tonsillectomy: bleeding at 7 days & cauterize

swtbeb4lyfe43 · Newbie Joined: 31 May 2007 Posts: 1

hi
i had my tonsillectomy last wednesday. pain had persistently getting worse, probably the worst on days 6 & 7. the on the night of day 7, i had bleeding - spitting out blood, it was oozing, but i stopped it after a few minutes with an ice pack on the neck & drinking ice water.
however, the night after, at about the same time, i got bleeding again. this time i went ot the ER. good thing i went because i ended up spitting out abotu 3/4 a cup of blood over the course of 2 hours. the ice pack wasnt helping. at one point i spat out a huge 2-3 inch blood clot!
i had to get my wound cauterized - they put me to sleep n then burn the wound to stop the bleeding. they told me i was "back at square one" in terms of healing & recovery period. but i have to go to start work in 11 days!
has anyone experienced this, & is it true that your recovery period gets prolonged that much?
sucks to be in the 2-5% of complications...

Guest · Guest

Hi there, I had my tonsils out 26th Feb 2008, The first day was fine as i was medicated regulary. As I am 17 ive ahd alot of sore thraots and alot of bad hits on tonsillitis through the 6months i was on the waiting list. I bled on the 3rd day and was brought into hospital for a 2 night stay, as i got home two days after being sent home I bled again, again at nighttime, Ive had another bleed which wasnt too bad on DAY 12, All three times ive only been spitting up a few teaspoons, has your bleeding continued since you went into surgery again ??. thankksss

simmi · Newbie Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

Hi! I had my tonsillectomy on May 6, 2008. On day 5, I had a major bleed which I went to the emergency department for. I was prescribed ibuprofen and sent home. On day 7, I had another major bleed. Went back to hospital only to be sent home again. I was told to gargle with ice water and not lift anything or do anything that would bring pressure to my throat. During the early morning of Day 10 post-op, I had another bleed, ended up in emerg, and was told that my throat was looking better than day 7, by the on-call ENT specialist, and then sent home. That afternoon, another bleed. Ended up in emerg again, which prompted the doctor to cauterize the wound(s). Two days later, another bleed. This time, I was admitted into the hospital and put into the Critical Care unit the next day, just in case of a rupture and the need for a blood transfusion. The doctor's thought I had a fistula (a bridge which forms from a wound sight - in this case they thought it was my corroded artery - to the tonsil bed) after a CT scan was ordered. I was then airlifted to another hospital to have an angiogram. The angiogram was never performed. The doctors at this other hospital had ordered another CT scan and after three readings, determined that a complex bed of veins that sits next to my tonsil bed had been nicked, thus the bleeding. I finally made it home from this horrific ordeal on May 26, 2008 with no more bleeding. After 13 major bleeds (the largest recorded bleed - 350 cc), I am fine. The bleeding was a high pressure squirt into the back of my throat. I would just let it drain out of my mouth. Quite a bit of blood had been swallowed. The bleeding would last anywhere from 15 minutes to about 30 minutes, but the pressure was so strong that alot of blood was lost. I've been told by many doctors that bleeding is normal usually 24 hours post-op or a week later. A patient may have one bleed, but usually not two. Also, after being re-cauterized, bleeding tends to cease immediately.

Linz89 · Newbie Joined: 20 Jun 2008 Posts: 4

That weird that they gave you ibuprofen. My doctor said to NOT take that because it can cause bleeding. I was on tylenol 3 with codine and percocet and two weeks later i am still recovering.. but getting better everyday. I didnt bleed once after surg. I am just having ear pains which appear to be normal.

tonsillectomy: bleeding at 7 days & cauterize

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