*****NEW***** Chat Room ****NEW***
A Tonsillectomy Recovery Journey
Tonsillectomy |Tonsillectomy Recovery Forums
I wasn’t always this healthy. As a kid I ingested more penicillin than a corporate-raised chicken. I was in the doctor’s office several times each year with a sore throat. As the doctor or nurse peered into my mouth, the reaction was always the same: “Whoa, those are some big tonsils!” The diagnosis was usually tonsillitis, or strep throat. As the doctor wrote the prescription, he’d explain that years ago, tonsils like mine would have been removed, but, “these days,” we try to hang onto them. “These days,” were the 1970′s. I guess the tonsillectomy pendulum had swung back from the days when kids got their tonsils out because their brother was getting his out.
Aunt Kate’s reassurance helped, but I still wrote out some just-in-case instructions for my brother and hid them in my closet. I sheepishly told him where they were, just in case.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As an adult I continued to suffer from frequent bouts of tonsillitis. It seemed that I caught every bug that passed through my house or workplace. I guess those big ugly tonsils were a nice home for those nasties. It wasn’t until my 40′s that I also became aware that I suffered from something called, Obstructive Sleep Apnea -a condition in which a person stops breathing while asleep. I snored often and would awake abruptly, gulping in big breaths. I felt tired most days. After raising four babies, I had come to accept fatigue as a normal part of life!
One day at a routine physical my doctor remarked about the number of episodes of strep throat and tonsillitis I’d had. We also talked about the sleep problems. While he didn’t formally diagnose obstructive sleep apnea, he suspected that I had it. He recommended a tonsillectomy, because of all the tonsil problems I’d had. As a bonus, I might find relief from the sleep apnea as well. If not, I’d undergo a sleep study. Forty four years old and father of four boys and a doctor finally said it: Those tonsils are doing you more harm than good!
As much as I hated those tonsils, I was terrified at the thought of going under the knife. I started reading about tonsillectomy on the internet and talking to friends. That didn’t help. “My cousin knew a guy who got a tonsillectomy and bled to death.” “At your age, tonsillectomy is dangerous.” When I met with the ear, nose and throat specialist, (an otolaryngologist), he told me that the risks are the same for an adult undergoing tonsillectomy surgery as for a child, but the recovery is longer and more painful. He was right about that!
Tonsillectomy
I scheduled the surgery for the day after Thanksgiving. A traditional day of feasting in the United States. If it was to be my last meal, I planned to make it a good one! As it turned out, I was so nervous and scared that I could hardly eat on that day. I was recently divorced and had shared placement of my four boys. So many people counted on me that I began to question my decision. What if I died on the table? How reckless to leave behind a family, simply to avoid frequent tonsillitis? My aunt, a registered nurse reassured me about how simple the surgery was, and how far anesthesiology had come. I had nothing to worry about.
Aunt Kate’s reassurance helped, but I still wrote out some just-in-case instructions for my brother and hid them in my closet. I sheepishly told him where they were, just in case.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“My tonsils were like a 400 pound gorilla on my back. I don’t miss them at all. Ever.” -from the forum
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I took a week off from work, asked my ex wife to take care of the boys that week, and asked my uncle to drive me to and from the hospital. (a requirement with anesthesia) That was about all the preparation I did. I was about to learn alot!
Surgery went fine. I awoke in recovery with a serving of Jell-o in front of me. (“Jelly,” to my British friends) The nurse said that I had to finish it before I could check out. I swallowed it with great relish. It was divine! I called my uncle and we were out of there. I felt ok. I told him thanks and not to worry. I’d be fine. I believed this. Aside from a couple visits, I spent the next ten days alone in misery. The pain set in after about 24 hours. Sleeping became my worst enemy. I’d wake up with my mouth dried out and my throat on fire. Oh my God. I was not prepared for this!
I ran out of Popsicle’s on day three. I ran out of pain medicine on day five. The pain peaked on day seven. I broke down and cried in front of my brother on day eight- a combination of pain, drug induced depression, and sleep deprivation. Since then, I’ve read thousands of similar accounts on the tonsillectomy forum I created.
It didn’t have to be so hard. If I’d known what I do now, I could have done so much to make my tonsillectomy recovery better. I hope to reach as many people as I can to help guide them through the tunnel. It has been my passion and taught me more about compassion and the amazing strength of the human spirit than any other life experience. When you shine a light for others, you also light your own path.
