I'm 21 and just had my tonsils out today! Right after the surgery I was incredibly nauseous, so they ramped up my pain and anti-nausea meds. I left the hospital about an hour after that and have been sleeping for hour intervals since. The pain meds from the hospital haven't worn off yet, so I've been able to eat mashed potatoes, and I'm trying to get as many calories as possible. Water and calories where you can seem to be the key. I've also been drooling/spitting instead of swallowing to avoid that pain. While this might be dehydrating me, I'd prefer to swallow cool water than my own spit at this point. I've read on other sites that spitting instead of swallowing for the first few days is ok. I'm sure when the hospital pain meds wear off I'll be much more cranky and won't be able to be on my computer typing, but I wanted to post this now, and say go for it. I've had 5 sore throats sine September, and this is definitely going to be worth it. If you're dealing with sore throats and the fevers (I peaked at 106), this pain for a few weeks seems a fair trade to getting rid of them!