WHAT HAPPENS FOLLOWING TONSILLECTOMY SURGERY?

Linz89 · Newbie Joined: 20 Jun 2008 Posts: 4

For the first week and a half all i ate was jello but today marks the two week date since my surg. Egg drop soup goes down really well!!! and it doesnt burn like some soups. just make sure its luke warm when you eat it. I also had very moist pancakes yesterday morning with a lot of syrup and was able to take small bites and it went down fine. I still have pain swallowing and my ears still bother me from time to time.
Had oatmeal for breakfast went down fine also. I agree with the "no ice cream thing" it just makes you have all this extra unnecessary spit

SunnyD81 · Newbie Joined: 23 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

I am a 27 y/o female and I will be having my tonsills taken out on July 9th (two weeks and one day) and everyone's posts have been very helpful. I noticed that a lot of people have been scared before the surgery, but for some reason, I'm not nervous at all. The only thing I'm worried about is that 2 1/2 weeks after my surgery I'll be going to Branson, MO for vacation for the week and I hope I'm doing much better then. I'll be quitting on Wed., which is exactly 2 weeks before my surgery (the nurse told me that I needed to quit smoking 2 weeks before the surgery.

I do have a question. Has anyone on here smoked before their surgery, or quit smoking specifically for this surgery?

grasshopper1 · Newbie Joined: 23 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

I'm 30 and post-op day 5. Does anyone else have this weird feeling on their tongue? It makes it hard to talk and swallow. The mucous is also really bad and I would suggest covering up pillows due to drool. Any suggestions?

jaseen01 · Newbie Joined: 13 Jul 2008 Posts: 1

I am also hving my tonsils out at st raphaels on july 15 your post have been helpful with preperation, my pre surgery grocery list thanks you!!

LuvDonna2001 · Newbie Joined: 23 Jul 2008 Posts: 1

I am a 25 year old female and after years of struggling with my tonsils I just had them taken out on the morning of 7/21/08. I am on my third day of recovery and I feel fine. I read all the message boards saying how horrible the pain is but the truth is for me it is no worse than a sore throat! I only took my medicine (Tylenol w/ codeine) on the first day of surgery. I only stayed in the hospital about 3 hours total! I still have not eaten regular foods but I am drinking a lot of fluids and eating jello. I was so nervous going into the surgery and I know things can take a turn for the worse but for now I am very glad I had the procedure. I am not saying that I don't have pain, my tounge is swollen and I sound totally distorted; I am just saying it is not that bad (not yet at least) I'll keep u all posted! Just trying to be a ray of hope for someone who the is as scared as I was after reading the messages.

Guest · Guest

I'm 16 years old and now on my 5th day post op. I'm greatly regretting the surgery. Although I did have tonsilits and strep 2-3 times a year, I don't think it was worth it at this point. But my opinion may change after I feel better Smile

On the day of my surgery everything went smoothly, even after I woke up I had minimal pain, I was talking and drinking. I thought, WOW, I must have a great tolerance for pain this should be a breeze! BOY was I incorrect.

Day one after my sugery was terrible. I was on Hydrocodone, a thick yellowish liquid that made me sick to my stomach, although it worked mildly well, I didn't want to risk puking on top of my raw throat, so I instead switched to Liquid Children's Tylenol.

Day Two-Three were just as bad, at this point I still had not eaten anything and drinking water hurt tremendously. The children's tylenol was not working whatsoever so my mother went out and bought liquid Extra Stregnth Tylenol.

Day Four- DO NOT TAKE EXTRA STRENGTH LIQUID TYLENOL!!! It BURNS your throat, makes you cough and gag, increasing the pain by 30 milllion times. I then switched to pill form, which works okay and doesn't hurt going down if you buy the eZ Tabs.

Day Five- At this point I've gotten used to the pain in my throat, it hurts to swallow, it hurts to chew, I can barely open my mouth. I can finally drink water now. That helps only if you drink it constantly.

At this point I've only eaten a small amount of mashed potatoes and macaroni. Make sure to chew or take as small bites as possible. My throat always hurts worse after I eat, but then gets better after a short while.

I don't reccomend Ice Cream, Pudding or Milkshakes, they make your throat fill up with phlegm which causes you to cough. Coughing - Intense Pain.

I do reccomend Icee's. They are great on your throat, go down smoothly and taste good.

I also had that terrible taste in my mouth on days 2-3. It eventually goes away if you can stretch your mouth wide enough to fit a toothbrush in there.

I have severe ear pain when I don't take my tylenol soon enough and I do wake up throughout the night due to pain. Make sure you have water by your bed for when you wakeup, it will help you go back to sleep.

At this point, I can't wait to eat, and be able to go back to my normal self.

Sad

Guest223 · Newbie Joined: 30 Jul 2008 Posts: 1

I am 19 years old and have just passed the 1 week mark of having my tonsils out.

The first few days were really fine. I took the pain medication every 3 hours (See below) for the first 48 hours. I thought things were looking up, I went day 3 without pain meds. (Partially because it wasn't that painful, and partially because I couldn't stand the liquid pain medication). I stopped taking pain meds at night and only during the day when I wanted to take the edge off.