In the pages at follow, I’ll share with you what I learned from my tonsillectomy experience and years of coaching others through tonsillectomy and recovery.
More about tonsillectomy…read more
More about tonsil stones in the guide to tonsil stones
Tonsillectomy Recovery
~Greg
Take care,
Greg Tooke
My short bio
I had my tonsils out exactly 12 days ago! I’m so happy to be here today typing about my experience (not to make it sound near death). I heard so many horror stories prior to surgery. Everytime I told a co-worker or friend I was scheduled for surgery, the look of terror in their eyes shook me to my tonsil’s foundations.
When I initially woke up from my surgery, I took a Percocet the nurse offered just to be safe. I gulped it down (crushed on applesauce) and went home feeling quite nauseas. In retrospect, the nausea was most likely from the anesthesia and not the Percocet. But, in my weakened state, I though the nausea was from the 1 Percocet I took. I have a fear of vomiting and hate feeling nauseas, so the rest of my recovery was pain medication free (well, aside from a few days of children’s liquid Tylenol). I proceeded to not really eat much but a few gulps of melted popsicle, applesauce or yogurt for about 7 days. I lost a total of 12 pounds (which I’m sure I’ll gain back). I slept mostly the first few days and kept an ice pack on my neck ’round the clock. I would occasionally take sips of water, but I really should have forced myself to drink more initially.
Around day 6, we had to put my childhood dog down (he was very old\sick). So, of course I cried. That evening, what I had been dreading happened: I started bleeding. Now, there’s a difference between bleeding and hemorrhaging. I was bleeding. But, when blood is leaking into your mouth and you’re panicking, all you can think is “hemorrhage”. I was very upset because I didn’t want to go back to surgery. On the car ride to the hospital, it stopped itself. The surgeon told me that sometimes with the cauterization tonsillectomy, pockets of blood can form and these will occasionally “release” during the healing process. The bleeding seemed to be the turning point for me. The type of pain changed… it went from being a hearty throb here and there to occasional “sharp” pains. The best way to describe the pain is by comparing the whole process to a severe burn. If you’ve ever sustained a third degree burn, you’ll know: the pain is worse at the end as the nerve endings begin to heal. After the “bleed”, I was controlling my morning pain with 3ml of children’s liquid Tylenol every morning. Then by day 11, I magically woke up and I wasn’t in pain! The only remaining issues now are: I always keep a drink nearby when I’m eating because it takes about 3-4 swallows to get a bite down (I feel like a python when I’m eating… it doesn’t hurt, it’s just tough), and candy\treats don’t taste as magical as they once did.
My final bits of advice and reassurance are: don’t worry about the pain. You got to the point you need your tonsils out so chances are you’ve endured some mind blowing pain with tonsillitis or severe strep. This recovery pain passes and you’ll be so happy to be rid of those annoying bags of pain in your throat. Take about 10 days off work, and if you need more, you can always call out sick. I’m a 24 year old female… I’ve talked to other people that got it out at my age and painted a bleak picture. Also, you’re not going to want to eat yogurt or ice-cream. They’re thick and dairy-ish. That kind of stuff creates a kind of phlegm-y wad at the back of your throat you’ll have trouble gagging down. Keep your liquids water-based and thin like water. Sodas start to feel good, too (they bubble in the back of your throat which itches the scratches and helps the phlegm go down easier). I started eating salmon at first; it’s easy to chew and slides down nice. Just be careful of bones! Cheese grits (there’s Slow Cooker recipes online) and cheesy cauliflower mash were a delight. You’ll be scared to cough, sneeze or blow your nose for a little bit in the beginning. Just pay attention to how your throat feels and you’ll know when it’s right to let your body sneeze. My first sneeze made me cheer “YES! I SNEEZED!” I will continue to avoid ibuprofen and alcohol for about another week or so. My surgeon said there’s studies that show there’s no correlation between ibuprofen use and bleeding. I believe him but I’m still not taking anymore chances. Finally, have about 3 gel ice packs (they form around your neck nicely) ready in the freezer for a constant rotation.
Good luck, and know that you’ll get through it! I did AND didn’t use anything stronger than children’s Tylenol.
