I had my tonsils surgically removed when I was 6. It was a standard procedure in the 50s, sarcastically said to be done so that all surgeons could have backyard swimming pools. I had had chronic ear infections and they did cease thereafter. Whether a result of the surgery or my getting older, I'll never know.

In a way. When Mom took us shoe shopping in the late '40's and early '50's, we x rayed our feet to entertain ourselves as the salesman worked with each of us in turn. So far no new toes have shown up and none have fallen off.

Yes, and the old Fiestaware was said to have radiation and lead in the glaze, too. I was going to note that in the recent post but it appeared that everyone was talking about the new stuff. But wow, I had never heard of radiating adenoids, OMG! All the kids I knew except for me and my siblings had their tonsils and adenoids removed. They all said they got to have ice cream for all their meals and I was jealous. I had numerous throat and ear infections as a kid and through my twenties. A lot of it was strep. Finally when I was in my late 20's I went to a clinic for a throat infection, the Dr. asked me if I had my tonsils out. I thought that was strange that a Dr. had to ask that. I told him no. He asked me if I had a lot of throat infections and I told him yes. He said the reason why he asked was that most of my tonsils were missing and that the numerous infections that I had were so bad they slowly destroyed them.

I think I may have avoided radiation by having my tonsils and adenoids surgically removed at age four, another happenstance for which to be thankful.

I had radio-isotope tests for thyroid at Children's Memorial in Chicago at about age 11. Records lost.

I am probably a "DES Baby", but don't know for certain. DES was given to pregnant women starting about 1938. It was supposed to help maintain a pregnancy. Not only did it not have that effect, the resulting children of both genders were often sterile (like me). Again...records 'lost'.

I was prescribed hormones after menopause because it was believed they would prevent heart ailments. Oops! That was false, too. I'd had no difficulty with menopause, but had years of hot flashes after stopping the hormones.

Wow, interesting article. Although I had a lot of childhood illnesses (measles, mumps, chickenpox, scarlet fever), my tonsils and adenoids never gave me problems, and I still have them. (Still have my appendix, too.)

Alisande, have you had any issues with your thyroid?

Sheila, we took turns at the xray machine, playing too when in the Buster Brown shoe store. No problems ever with my feet, but they were xrayed a few times. It seems like I could see my sisters if hoisted up, but I wasn't quite tall enough - at least when the machine was first available to us - to insert my feet and see in the viewing port. We got to see the bones in our feet, new shoes, and a buster brown balloon on the way out. What a deal ;0)

I still have my tonsils.

I had my tonsils surgically removed when I was 4. About 20 years later I had a fever and a terrible sore throat, and went to the same doctor who had done the surgery. He diagnosed me with tonsillitis, to which I said "But you took them out!" His reply was a shrug and "Sometimes they grow back." Apparently if even a tiny bit of tissue is left after the operation, that can happen. Thankfully, I've never had any problems with them since.

I find it interesting that after being put on the shelf after it’s disastrous results to aid women in pregnancy, DES in a higher dosage is used as a “morning after pill”.

I still have my tonsils. For years I had sore throats but have grown out of them.

So scary hearing constantly of children (and more often than not women) being the guinea pigs. So many have suffered from the many experiments that were and are being done on us.

((((((Chisue)))))) So sorry for your struggles whether or not you are a DES baby.

I had my tonsils and adenoids surgically removed when I was in the 1st grade. The Dr said they were falling apart from so many infections. I was very ill as a small child.

Mine were both removed when I was 21 months old due to severe ear infections - that was about 1945. Sons were removed for same reason in 1974 when he was 4. No radiation either time- just plain old surgery. Doctor said I might have avoided surgery if penicillin had been available then to civilians, but it was still reserved for military-only. Didn’t help my son...

I had severe and frequent ear infections. I even remember the dr making a housecall while I was laying on the couch crying in pain. He removed my tonsils and punctured my ear drums. Years later my mom couldn't remember any details on that. I was in first grade (in the 60's) and stayed in the hospital for about 5 days. Unreal! lol

But, I never had another ear infection after that, until I was an adult.

I'm certain that a lot of my generation's respiratory illnesses -- and tonsillectomies -- were due to the fact that we were growing up in a haze of tobacco smoke.

Do your newspapers carry those nasty full page ads for VAPING products that pretend they are 'warning' kids that vaping is only for adults?

I'm certain that a lot of my generation's respiratory illnesses -- and tonsillectomies -- were due to the fact that we were growing up in a haze of tobacco smoke.

Not to mention air pollution. When I was a child, it was said that breathing the air in NYC was equivalent to smoking 2 packs a day. I vividly remember my mother wiping black soot off our apartment windowsills. The Clean Air Act (1970?) gradually cleaned up the skies, and our lungs.