I was eating Mac & Cheese and scrambled eggs no problem (actually that's all I've eaten, plus water ice), but around day 6 the pain started to get worse again. I went back to taking the pain medication every 3-4 hours. (and then realized I wasn't taking enough of it.) After reading all of these other posts, it is probably from the scrabs beginning to come off. I received a new prescription for pain meds in pill form and I CAN'T WAIT. I'm pretty sure the taste of the liquid painkillers was worse than the throat pain 9/10ths of the time.

I'm hoping the next few days are better than the past few. I'm sick of being hungry and not being able to eat anything!

I've found drinkable or squeezable yogurt is great. Its easy to eat, doesn't upset my stomach, and fills me up for a while. (Danimals or GoGurt)

*Note: I was accidentally taking the wrong amount of pain medication for the first 6 days. (Only 2/3 dose accidentally) This psyched me out a little because I thought my pain tolerance was just really low, when in reality I just wasn't taking the actual dosage. Make sure you check, I assumed my pain killers and Amoxicillin were the same, and they weren't.

Debra 87 · Newbie Joined: 01 Aug 2008 Posts: 2

I am a 20 year old female, and I am on day 5 (almost 6) after my tonsillectomy. It really hasnt been bad at all!
I have been surviving on tylenol extra strength since day 3 because I vomited after taking the percocet and the hycet. My pain has never really gone beyond a 5 on a 10 scale. There is some white gunk in the back of my throat, but there are also some spots of pink! Could this mean that the scabs are coming off already? My worst pain days were 3-5, but its getting better tonight. Im not sure if my vomiting disturbed the healing process, or if I am quickly recovering. Any suggestions? I havent been keeping tabs on what my throat looks like, but right now the gunk looks to be a thick white with a faint yellowish tint.

I'm hoping I got off lucky! But i somehow doubt it! Smile

brbsb · Newbie Joined: 02 Aug 2008 Posts: 1

I am a 22-year-old female who is on day 6 post-tonsillectomy. I've been VERY fortunate and have had quite an easy recovery. Day 1 was not too fun...I was in the hospital most of the day and on IV pain meds. Even though I didn't want to AT ALL, I made sure to keep drinking water (and my mom kept making me drink Gatorade) to stay hydrated. Days 2 and 3 were a little rougher...I got sick of my liquid diet right away and just wanted to eat real food, but my throat hurt far too badly. Day 4, I stopped taking my pain meds and started eating scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes. My throat hurt a lot worse immediately after eating, but about an hour after eating, felt a lot better. I'm not sure why. One thing that I found helped with the scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes was drinking ice water with it to help wash it down since swallowing too hard hurt. By day 5, I was eating baked goods (bread, a cupcake, etc.) in very, very small, well-chewed bites, but still mainly sticking to mashed potatoes and eggs and liquids. Today, I had a little more pain that I'd been having and had to take a small dose of pain medicine, but other than that, it's been fine.

My advice...
- DRINK WATER. Like everyone has said, I can't emphasize it enough. I've had a glass of ice water next to me all the time since I got out of surgery, even at night.
- Don't be afraid to try slightly rougher foods if you feel like you're up to it, but ease into it! When I was craving a cupcake, I took tiny bites and was fine. In fact, I think it may have helped slough off some of my scabs since it was a rougher food. If you look at studies online, you'll find that some doctors actually recommend eating rougher foods during recovery. BUT...don't do it unless you're comfortable with it and think you are at a stage where your throat can handle it!
- Rest. Don't overexert yourself. Get plenty of sleep.
- When you feel well enough to get out and do something...DO IT! If you just sit around all day, it's easy to dwell on your throat pain. However, when I was feeling better on day 4, I went to the grocery store and wandered around for a bit. Day 5, I went and test drove some cars, then went to Bob Evans (a lot of soft food options!) for dinner. Getting out of the house did wonders for me!

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me =)

Guest · Guest

19 year old male. Just had my tonsils out on 8/1/08 at about 12:45 PM. The first few hours were pretty rough, although then it was a LOT easier to drink water then than it it now (I think because of all the meds I was on).

Day 2 has been hell. Worst sleepless night I've had in years. My longest period of sleep was around 30 minutes. It hurts so much to swallow, even too much to swallow the Hydrocodone. I think it's a combination, really, of my horrible horrible breath, the foul taste of the Hydrocodone, and the difficulties swallowing.

I haven't had anything solid to eat since 7/31/08, at about 11 PM. My mouth and jaw and tongue hurts if I open it past an inch and a half. I'm thinking I'm getting better, though, or at least hoping. On day 1 I only needed one dose of Hydrocodone. Day 2, I've only had two so far. I still can't swallow water that well, or anything for that matter.

I wouldn't recommend ice-cream, like most doctors do. Since it's a dairy product, it usually creates phlegm, which is difficult to swallow for me. I hope I'll be better shortly, and I'll try and keep you up to speed.

WHAT HAPPENS FOLLOWING TONSILLECTOMY SURGERY?

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