My daily adult tonsillectomy recovery "blog"

AbbeyD · Newbie Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 32

Hi, I had a tonsillectomy today and am home and relatively OK. He used the coblation method, which I am happy about b/c it supposedly causes less pain than the electrocautery method.

Anyway, I definitely am sore and it hurts to swallow, but am drinking lots of water to keep up with my fluids. I did have some vomiting earlier from the lortab pain medication (liquid vicodin), I will probably call tomorrow to see if they can switch it to something else that won't upset my stomach.

Here's hoping for a decent recovery! Abbey

AbbeyD · Newbie Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 32

OK, I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised! My throat is definitely sore but I am able to drink water and had some soup earlier today without too many problems. I'm taking 2tsp of Lortab (liquid vicodin) instead of 3tsp due to stomach upset every 4 hours. It is easiest to drink/eat about an hour after taking the pain meds. I'm also taking liquid carafate, swish and swallow to help coat the throat.

I took a look back there and it doesn't look too horrible. My doctor used the coblation technique so I think I was spared a lot of injury since the excessive heat/cautery wasn't used. My uvula is a little swollen but nothing compared to what other people have posted. The holes where my tonsils were are all covered with white stuff. My tongue hurts in the back, it feels like I have canker sores on both sides back there. The throat hurts about as much as having strep throat, but mainly only when I swallow.

I had a horrible headache all day yesterday, I'm not sure if it was from the anesthesia or from not having my daily cup of coffee. Thankfully it's gone today.

I'm keeping an ice pack on my neck area and constantly taking sips of ice cold water and holding it back there for as long as I can stand it. I'm hoping that things don't turn bad in the next couple of days as many people have experienced.

So far so good, I'm keeping my fingers crossed ... till later ...

AbbeyD · Newbie Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 32

OK, so it's now Friday, day 3 of my recovery. Today is definitely the worst day so far. I feel ok when I take the pain meds, but they only last about 2 1/2 hours - 3 hours and I can only take them every 4 hours. So the last hour or so I'm watching the clock pretty intensley. I have a huge headache again this evening, so I'm sipping on some caffeinated tea in hopes that the caffeine will help it. My neck is starting to feel sore too, like muscle aches and a stiff neck. Hopefully after my husband puts the kids to bed he can give me a nice massage to work it out.

My throat is pretty ugly looking - the areas where my tonsils were are all covered in a whitish/grey membrane. I'm still keeping up pretty well on my fluids though and hoping that the throat pain stays at the "reasonable" level. My ears are starting to feel a little bit of a twinge here and there as well. That's about it for now. I ate some soup and mashed potatoes earlier today. Going back to bed...

AbbeyD · Newbie Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 32

Yesterday evening/night were not so great. I had a terrible headache which eventually went away once I finally got some sleep. I feel pretty much the same today as yesterday, maybe a touch more sore. I started breaking up the lortab to 1 1/2 tsp every 2 hours instead of 3 tsp every 4 hours. This seems to be doing a good job of keeping the more intense pain away consistently. Last night I was able to go 6 hours without pain meds and slept like a rock, it was well needed. Today and yesterday evening I started noticing that my hearing is super sensitive. Everything seems so loud that it hurts my ears. It doesn't really help that my 2 1/2 year old daughter has only one volume on her voice and that is just plain loud.

I tried to look at my throat but I can't open my mouth up very well - all I saw were the ugly grey/white scabs back there. I'm still drinking a ton of water and staying very well hydrated which I'm convinced is helping keep the pain at bay.
'
I'm not talking at all so I'm driving my husband crazy by snapping my fingers at him when I need something Laughing

Oh well, he can handle it! That's it for now, until later...

AbbeyD · Newbie Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 32

So today is day 5 if you count the day of surgery as day one. It's Sunday. I am pretty much the same as the last couple of days. Bad sore throat but it's manageable with the meds. My ears still feel a little full with twinges of uncomfortable sensations every now and then, but I'm not having full on pain in my ears - I hope it stay that way! They are still really sensitive to sounds though, if my dog barks I wince from the sound. I'm definitely feeling run down and tired. I've been going back to bed every few hours throughout the day even if I don't really sleep while I'm there. Just to get off my feet and have the room dark and quiet is really good. I'm also still using the ice pack on my neck when the pain gets bad between doses of lortab. This seems to help out a lot.

I have a disgusting taste in my mouth/back of my throat that won't go away. I am able to brush my teeth and back of the tongue lightly but I think the taste is coming from the grosse scabs back there. I will be glad when they come off! I hope they come off when I'm sleeping so I don't have to feel it/them in my throat/mouth -yuck!

