RECOVERY AFTER TONSILLECTOMY IN ADULTS

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Hi Everyone,

I'm James, 23 From Northern Ireland. I had my tonsills removed on Tuesday past (13th Nov) and so am on day 5. I like to think that i'm a guy with a high pain threshold, but seriously...this whole situation has reduced me to someone who must gets hugs from every family member in range if they're passing by.

On Tues the op went grand, was able to eat toast and drink tea later in the day. As has been mentioned before, the UK system has moved away from the 'Soft Foods' doctrine and so toast, solid foods etc are advocated. The idea is based on the notion that the muscles in the throat are stimulated and so recovery is swifter.

On Wed, Day 2 I went home and all was grand, had a full dinner of mashed potatoes, crispy chicken goujons, sprouts and gravy. I lapped it in to me no problem.

Day 3....The pain starts to set in, swallowing is a less than pleasureable experience, my painkillers though are the highlights of my day and so I count down the hours till my next batch.

Day 4.......BAMMMM Here we go! I wake up yesterday morning with agony in my throat, talking is a no go, the painkillers (Voltarol and Solpadol) are less effective, working for an even shorter space of time.

Day 5......Today, I woke up at 4 this morning in severe pain and had to take some painkillers, to make it worse, our neighbour has this fetish of playing music loudly in the early hours of the morning 3-5am. If I had a voice to speak with i'd have yelled, or energy to throw with, i'd have thrown something haha.

All in all, My little rant has been medicinal I think. Hope everyone else here is feeling a bit better and on the road to recovery.

James

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Finding this board has been great to be able to read everyones experiences. I was starting to get worried that my recovery was not on 'schedule" but after reading the posts looks like age does have an effect. I have been taking Lortab every 3-4 hours for the first couple of days then extended it to 4-5 hours on days 4 and 5. I have been keeping hydrated with lots of water and since day 4 have had an "ice collar" for most of the day, especially at night. On day 6 the Lortab was making me nauseated so I switched to Extra strength Tylenol but had to take it no more than 1000mg / 6 hours but it was not enough to numb the pain that night. Called my doctor and he is placing me on Darvecent(?) which should not cause any nausea. I do not think that I am eating no more than an actual handfull of food every setting. Have lost weight an am getting sick of the same food day in and out. Looking forward to that first full meal.

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Hi! I wrote a few weeks ago about having my surgery and being terrified but as y'all were so wonderful at producing your experiences, here is mine Very Happy

. Surgery went great on 11/8 but I had seizures when waking up from the anesthesia (I have epilepsy) and ended up on a ventilator for 3 days and spent a week in ICU. I can't comment at all on the first few days after surgery as I wasn't able to witness them! Razz

So much for a simple day surgery!

Now I am 10 days post-op and I think I'm doing pretty ok. I'm on liquid amoxicillin, liquid vicodin and oral lidocaine in addition to tramadol now and again. I am taking the vicodin every 3 hours and i certainly know when its time to take pain meds as the right side of my throat feels like I am attempting to swallow a razor blade Shocked

I am also gargling with lidocaine which is gross but it numbs the pain nicely for a wee while. I have been doing ok with food. i am absolutely ravenous and have been doing the usual soup, jello, ice cream but when I woke up in the hospital i started to eat wee bites of chicken and broccoli. I wanted to get rid of that damn nasogastric tube up my nose. I also highly recommend drinking Ensure over ice to keep up your weight. Strawberry is the nicest Very Happy

The only things I'm not eating now are chips and sharp abrasive foods but I'm cutting my regular food into wee bits and eating just fine.

My throat hurts like a bugger at times and I really feel that the intubation tube being down my throat for 3 days didn't exactly help matters. Apart from that my voice sounds crappy but I'm planning on going back to work on friday. I'm a veterinary nurse and will do treatments instead of seeing appointments until my throat gets better. The animals don't require me to answer questions Laughing

ooh and I also plan on eating thanksgiving dinner too even if it hurts. Thankfully I've had no blood and the scabs are starting to come off exposing raw flesh which is owie.

