​What kinds of symptoms do patients experience before receiving treatment?

Patients experience sore throat and pain in their throat, which may be severe. They will have red and swollen tonsils, trouble swallowing, white or yellow pus on their tonsils, swollen glands in their neck, fever, loss of appetite and bad breath.

​What is the impact on patients’ lives of living with these conditions?

Patient's quality of life is impacted negatively. They often have a fever when their throat hurts. If the tonsils are swollen, the patient will have difficulty swallowing food and sometimes trouble breathing. They will have a poor appetite, a headache ,and can only eat soft food which is easy to swallow. Children will miss a lot of school and adults have to take time off of work. Untreated tonsillitis can lead to severe complications which can be life threatening. The patient can develop an ear infection, an abscess between the tonsils and the wall of the throat, rheumatic fever, or toxic shock syndrome.

What cultural or regional factors affect the treatment of these conditions?

Many migrant patients cannot afford to go to the hospital, while refugee patients have to wait a long time to be referred to a hospital outside of refugee camps for treatment. Patients from Burma cannot afford to travel to towns or cities where hospitals are located for treatment. Because of these hurdles, patients first try to treat themselves with traditional medicine, which often only helps them for a short period of time. Eventually, most patients have lived with their condition for several years. Once their condition becomes severe, they struggle to find treatment at hospitals because they can no longer be treated with medication and need surgery to remove their tonsils. However, many patients cannot afford to pay for surgery.

What does the treatment process look like?

The patient will receive general anesthesia. The surgeon will then use a sharp blade or scalpel to remove the patient's tonsils through the patient's mouth.

What is the impact of this treatment on the patient’s life?

The treatment improves the patient's quality of life as they will no longer get tonsillitis and they will have fewer throat infections. They will no longer miss school or work because of tonsillitis. The patient will no longer experience throat pain nor difficulty swallowing solid food. They will no longer have fever and their appetite will return when they are fully recovered.

What potential side effects or risks come with this treatment?

The potential side effects and risk can be a reaction to the anesthesia used for surgery. However, reactions are often minor and short-term, including headaches, nausea, vomiting or muscle soreness. In rare cases, patients can experience bleeding during surgery which requires a longer hospital stay. Additionally, rarely patients develop an infection that requires further treatment. Common issue patients experience after a tonsillectomy may include moderate to severe pain in the throat for one to two weeks, and some pain in the ear, neck or jaw. Patients may experience bad breath for up to two weeks, and swelling of the tongue or throat.

How accessible is treatment in the area? What is the typical journey like for a patient to receive care?

Surgery is only available in hospital in larger cities and is expensive for patients. The surgery cost in Thailand is more expensive than in Burma and most migrants and refugees from Burma in Thailand cannot usually afford to pay for the surgery. In Thailand, only Thai citizens have access to a public healthcare system, and all non-citizens must pay full treatment costs. At the same time, in Burma most patients live in remote areas, where subsistence and semi-subsistence lifestyles are still common. Although some patients, especially in towns, earn an income, they do not earn enough to cover the cost of their treatment. Many patients turn to acquaintances for help navigating the healthcare system in Burma and Thailand. Once they arrive at a clinic or local hospital, they are referred to a larger hospital, before being referred to BCMF for financial support of their treatment.

What are the alternatives to this treatment?

Antibiotics help patients who have acute tonsillitis but for patients with reoccurring tonsillitis and chronic tonsillitis require surgery to remove the tonsils before their condition becomes severe.