Hi all.. I am a 28 year old female, 11 days post op. I had my tonsils out on 4/26 as an outpatient. I arrived at 7:45, surgery was at 8:45 and I was out of recovery and home in my bed by 9:30. My surgeon informed me that I had little blood loss and that I did very well. I had chronic sore throats for 2 years with cryptic tonsils and tonsil stones, he said when he grabbed one of them about 50 of those babies came popping out. I knew i had bad breath for a reason and i could only always get a few out at a time, i would have really liked to see my throat as he did the procedure. My recovery has not been easy. Post op day 1-3 I was fine, I took pain meds around the clock, i was popping a pill every 3 hours between Ibuprofen and Percocet, my doctor also provides you with their own compounded tetracane lollipops ( they taste horrible ) but they numb your throat in between medications. Days 3-10 have been HELL. Between the pain and the scabs coming off and how weak i feel and how i have been unable to eat anything, apple sauce even kills me. My throat is very lazy and doesn’t last long if i’m eating something. I’ve lost about 10 lbs and the worst part of all of this was 2 days ago i ended up in the ER for a pretty severe hemorrhage. I work in an ER and i’ve never seen as much blood that came out of me, come out of any of my patients. I was throwing up clot after clot and gagging constantly. There was a steady stream of blood coming from my surgical site for 4 hours until they got the OR ready and put me back under for cautery. I have never been so scared in my life. I have been off work the week prior to my surgery due to a sore throat and then the ENT doc will not release me back to work for the full 14 days. This procedure has taken the life out of me and i look like a walking zombie. My eyes have very dark circles under them and i can’t stand for long periods of time and i get winded very easily. I can’t say i would have elected to do this surgery if i knew that i was going to practically be tortured. I know everyone’s recovery is different and some people do not have a hard time, but this has been emotionally and physically draining and i get very frustrated with not being able to tolerate eating. I did take myself off narcotics at 7 days post op and went through a pretty bad withdraw, my nausea was horrible and i was as white as a ghost and pretty emotional. I have refused to take anything since then because i need to deal with this first hand. I take a tylenol here and there but i am so scared to take ibuprofen, due to my second surgery and all the bleeding that happened. I just want to eat again and be able to enjoy life, but i’m afraid that’s slow coming. Please don’t take my story as a typical recovery, because it’s not. Normally this stuff doesn’t happen to me and i heal really well, but this has been horrible.
I forgot to mention, the surgeon took my tonsils using cautery.
Hello everyone! I am scheduled for surgery on May 15th! Reading all of these posts has really helped prepare me for what is about to come. I am hoping that I can handle the pain… Wish me luck!!
Good Luck Jazzy!!!!!!
Good luck Greg. I am day 12 post-op and I finally can swallow properly and ate some solid food today. Before you go in get some Aloe Vera Gel Juice from the chemist. This is great to use from about day 7 and it will soothe your throat. I only got to find out about it over the last 3 days and have found this to be a godsend! Good luck, it is not pleasant but there is light at the end, and I’m sure everyone on this forum would agree. Cheers, and good luck!
I just wanted to say thanks so much for this website. I spent many late nights up the last week reading these pages to make sure what I was feeling was normal. I am 33 and had my tonsils out on 4/18. The first few days were so easy since the hospital anesthesia hasn’t worn off yet, but the last week was so hard. Today is the first day that I haven’t been on the pain meds on the regular. My throat still hurts but not enough to need the meds. I go back to work tomorrow but just from home. Talking a lot still makes my throat sore, but I think I’m on the home stretch. So, thanks again for making me feel sane when I was in the worst of it!
Well thank you Amy- Your comment also help others. I wish you all the best in your life without tonsils!
I am currently ten days post op.
day 9 was great. day 10 has been a struggle.
Wondering when my sense of taste will return and sensation back in my tongue?
I have not lost that much weight- maybe 5lbs.
Mac and cheese are a constant along with plain noodles, ice chips, and a little applesauce.
I was prepared pre surgery with boatloads of ice cream and Popsicles. The pain medication affected my appetite in ways that makes sweets turn my stomach.
I also have vomited multiple times due to pain meds. Grateful that no bleeding occurred.
I have learned that this process you just have to accept and let it wash over you. I also don’t have a lot of capacity for reading or movies. Short and simple tv programs have been best or magazines.
It’s a really hard surgery. Every time I start to cry I’m like “no no no I’m already dehydrated enough!”
Testing…
How do I create an account to post on this website! Help! 7 days post op.