For you folks that are going forward with this surgery, good luck. Be prepare for pain. Take your pain meds on time, take it easy for 10 days but try and eat as soon as possible. You will feel better for it.

Good luck!!!

Kat

jmallen89 · Newbie Joined: 20 Nov 2007 Posts: 2 Location: California

I am 38, my sugery was on 11/6 and all is ok now with just a bit of discomfort in the throat. the first few days were not bad. I had codine syrup (that was nasty) to contol pain. I thought that I might puke from the taste in my mouth on day 5 and was not going to risk it so I brushed the old toungue with mouthwash and started on a shot glass of water with crushed Tylenol. That really seemed to kill the pain fast- bitter as hell but better than that codine syrup. The pain seems to have a gradual peak at about day 5 then it falls off fairly fast leaving you to deal with the uncomfortable feeling of hair growing in your throat. The other thing is that my uvula swelled and dangled around on my tongue and throat causing a slight urge to gag. Don't be suprised if this happens, they dont tell you about this pre op. I had to look online the night of my surgery to discover that it was common.
Today is exactly two weeks later and anyone who says that this is no big deal has not been through day 5 to 8 after sugery. I have lost about 15 pounds to date.
If you need this done there is no getting around that you are in for a ride however - it is so worth it. I can smell things better. The pressure in my head from the tonsils were actualy blocking bloodflow out of my sinusus and now I can sleep on left or right side....clear breathing. My wife has already noticed the lack of odor on my breath. If you need to get this done just remember it's not walk in the park but if you DRINK WATER...you will recover faster. Dehydration will mess you up. Take tylenol shooters to kill the pain then start drinking. If you get sore take a rest and do it again...Oh and get a humidifier, they are a big help at night.

jmallen89 · Newbie Joined: 20 Nov 2007 Posts: 2 Location: California

I am 38, my surgery was on 11/6 and all is ok now with just a bit of discomfort in the throat. the first few days were not bad. I had codeine syrup (that was nasty) to control pain. I thought that I might puke from the taste in my mouth on day 5 and was not going to risk it so I brushed the old tongue with mouthwash and started on a shot glass of water with crushed Tylenol. That really seemed to kill the pain fast- bitter as hell but better than that codeine syrup. The pain seems to have a gradual peak at about day 5 then it falls off fairly fast leaving you to deal with the uncomfortable feeling of hair growing in your throat. The other thing is that my uvula swelled and dangled around on my tongue and throat causing a slight urge to gag. Don't be surprised if this happens, they don't tell you about this pre op. I had to look online the night of my surgery to discover that it was common.
Today is exactly two weeks later and anyone who says that this is no big deal has not been through day 5 to 8 after surgery. I have lost about 15 pounds to date.
If you need this done there is no getting around that you are in for a ride however - it is so worth it. I can smell things better. The pressure in my head from the tonsils were actually blocking blood flow out of my sinuses and now I can sleep on left or right side....clear breathing. My wife has already noticed the lack of odor on my breath. If you need to get this done just remember it's not walk in the park but if you DRINK WATER...you will recover faster. Dehydration will mess you up. Take Tylenol shooters to kill the pain then start drinking. If you get sore take a rest and do it again...

bk624 · Newbie Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 1

Hi....I'm new to the board. I'm 40 and my surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, November 27th. I'm dreading it but I know my tonsils need to come out. I've never had a problem with my tonsils or sore throats until this past year. I've had 5+ strep infections in 10 months, so they need to come out. I really thought I could work from home during my recuperation, but now reading these postings I need to rethink this idea. I'm scared of day 1, 2 & 3 and 5 thru 8....argh.....I hope my doctor gives me strong drugs, I'm going to need them.

Thank you to everyone who has posted here. Everyone's stories have been so helpful. If you recall something you wish you knew before the surgery by all means please feel free to share.

