My daily adult tonsillectomy recovery "blog"

AbbeyD · Newbie Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 32

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since my surgery. I had my post op ENT appointment yesterday and I am healing well. He said to continue to avoid ibuprofen for another 10 days, no gargling or mouthwash until then either.

I feel pretty good, I'm able to eat without much discomfort and have not taken any pain meds today. I still have some soreness back there and in my tongue. I am very tired and feel like I could nap anytime but am back to my regular schedule with the kids. I'm happy they are gone and would go through it again in a minute in order to make sure those disgusting rotten tonsils are never in my throat again! It was not a fun experience but it is manageable. Take your pain meds around the clock, drink more water than you thought you could ever drink, rest as much as you can. I didn't do much talking at all for the first week, which I think contributed to a smooth recovery. I wasn't straining my throat and I think it was good for me.

Good luck to anyone going through a tonsillectomy, you will survive it and will be happy you had it done!

Guest · Guest

I'm on day 5 and your blog was so accurate. Thanks for the help!!

Cynthia07 · Posted: 01/14/08 - 09:58 Post subject:

I have an question..... After the surgery did your jaw hurt at all from it being open during the surgery! I'm also having the Coblation method done..... i was hoping to have my surgery date and time by now but i left my ENT a message to call me back!!!! I hope i hear from him really soon! Very Happy

AbbeyD · Newbie Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 32

Hi Cynthia,

My jaw did not hurt after the surgery, if it did it was probably not noticed due to the throat discomfort. It's bad but definitely manageable. I'm now two months out and will NEVER regret getting them out. One other thing -- there will be holes left in your throat after the tonsils are removed. With time, the holes will be filled in with tissue. It sounds strange but true. Once I was able to eat foods it would get stuck in the holes in the back of my throat. It took about a month but the holes eventually filled in and I didn't have that problem anymore.

Another odd thing, avoid bananas until your throat is fully healed. Something in them really burns the throat and the burning lasts quite a while.

Good luck!

Guest · Guest

Your blog helped me so much! Thank you. You described everything I'm going through and I'm so glad I have someone I can relate to. I felt like I was going crazy with the overly sensitive ears. I have a question though. Did your tongue go numb or look irritated at all after surgery? I'm not sure if I should call the doctor or not.

twisted_angel · Newbie Joined: 30 Jan 2008 Posts: 8

Just read your whole blog. I'm getting the tonsils and adenoids removed on April 16th and am REALLY nervous. I'm a professional vocalist so there's added stress for me. Your blog was great - calm yet honest. Thanks.

Guest · Guest

I'm 17 years old, and on day 7. I'm absolutely miserable. This is coming from someone who finished out a basketball tournament on a broken ankle [obviously i didn't realize it was broken at the time -- i just have a high tolerance for pain, i didn't do it out of stupidity]

Right after surgery I assumed this whole process would be a cakewalk. I finished four glasses of crushed ice in 3 hours in recovery, drank a bottle of water, and they sent me home.

Days 1-6 I felt fine. My throat was swollen enough to limit what I ate and it hurt while swallowing. My voice sounded a little strained and it would hurt after talking for long periods of time, but the pain was by no means incapacitating. I even went out with friends for st. patricks day [day 5].

Last night, however, I was a wreck. I couldn't do anything but cry. I iced my neck, took a double d

ose of vicodin, and tried to sleep it off, and I woke up worse. My throat aches, my ears kill, I have a pounding headache, and I can barely swallow. Talking or eating is out of the question.

So far I've lost 10 pounds [can't complain] from my basically liquid diet. Today is the first day I've been in significant pain. What happens now? And I'm approaching the scab-sloughing stage. Is that incredibly painful also, or will I feel better?

Thanks, please advise, and I hope the rest of you are on the mend =]

_______________________________________________
d e i n e l y n
DAY-nuh-len

cwistatwista · Newbie Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 1

I've been reading all these posts and most people have said that by day 6, mostly evryone is up and able to go about their day. I'm 6 days post op and I'm still having issues with swallowing and my ears are hurting really really bad. I'm 21 and I had both my tonsils and my adednoids removed Fri. April 4th. Am I still supposed to be feeling this much pain...?

--Christa

Guest · Guest

I'm 26 years old and had my tonsillectomy on April 25th. So it's been almost 2 weeks. I'm happy to say that I'm just now getting around to eating solid "real" food again. I think I underestimated the magnitude of this surgery going into it. I thought I'd be back to work in less than a week...I was SO wrong! At a week after surgery I was still feeling awful and it was very painful to swallow. I became very frustrated with my ENT who would not prescribe me a re-fill on my Rx on day 8 post-op. He said that tylenol should work just fine, and didn't feel I needed any more pain meds. Hmmm, I wonder if he ever had his tonsils out as an adult. Lucky for me, I saw my regular physician and she got me a Rx for more meds Smile

Bottom line, this procedure is a BIG DEAL and the recovery was a lot worse than I expected. I'm not quite to the point where I'm saying that I'm 100% glad I did it, but ask me in a few more weeks and I'm sure I'll say it was a good decision.

If anyone has this surgery, it's imperative that they have a caretaker for at least a few days after surgery to help out, make sure you stay on top of your medication, and get plenty of fluids.

-LP

SickNTired · Newbie Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 1

I'm 33 years old and tomorrow will be 2 weeks post op for me. I, too, am just now getting around to eating some solids. Believe me, it still hurts to swallow. The day of my surgery went well. I had read several blogs on this procedure and every one said to stay on top of the meds. I did just that. I left the hospital with a script for T3's and I religiously took my meds as prescribed. But, by the next afternoon I was so sick to my stomach from the medicine I was vomiting; couldn't even keep water down. I ended up back in the hospital for a round of IV fluids, a steroid, and an anti-nausea medicine. I felt so much relief after just an hour of being on the IV. I stopped taking the T3 and started on Vicodin. I was fine for the next few days after but the stomach thing started again and I was headed back for yet another round of IV fluids. Again, relief. Doc suggested I try to ride it out with just Extra Strength Tylenol. With the amount of pain I've been in this hardly takes the edge off.
It's been an extremely rough road and I never thought it would be anything like it's been. "I've had 2 c-sections", I thought....this can't be that bad." It's bad!
Finally over the last couple of days I've started to feel better. I'm still extremely tired from lack of sleep. I wake up everytime I have to swallow cause it hurts so bad. Definitely use a humidifier in your bedroom....it does help!
For anybody that is about to endure this procedure, may God Bless You! It's rough and defininitely drink lots of fluids and get plenty of rest.

My daily adult tonsillectomy recovery "blog"

LIFEFORM SOCIAL COMMUNITY NETWORK