Kerri,
I had my tonsils out at age 20 back when dinosaurs roamed, sort of. But even then they were not taking out tonsils routinely, and I had to jump some hoops for it to happen. I had multiple bouts of tonsillitis, missed days of college classes which was not a good idea, and there was something about one of my tonsils that showed infection which wasn't resolving, forget what they said exactly. I won't tell you that it is a minor deal, well it is compared to partial glossectomies and neck dissections, IMO. All is relative. Like Maria said it is a harder go when you are older having this surgery. At 20 I qualified as older.

I think once we go through oral cancer we forget that we can still have rather common stuff too, such as tonsillitis. I stopped having all those sore throats after my tonsils were removed. None of my own kids needed that surgery however, so I guess they got "good tonsils".

Wishing you the best,
Anne