Thanks!
Beth

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Its day 20 now for me and I think that I am 97% back to normal again. I started back to work a few days ago and the scabs are nearly completely gone from both sides. The right side has more of a scab than the left and it causes me to gag now and again when i feel it touch the back of my tongue.

I am not on any pain meds now (finished those 4 days ago) and am doing fine and dandy. Its a little sore first thing in the morning when I wake up due my throat being dry. My voice isn't squeaky anymore and sounds normal! Very Happy

Kat

Guest · Guest

I'm an athletic 16 year old who just had his tonsels out November 28th. I've been reading the responses of several of the other people who have also gone through this procedure, and am starting to wonder if we had the same operation. Following the operation I was very nauseated, had a severe soar throat, and threw-up about four times. This is now the sixth day after the operation. I've dropped 15 lbs. and I hate my life! I'm literally starving!! Alright maybe I'm overexagerating a little, but it still a terrible nightmare. I just want to eat some real food!

bigbadjohn · Newbie Joined: 05 Dec 2007 Posts: 2

Hi all.

This is my 8th day following a coblation tonsillectomy. I thought I'd write down my experience to date as reading other peoples has helped me immensely.

Pre op: I was given a small prick in my hand as pre op meds were given to me on the operating table. Very light headed, as if very drunk. Another needle put in my hand and I was asleep in seconds.

Woke up with a nurse calling my name. She asked me how I felt and I said "Like S***"!

I felt quite a lot of pain on waking and was given morphine shots. Very quickly the pain subsided and within a few minutes I was wheeled into my ward. Smiles from the ward nurse and i dozed.

As I started to come around I was offered coffee and biscuits. I was so full of morphine I actually managed to eat the biscuits and drink the coffee. A little later I ate some macaroni cheese and had more coffee and biscuits.

After about 6 hours I was sent home in a cab with my wife.

The next two or so days seemed not so bad, I even halved my painkillers because I didn't seem to need them.

days 4-7 were really terrible. The pain would not leave me alone. It haunted my waking and sleeping moments. I slept in a haze of pain killers and searing pain in my neck, throat, ears and head. My tongue felt like it was on fire. Don't let anyone tell you its not painful. For adults in really sucks!

Day 8 now and have been pain free when I take the pain meds for most of the day and I am hoping that the worst is now over.

I haven't gained or lost weight, but I had a supply of "drinkable" meals in tins ready for when I left hospital, and I made it my driving ambition and vocation to eat as much as possible whilst ill! (Works for me...)

On the plus side I can breath far better than I have been able to for nearly a year.

Happy Christmas to one and all hang in there it really does get better!

Guest · Guest

Hi, I've been reading some of the responses and they all seem to fit along the same lines. I'm 18 years old, I've just come home from college and was welcomed by this wonderful procedure. The first few days weren't THAT bad, I'm guessing it's due to the large amounts of medication that were still in my system, etc. I don't remember most of it. (don't mind if your patient doesn't remember things or say things that don't quite make sense, and PLEASE be patient with them). The next few days got worse, as I was nauseated almost constantly. Couldn't eat, drink, etc. I rarely throw up, but I have 3 times already and it's day 8, (which seems much better than some other people are saying). It's the mixture of not eating (lost 6 pounds already, and at 105 lbs), taking the strong medication, and not drinking enough. It's annoying because everyone says to drink water, water, water and more water, but its not that easy! I understand that one should, but please understand that it's hard for us. I am upset and hopeless, and I feel like it's never going to end. I constantly seek positive encouragement, and I'm sure everyone else does as well. It's my birthday in 5 days and I'm worried that it will be drowned in agony. Only my left side has been hurting this whole time basically, so I'm wondering if the right side is yet to catch up? I hope not. I believe my scabs have fallen from the left side. My mom has been absolutely wonderful, it helps a lot if you have someone by your side supporting you.
Any suggestions or insight, anyone? When will this be over??

RECOVERY AFTER TONSILLECTOMY IN ADULTS

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