Hello!

This is Day Two of my tonsillectomy experience and I'm doing great!  There is nothing to be afraid of!  I promise I wont say anything scary...because nothing scary is happening.  

I had them out yesterday morning.  The nurses and doctors all came into my pre-op room and answered my questions, calmed my nerves, gave me tissues because I was scared and started crying.  They gave me hot blankets and happy pills to ease my anxiety.  I was feeling so great that I smiled the whole way to the operating room.  

Then just like that...about 30 minutes later, I woke up in recovery.  My tongue was numb.  I felt ZERO pain.  I was super relieved to open my eyes and discover that it was all over and I was in no pain.  I was talking, laughing, and happy.  The nurses immediately told me that everything went perfectly!  I felt totally fine!  For a minute I was like...did you do the operation yet?

They took me back to my room and gave me ice water, a popsicle and then a slushy.  It was all very easy to swallow.  It was actually quite fun!  More warm blankets, people gathering around me.  I cannot stress this part enough....I felt no pain!

They gave me two oxycodone pills at the hospital before they sent me home about two hours after the surgery.  On the way home, I noticed that talking was a little uncomfortable because the numbing wore off. But only uncomfortable because they have to pull your tongue out of the way when they operate so it was just sore to move my tongue.  Nothing terrible.  Basically, as long as I didn't have to talk, I felt completely normal (with an oxycodone high).  

I went home, got in bed, and I had already set everything up for my recovery.  I had two pillows, an ice pack in the freezer that wraps around my neck, a cool mist humidifier to blow right on my face, pain pills next to the bed, a glass of water, and some arnica...which are homeopathic and help your body to ease the pain of trauma, like bruising or whatever.  Which I have had none of that thanks to the arnica every two hours. I even made myself a huge pot of chicken soup with vegetables and I chopped everything up super tiny so I could basically just drink it.  I also got popsicles, applesauce, jello, and ice cream.

I set my alarm to take pain pills for every three hours.  Every three hours I took two oxycodone, 5 arnica pellets, and every six hours I took two Tylenol.  So just like clock work, I stayed right on top of the medications and I'm feeling great.  Does it hurt to swallow?  Yes.  But its no worse than any other sore throat I have had before.  

I highly recommend the cool mist humidifier blowing right on your face.  I keep breathing in super moist air and its keeping my throat nice and soothed.  I think that might be what is saving me right now.  I slept all night long with it on my face. I slept for eight hours with no sip of water, and no pain pills all night.  When I woke up, I was amazed at how my throat was ok and I'm pretty sure it had to do with the moist air I breathed all night long.  

So don't be afraid!  There is nothing to worry about!  Get prepared and get set up.  And set the alarms to take the pills so you can stay on top of it.  

The worst part isn't the swallowing, its the talking.  For me, anyway.  I can talk but its uncomfortable.  So I type things on my phone when I need to communicate. I've had almost no swelling because I've been keeping an ice pack around my neck every hour or so until it gets warm again.  I bought two so I can have the other in the freezer ready to go.  

So there you have it!  No problems, minor discomfort as to be expected, and a lot of preparation. Drink water as much as you can.  You can do it.  Sleep sitting up a little higher than usual.  Relax and enjoy the rest.  

I can say for sure that aside from the sore throat, my body already feels better than ever.  I was always feeling sick with those damn tonsils.  Fatigued, depressed because they hurt all the time, hopeless, and beaten down.  Two days after having them out, that diseased tissue is gone and my body is happy.  

People have made this sound way scarier than it is.  You will be perfectly fine!  You will have a sore throat.  That's it.  Its not debilitating pain.  Its not torturous. Its not horrible at all.  Its a sore throat and you can handle a sore throat.  

One more thing, ask the anesthesiologist for an anti-nausea patch for behind your ear.  Its a tiny little sticky patch that goes behind your ear so that you don't get nauseous and vomit.  Because you wont be eating as much substantial food that is required for the amount of pain killers you will take and that could make you sick.  The patch stays on for 72 hours.  You don't even notice it is there and you can shower with it on.  I've had zero nausea because of it.  

You will be perfectly fine!  Its easy. Ignore the horror stories.  Those people were not prepared and they didn't follow directions.  And I'm guessing they didn't have a humidifier!  Take it slow and easy and you'll be feeling A OK!