Yes it was very polluted back then. The air, the water, trash was everywhere. I get weary of all these young people constantly whining and complaining about how we are polluting the earth - they haven't been around long enough to know how far we have come. Yes we need to do better but it's a lot better now than it used to be. As for tobacco, I smoked most of my life - both parents did, and most of the adults in our circle did. The only adults who didn't were usually the fundamental church-goers. Since our Dad was an avid atheist, a smoker and a drinker there wasn't too much chance of our worlds colliding. But that doesn't keep me from wishing that all tobacco would be a thing of the past, such a waste of money, time and health. And a big polluter, too. It doesn't surprise me that they were using radiation for simple things like adenoids, there were all kinds of things being used back then that were deadly. I remember in the 60's when all the mothers were getting high-octane speed from their doctors for weight management. I can remember my Grandmother dosing us with codeine when we had a chest cold.

My mother quit smoking when the first Surgeon General's report warning of the dangers came out in 1964, but she had never smoked a lot to begin with. My father smoked 3 packs a day, but finally stopped in the early '70s. I never smoked...tobacco. ;-)

My tonsils and adenoids were surgically removed initially (I still remember ether, and the awful feeling that I was spinning backwards off the table), but my adenoids grew back and the doctor told my parents radiation was much safer and less risky than surgery. A big medical "oops."

I haven't been diagnosed with any thyroid problems in adulthood, but I know I took thyroid hormone for a period of time in childhood. I have no idea why, except I remember lying still while they did a "basal metabolism test."

Both my parents smoked, and I remember reading an article in Life magazine that recommended pregnant women take up smoking to relax them. I grew up in NYC too. We didn't think much about air pollution then, or at least my age group didn't. When I was married and living in midtown Manhattan I'd occasionally walk to work at Lincoln Center. When I arrived at work I'd check the mirror in the ladies room and sometimes remove tiny black balls of soot from my nose or hair.

I missed getting my Tonsils etc out when we came back to the states early from the Philippines because my father needed medical care in the states. All of us Military kids were getting our tonsils out. as a kid with problems it might not have been a bad idea. I was a martyr to ear infections. Oh well. I had constant congestion, Asthma, all that stuff. But radiation, I don't think that was the option. My mother did have thyroid cancer-inexplicable. I have a dicy thyroid. It acts ups variably.

Interesting, patricia. Did it work as you described because of some per-family limit on doctor visits?

(I always thought medical care for military families was pretty good at one time. Sounds like maybe not?)

So far it looks like I'm the only "radiation baby." I guess that's good--for everybody else. :-)

By the way, despite having my tonsils and adenoids out I had terrible ear infections as a kid. I'll never forget the pain.

Chisue, I'm so sorry you've had to deal with these things. When I was menopausal my cardiologist at the time (a woman) yelled at me because I refused hormone replacement therapy. I hope she later learned that HRT was an all-around bad idea.

Alisande -- Interesting that you also experienced this concern about your thyroid. I could never understand what the worry was. Maybe my mother had discovered the problems with DES and there was speculation connecting that with thyroid?

I remember my mother and a female relative being obsessed with my weight as a young teen -- an age which I now know it is *normal* to 'pudge out' a bit before slimming naturally -- as I did, growing four inches in 18 months. This relative threatened to "roll me to get the fat off, like I did with my daughter". Good lord! (Her DD was anorexic as an adult.)

Elmer, medical care was different if you were over seas or stateside. I assume it still is. While very cheap in the states they didn't do unnecessary faddy things like take out your tonsils for no reason. Perhaps it was just something for them to do? Military kids as a sort of captive population definitely got practiced on. While we always got the latest vaccinations I don't ever remember gratuitous surgery suggested stateside. When you are going to a military controlled school you might as well be in the military for all the choice you had.

I have all my parts except for my gallbladder. My brother was born in 1946 and I was born in 1951. Both of us have our tonsils. My mother once mentioned that our pediatrician didn't believe in tonsillectomies being a cure all. I guess he was ahead of his time.

When DS had to have tubes put in his ears they did remove his adnoids.

Interesting patricia, thanks. It seems like the passage of time has not shed a favorable light on the necessity for these procedures. But I think these procedures were the commonly accepted standard of care in the 50s and 60s for kids with recurring throat and ear infections and not "gratuitous". I don't know when the practice changed.

I had several brushes with military medicine myself when on active duty, very much normal matters and nothing related to combat. It was "medicine for the masses" as far as my experiences went and a few times I had to really pound the table to insist on an escalation of my treatment to what my civilian doctors (who on two occasions I'd called and spoke to) suggested needed to be done.