I'm still not eating much other than jello, soup and instant mashed potatoes. I could go for some chicken fajitas right now, yum! Cool

Till next time.......... Abbey

AbbeyD · Newbie Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 32

Ok, I'm on day 6 (Monday) and it is pretty consistent that the evenings are not so good for me. Around 4-5pm I really start feeling tired and the pain kicks it up a bit, regardless of the pain meds. My throat feels mostly the same except I think some of the scabs are starting to go away as I did see a couple of small pink spots among the sea of white back there. That's nice to see as I know the end will be coming in the near future. Pain meds are still the same. I take 2 tsp of lortab followed by 1 tsp 3 hours later for a total of 3 tsp every 4 hours. This is definitely the best way to keep it under control that I've found. I did call my doctor's office and asked about adding something else for pain as it is a little more intesnse today. They said I could add percocet and my husband is picking it up now. So hopefully it will take the edge off some more for the next couple of days.

My ears are a little more sore today but it's not too bad. It's more like I am aware of them than bad pain. I'm still drinking tons of water and had more soup today and some mashed potatoes. I don't think I'll be eating the mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving as I'll be pretty sick of them by that time!

That's all for now, hoping to get a god nights sleep.

One note, don't overdo it at home! I helped out a lot this morning with the kids and I think I am paying for it now. Good luck to everyone going through it now or in the near future! Abbey

AbbeyD · Newbie Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 32

OK, here I am on day 7. Last night (this morning actually) I woke up at 4 am with pretty bad pain. I had taken a percocet before going to bed instead of the lortab. Whichever drug I took it would've worn off by that point, but boy did it hurt! I took some lortab and basically paced around the kitchen for about 20 minutes until it kicked in. I posted on the adult tonsillectomy what to expect thread under the heading of "ouch ouch ouch." Once the meds kicked in I was much better and went back to bed. This morning I woke up feeling pretty good and I had a fairly decent day. I was able to eat a bowl of ramen noodles today which was the first time I feel like I had something sort of like a meal since the surgery. I'm still taking the lortab every 4 hours and need it but I can tell that I am able to last longer between doses now without major breakthrough pain.

Now again this evening I'm feeling it but that seems to be my thing -- feel ok during the day and it gets worse in the evening. My throat is looking better and less irritated around the white stuff back there. I am able to talk again today so that's nice too. I feel like the end is near and I am very happy about that. I just made a smoothie with yogurt, milk, a banana and protein powder. I have avoided dairy products until now but I am so hungry that I'm going for it -- I don't have it in me to do soup again tonight Shocked

Until tomorrow ....

AbbeyD · Newbie Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 32

I'm bored and tired of being stuck at home. Not to mention that the weather is terrible today, cold and rainy and windy. I'm ready to get on with my life and be done with this. Well against doctors orders I've been lifting my little ones to help out around the house. My son is 10 months and my daughter is 2 1/2. My other daughter is 4 1/2 so she doesn't need lifting. But I have been lifting the little ones into and out of the crib if my husband isn't around and doing diapers which requires lifting onto a changing table. I would do them on the floor but my son is a total wiggle-worm and it makes it 10x harder to do his diapers if he's not on the changing table and relatively contained. I feel good and haven't had any bleeding so that's how I am justifying it.

Pain wise it's about the same, maybe a little less today. I have had occasional bouts of fairly intense pain that last for a short period of time and then go away. I deal with these by icing my throat taking a hot shower or just going into a quiet dark room and relaxing. It's mostly been about 20-30 minutes before the next dose of meds is due. This morning when I woke up it wasn't really that bad and it had been 8 hours since the last dose -- I think the end is near. I am ready to turn the corner, which I feel will be in the next couple of days. I'm still eating soft foods, actually my doc wants me on a soft diet anyway for 10 days. I made some banana bread today that was really good and it went down ok. Very Happy

That's about it, otherwise it's status quo around here!

AbbeyD · Newbie Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 32

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!! Very Happy

Today is the end of day 9 and is the best day yet. Today I was able to eat real food, very timely I must say! I'm taking percocet now instead of the lortab ( unless I get some really bad breakthrough pain) and it seems to be working pretty well. My throat is still sore but not nearly as much as before and the scabs are slowly dissolving away a little at a time. It still looks like a lot of white is back there but there is definitely more pink tissue visible.

Not much else to say except I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Good luck to those of you going for surgery tomorrow or early next week. I am so glad I had this done, the rotten tonsils are gone forever!!!!! Cool

AbbeyD · Newbie Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 32

Not much new, I feel ok, still a little tired. I'm able to eat regular foods but am sticking to soft foods -- not too hard after Thanksgiving, lots of leftover mashed potatoes to eat. My post op appointment with my ENT is in 3 days.

I'm still taking percocet once every 6 hours during the day but I'm not waking up to take anything at night. I will probably be able to switch over to extra strength tylenol in a day or two.

My daily adult tonsillectomy recovery "blog"

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