wish I had. My last strep infection was when we were on our way from the Lower-Michigan area where we were visiting my family, up to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. I was so sick! DH had to pull off in Gaylord to get me meds for it.

Anyhoo, back to DD. Her tonsils are extremely enlarged and getting more so. She now snores like a locomotive, whether on her side, stomach or back, poor thing. She's also developed abscesses on her tonsils. When she gets strep, or even an everyday sore throat, her tonsils swell even more making it very difficult to swallow anything. For that reason alone, we feel she needs them out. So, we're going ahead with it in July. Thanks again for your help.

I'm really sorry your daughter is going through this. It sounds like she needs them out. My friend had his out in his early 30's. He said it felt like he had swallowed broken glass.

pickyshopper - that is fascinating!!!