Maryallisonky@gmail.com
At the bottom of the page, just put your name under the name, fill in the e-mail, and leave a comment in the box and that is all you need to do.
Thank you!
Hi everyone, I removed my tonsils yesterday 17.04.13. Pain was excruciating, I had blocked nose and my mouth got blocked as well. Just after supper I had a very bad pain in my throat or was jaws It felt like it was locking and with neddle punch like pain with loss of breath. They gave cortisone and nubelized me and I was better ever since today. We were ordered to have lot of Ice cubes and Coke or sprite and Chips or toast. That’s all I am eating even on my day 2. So far so good and having biltong. And ice cold water.
Hey, you should be upto day 5-6. How’s it all going now?
I am 49 years young…..ha ha and I had my tonsils out on the 17th April as well and I am on day 6. I actually came out of hospital on the 18th and that night ate a chicken snitzel and some soft veges and all fine. How short lived was that experience. The last 2 days my throat has been that sore and raw from just drinking water and eating iceys and basically nothing else since day 2! My ears are aching, I have ice-packs to the outside of my neck trying to dull the pain and I haven’t slept any longer than 1-2hrs since the op. It has been my worst nightmare! I have been taking Endone tabs every 4-6 hours and topping them up with neurofen and the ONLY reason I have slept the 1-2 hours is because I have been bombed out on pain meds. From what I have already read on these forums I am still up for at least another 4 days of pure hell. I attempted to eat some mashed banana yesterday and that burnt my throat as well. It seems all I can tolerate is cold iced water, ice desserts (yogurt consistency) and iceblocks in the tube. I absolutely dread falling asleep, knowing full well that when I wake up my throat will have dried out and I have to try and swallow a packet of razor blades!! I have had the humidifier in my room since day 2 and I think that has helped. Oh, did I mention I had the coblation of my tongue done and also cauterisation of turbinates in my nose as well. BUT, I have had no pain in my tongue or in my nose, just my tonsillectomy is giving me all the grief. The bonus in all this is that I might lose a few unwanted kg’s because I cannot eat!! So, how are you going so far?
Seems like the majority of posts on this website fail to mention what method of tonsillectomy you got. Coblation is supposed to be less painful, if anybody knows they got the coblation method…how did it go for you?
I had the cauterization method. It went fine (meaning no complications) didn’t bleed once aside from a little tiny bit with the mucus from my sinus’s on the first 2 days.
I’m a 24 year old Male who had chronic tonsillitis from the age of 17, eventually i was referred to the throat specialist and a adult tonsillectomy was recommended which i received on 3rd April 2013.
Leading up to the operation i was quite confident had done some research on the procedure and it all seemed fine until the night before i started reading on these forums out of interest about other sufferers stories and quite honestly it freaked me out, the stories over the internet must be the worst of the worst i swear to god and i’m sure if you are awaiting the golden tonsillectomy you’ve read some of them too.
So with my confidence a little shaken i went in and had the surgery and the story goes like this:
Day 1) Prior to surgery i was connected to a drip and received the anesthetic waking up an hour later with an expected sore throat slightly dazed and confused, i coughed up a bit of flem and a little blood but nothing major, the nurse sucked it out of my mouth with a vacuum and then wheeled me off to my shared room with the other unfortunate souls.
I was given a jug of water with a cup and frequently checked on after surgery and was given some pain killers around an hour or two after the surgery which helped a little bit (Endone) the pain threshold was around 5/10 with ten being the most absolutely unbearable you could experience before passing out.
On the third hour i was given food which consisted of a banana, sandwich, apple juice and custard with mango (yurrm). I ate the whole lot with moderate amount of discomfort and this part i believe is critical /* I was instructed i should instantly resume a normal diet and forget about the whole ice cream theory to have a fast effective recovery */ In the evening i received another meal which i ate but the cheese sandwich made me sick for some reason and i later vomited, i’m just going to assume it was a mix of my bodies stress and the dodgy sandwich, because of all the water i drank the vomit came out nice and fluent and didn’t disturb my throat at all.
That night i had little sleep (in total 3 hours), i was in the 4-5/10 pain threshold and connected to a drip and blood pressure system in an awkward room with a person crying hysterically down the hall. I wasn’t too bothered i just watched some movies on my laptop and chilled to some music (tool seemed appropriate).
