Woman’s Tonsils Grow Back 40 Years After Removal: ‘Disbelief and Shock’
“I didn’t think it was a possibility," said Katy Golden, who had her tonsils taken out when she was 5 years old
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Stock image of otolaryngologist examining woman's throat.A Michigan woman is detailing the shock she felt after learning her tonsils had grown back decades after getting them removed.
Katy Golden, from Detroit, was just 5 years old when her mother took her to get her tonsils removed in the summer of 1983 after having inner ear problems since she was an infant. The procedure was seemingly successful and she recovered well, CNN reports.
Over 40 years later, Golden decided to visit an otolaryngologist — or ear, nose and throat (ENT) physician — due to concerns about having constant sore throats.
“I knew that there was some sort of little flap or something that’s been there for years, but I didn’t realize what it was. I just thought, ‘I’m not a doctor myself. I don’t know much about mouth structure. That’s just how it is,’” she told the outlet. “But if I would get sick and have a sore throat or something, then of course the back of my mouth would be super inflamed, and it was hard to swallow. And I thought, ‘Well, obviously it’s not my tonsils. I have those out. I’ve just got a sore throat.’”
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In September 2024, Golden saw Dr. Cynthia Hayes, an ENT in Detroit, who told her that her tonsils had grown back, and her left tonsil was nearly back to full size. Golden said the shocking mention of her tonsils “hit [her] like a ton of bricks.”
“I kind of looked around like, ‘Yeah, no, I don’t have tonsils.’ I looked at her thinking kind of like, ‘Maybe I picked a dud,’” she recalled. “I didn’t think it was a possibility. I was in disbelief and shock that tonsils that I thought were gone were causing my pain. She’s like, ‘Well, they must have grown back.’ And I thought that was just the weirdest answer ever.”
Although it’s rare, it is possible for tonsils to grow back following a tonsillectomy. If any tissue — even small amounts — is left behind following the procedure, the tonsils can grow back over time.
Additionally, tonsils may have a greater chance of growing back after removal if the procedure was performed before the tonsils have stopped growing, which typically occurs around 8 years old.
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Hayes, who has been practicing for 8 years, said Golden is only the second patient she’s had whose tonsils grew back. She said that, although they don’t know the timeline, it appeared that her tonsils had been back for at least a decade.
“It was pretty apparent when you look back there,” she told the outlet. “In the back of someone’s throat, there’s an anterior to posterior pillar, and that’s where the tonsil sits. When someone has had their tonsil removed, it should be very smooth. But with hers, it was very bumpy. It looks just like tonsil tissue, just as a regrowth, sitting right there.”
Hayes ultimately performed Golden’s surgery to remove her tonsils for a second time.
Golden admitted that although her recovery is more difficult as an adult, she’s hopeful that her sore throats will be gone for good.
Read the original article on People
