I had mine removed when I was 23 and the operation itself is fine although you wake up with the driest mouth ever. I had an unfortunate reaction to the anesthetic that really didn't help. They advise you to just drink water for a few days afterwards so you can spot if you vomit any blood as coloured drinks would mask it (nice). To be honest the swelling bothered me more than the pain, which led to some nice dribbling for a few days! I took a week off work and mostly lay on the sofa feeling a bit sorry for myself but no where near as bad as I was expecting. And not as bad as my flatmate thought, who for some reason imagined they made a cut across your throat to carry out the op!!!