It’s also important i should mention i was consistently drinking iced water ALL the time to stay super hydrated and to keep my throat from drying out.
Day 2) I was given breakfast (corn flakes, fruit and orange juice) i asked if i should be drinking the OJ due to its acidity and was told to stfu it’s not a problem so i did, and it wasn’t. I was later discharged in the morning, received my instructions and medication and i felt a little better all in all. I returned home where i chilled for a bit, ate some food (a hotdog and then mangoes, custard with ice cream) had some of my meds then went to sleep for 5 hours. My room-mate woke me up so i got up and had a chat, my voice at this stage was a little odd due to the swelling of the throat and my pain was probably down to a 4/10. I kept the consistency of iced water at all times and ate some chicken noodle (not too hot) soup with bread for dinner that night as i wasn’t feeling like pushing my luck.
I slept ok.. woke up at 3am needing water, drank it, fell back asleep. Woke up at 7am needing water, drank it, fell back asleep then woke up at 10am.
Day 3) This was probably the worst day i had so far, i didn’t feel that well in the morning at all. was dazy and sore and the meds didn’t seem to do that much. Pain was probably about a 5/10 but i knew this was too be expected as it’s a key part in the recovery. I had nutri grain for breakfast which went down quite well (at this stage and from here on eating isn’t much of a problem aside from chewing was a bit difficult as my mouth was aching a little) I ate some more Endones, went outside for half an hour to get some sun, ate some more food (a hotdog with mustard and ketchup) then fell asleep again in the afternoon waking up around 5pm feeling pretty good. I Done some work from home on the computer, done some uni work and it was great that my mind could function properly again. I also kept a glass of ice cold water with me at all times, sipping on it and went to bed rather late around 1am and slept till 9am
Day 4) Woke up at 9am to my friend at the door, mornings have probably been the worst part of the day as the throat is dry and the meds have well worn off. i ate some cocopops which wasn’t a great idea but it was all i had. they would get stuck around my mouth and i had to rinse them down with my water. Up until now i had kept my physical motion at a minimum but on this day i went out for lunch and we got some Indian food (Rice with butter chicken and mixed veges) i was craving some meat and this worked a treat and wasn’t too spicy either which was good but i felt i had to test my limits to some extent. i went and got a iced frappucino which was heaven on the throat, i used a spoon to eat it (Do not use a straw as it will rupture your blood clot from the pressure) and went home to do some more work. went to the movies that night with a friend and i felt pretty good with a pain level around a 2/10, it was great to leave the house life seeming normal again. I ate leftover indian food then stayed up till 2am doing more engineering work then decided to go to bed, i was ridiculously wide awake for some reason with energy and didn’t crash for probably another hour.
Day 5) I woke up at 10am, drank some water etc, pain wasn’t that bad it’s more of a ‘discomfort’ than pain now, i met a friend at a cafe and had an iced mocha frappe (heaven x2) then ate a pancake breakfast with bacon which went down great, eating is pretty easy now, just a little uncomfortable. I later went to the pub for an old work mates farewell and ate some garlic bread because i was still too full for a meal. I drank a lot of water, a rum n coke, more water, a beer, and more water.. i probably shouldn’t have had the alcohol but meh i was feeling good and testing my limits with whats comfortable and to a responsible extent is healthy for recovery.
It’s now night time, i ate some more soup (pea and ham) and have been drinking a lot of water as usual and i feel fine, my throat earlier in the day from all the conversation felt a little stressed but now it sounds almost back to normal my pain is next to none, just a discomfort feeling and it’s looking not bad either compared from post surgery (just a white coat of gunk over where my tonsils used to be).
In summary of my experience so far i believe there has been numerous things that have helped my recovery go nice and smooth
1) Plenty of rest
2) Plenty of water
3) Eating normally (for nutrients and so stuff like ice cream and other old recommended foods won’t build up on the wound)
4) Talking (I was told this helps adjust the throat back to normal and i believe talking as normal to a safe extent helped a lot
5) Stay positive! don’t believe you should restrict yourself from eating, drinking or talking because its a bit uncomfortable, it actually helps a lot.
My only concern now is the day 5-10 of recovery where the crust comes off the wound and you become prone to bleeding, one of my friends had 7 hemorrhages during this period so that’s made me nervous. As long as you keep your blood pressure low and don’t do anything strenuous it should be fine but.
