So after large amounts of googling, I didn't find a whole lot about 17-19 year old tonsillectomies. I read about kids to young teens, adults, mid twenties, etc. But just about butt nothing for late teens! You hear about it feeling alright as a kid, and excruciating as an adult, so you're not sure which end of the deal you're gonna get. Well, thankfully, at least for me, it was in the middle to low end. I will give you a day by day up to my current point! I talked over he course of my entire recovery, but it will hurt less if you don't. Day 1, Day of Surgery: (I should mention, I'm a girl!) ((NO CONTACTS OR MAKEUP ALLOWED THAT DAY)) So, for me, I was not worried terribly about this surgery. In a way, I'd been looking forward to it, because I heard it makes your singing voice better. I'll have to figure that out here soon enough. Anyways, I had to arrive 45 minutes early, so that the nurse could have me change into a hospital gown and socks, then I had to do a urine test to see if I was pregnant. (They do this even if you are not sexually active, so try to avoid peeing before you go to the hospital. Guys, I don't know if they make you. But I was told it was for the liability of the anesthesiologist and the safety of my body.) So I peed in a cup, they took me to a room, explained what was going to happen, and I sat for a bit. Something they did to me was lay warm blankets on my arms to open up my blood vessels for an IV to keep me hydrated. (Something I am fairly certain most hospitals do.) After I'd been on the drip for some time, they walked me to the OR. When I got in there, I was actually laughing because I'd never been in an OR before, and it reminded me of the show House. It's better to keep yourself relaxed and laughing, as it keeps you from stressing too much. They lay you on the table, and ask if you have any last minute questions. If not, they put a mask over your face and get you going on the anesthesia. I was laughing before, and then I intensified and giggled myself to sleep. When I woke up, a very kind nurse asked me to rate my pain on a scale of 1-10. I was still pretty doped up, so it was about 3-4. I started talking to her about what was left in my dream, and then the pain kicked in to a 5. I was talking a bunch, and just started wailing about owies. They got me on some pain killer, and I asked four different nurses for bugs before leaving the OR. They wheeled me back to my room and gave me Popsicles. Oh how I was pleased. I also got a stuffed animal because I'm still technically a minor. A few more times they took my vitals, etc., and I started to take naps. Later when I went to my moms house, I propped up and began sleeping. The medicine hangs for a while so you can sleep for a bit. We stuck religiously to my med schedule, and I slept for a majority of the night after being taken to dads house. WARNING THO! Drink lots of water but have a trash can nearby. Your body may not agree with the mixing of anesthetic and hydro, and if you're like me, you'll puke a couple times. Your puke will likely be a brownish red. AVOID RED OR PINK POPSICLES! IF YOU PUKE YOU NEED TO BE SURE THAT IT IS NOT BRIGHT RED EXCESSIVE BLOOD!!
Day 2:
The next few days are a mixture of Netflix, med schedules and sleep. Pain level is about a 4 after a couple hours of having taken my medicine. I was given acetaminophen/hydrocodone, and could have 15ml every five hours. Sometimes dad pushed it forward to a half hour early if I was really miserable. The best thing you can do is sleep and hydrate. Eat Popsicles. The most painful times to take medicine for me were very early in the morning from 4-7 AM. This continues being the worst time.
Day 3: The pain was very slightly milder, but still pretty rough. AVOID DAIRY!! IT WILL ACCUMULATE MUCUS IN YOUR THROAT AND BE HARD TO BREATHE OR SWALLOW!! More sleeping and Netflix. I haven't eaten anything but Popsicles.
Day 4: Holy heck the misery has lightened. I'm at a constant 3-4, but my ears started hurting. The hydro does not help ears. (GET EAR DROPS! SIMILASAN IS AMAZING! I WISH I HAD KNOWN EARLIER! I ONLY GOT THEM AT DAY SEVEN BUT IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO GET THEM BECAUSE THE EAR PAIN ONLY GETS WORSE!) less sleeping, but still naps. Religious med schedule, but I'm doing better at keeping to the full five hours between doses. The best food I've found is ramen. Crush it into tiny pieces in the package and cook it, then cool it down with two or three ice cubes. It's warm enough to soothe, but cool enough to eat without bleeding, and it flows really smoothly.
Day 5: The pain is subsiding more and more, with today's high being a 3 in the throat. Ears are pretty rough, but it comes and goes. Keep hydrating!! Even if it hurts, I had to keep drinking water! More meds. Can finally eat those microwave Mac and cheese cups, and I put a little bit of butter in it to make it slide easier.
Days 6 and 7:
These past couple days I have been trying to limit my hydro dose intake because I'm running low, and I want to try and tough things out. If I don't talk much, it's pretty alright. I started doing about 10mL every 5-8 hours, and I even made it from 2:30PM(day 6) to 4:30AM(day 7) without a dose after 2:30! It hurt pretty bad, but I could tough it after a dose at 4:30. I was able to drive at 9:30AM with dad to go get my sisters car from the airport. WAIT AT LEAST FOUR HOURS AFTER A DOSE TO DRIVE, AND DO NOT DRIVE IN THE FIRST FEW DAYS IF POSSIBLE! You are still very drowsy and the medicine can make you dizzy! I was awake and alert at this point, so it was okay. I also got ear drops later that day, and they felt SO AMAZING! I reiterate, I WISH I HAD GOTTEN THEM SOONER! Nights have been tough to sleep with my ears in pain. The pain has been a 2 at max on days 6&7, and it's been great. I spit out a little bit of scab, so it's starting to really heal up!
This is as far as I've gotten, but I imagine the next few days will continue to get easier, and soon I'll likely be able to eat people food. I hope this kinda shows where a tonsillectomy pain level falls for someone in their late teens, and I hope this helps someone out there!
~Cayla