Feel free to ask any questions or reply with your story, i just felt i should post this as i don’t want people freaking out for no reason the way i did which could lead to perhaps not getting it done. I can honestly say however i have never felt better health and energy wise (aside from the current wound), i used to be very fatigued a lot and i was told by the surgeon that bad tonsils can cause that as well as proneness to colds etc.
peace out and happy tonsillectomy’s!
Man, you’re pretty lucky. There’s simply no way I could have eaten “normally”. Even water was like swallowing nails, I couldn’t imagine eating a cheese sandwich.
Hopefully this works for others, too, though!
This was only up till day 5 and it was great no big deal
. the second week when the ‘scabs’ came off revealing some sensitive new skin (days 8 through to 14) were, i’ll be honest… super crap. 7 days of agony i ended up doping myself up pretty good just so i could keep working and going to uni, there was one day in particular though (Day 12) where my body had enough from the stress at the time during recovery and it literally shut down, I drove home in intense pain and finally had some well needed rest, cancelled a few events i had going that week including a party i was hosting it was just one of those breaking points when i had to treat my health with 100% priority.
I stopped taking all painkillers etc around day 14, finished a course of 8mg Dexamethasone hits (did anyone else have to take this??? had some bad side effects like acne I’ve never had and some shitty mood swings).
It’s now 3 weeks and i act, eat and drink as normal with the additional ability of breathing better and way more energy then i ever had previously with tonsils, there’s still visual healing going on but it un-affects anything anymore.
If anyone would like to know more leave a reply, i also took a day by day pictography of the healing process out of interest from day one till now if you’d like to see it leave your email address and i’ll forward them to you.
And for the record my method of removal was cauterization, good times.
OK, I know this is crazy (and kind of cheating), but four years ago this website saved my life. I had a tonsillectomy, in conjunction with minor sinus surgery, and if it wasn’t for My BIg Fat Tonsillectomy I honestly don’t know how I would have gotten through it.
Anyway, fast forward to now, and I had to get my surgery on my sinuses (septoplasty, turbinate reductions) again yesterday. It’s not the same (far less painful!!), but it’s 3:30am, I can’t sleep, and I’m suffering, so I thought “what the hell, let’s see if lighting can strike twice”.
If anyone has some words of encouragement, or just wants to say a prayer, I’d greatly appreciate it.
For my part, I can tell everyone that I’m firmly aware of what they’re going through, as I had my tonsils removed a few years back, as I said, and it was a pretty awful experience. However, I got through it thanks to this site (and lots of vicodin), and so will all of you!!!
Best,
Brian
THANK YOU! I have surgery on Wednesday 3/13 and I am 33 years old. I am so nervous, and your website is very helpful. You are so nice to put all of this together in one place is such an easy format. <3
Has anyone had a tonsillectomy that was incomplete? I had a tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy in 1993 due to recurrent tonsillitis, strep, and pharyngitis. The surgeon scheduled it within days of me first seeing her and was shocked that no one had recommended it before. My pre-surgery went as planned, but the aftermath was horrible. I threw up on the way home from the hospital and proceeded to throw up any pain medicine they prescribed. By day 3 of post-op, after exhausting numerous attempts at various pain meds, I could only take tylenol in tablet form which was great fun witth my raw throat. Needless to say, the pain was horrendous and for over a week, there was nothing I could do but suffer through it. Immediately after surgery, the surgeon told me that she was unable to complete the surgery because my tonsils were in such bad shape. They were literally falling apart as she tried to remove them. They were so bad that she sent them to a local medical school for study. Because of this, I still have my adenoids and part of my tonsils. My doctor assured me that a follow-up surgery (if needed) would be honored by her practice free-of-charge. Less than 6 months later, she moved to another state. My experience was so terrible that I never wanted to consider going back under the knife. Now, 19 yrs later, I am constantly sick. I have 2 children in 2 different schools and catch any illness they’re exposed to. I finally broke down and called the ENT practice that originally handled my surgery. I was told by the appointment nurse that it was unlikely they would honor my doctor’s promise since she was no longer with the practice, but since I have good insurance coverage, they were more than happy to schedule a consultation to discuss a surgery. What?! Yes, I have great coverage, but I also have a huge deductible. My questions to the forum are… Has anyone else been in this situation? And, do I have any options to hold them to the promise made by their doctor while employed with them? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!