I finally got my tonsils out on February 29th. I wanted to share my story because I read so many horror stories online, that made me realy terrified of getting the surgery. Overall, I had a very positive experience and am really happy I had it done. Below is a VERY detailed account of my recovery if anyone is interested… I found it helpful to read about people’s experiences before my own surgery (although most of them had lots of complaints to share).
I had been plagued by delightful little tonsilloliths, or tonsil stones, for about three years. They were the bane of my existence and becoming more and more of a problem for me. I have very large tonsils, very scarred, with lots of craters and crevices. The main problem areas were tucked in the back of each tonsil, where very deep large holes constantly built up with stuff.
I was really scared of surgery – never having surgery before I was convinced something horrible would happen. (Knock on wood, as the recovery period is still not over). I had toyed with the possibility of surgery for a year or so and just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
In my pre-op appointment the doctor explained the procedure, the anticipated recovery period and diet and asked if I had any questions. I expressed my concern about anesthesia, and he assured me that in a young healthy person its usually a very safe and easy procedure. He was great – very understanding, listened to my questions, and took everything I said into consideration. I definitely think that finding the right doctor is the most important thing, and I’m so glad I didn’t decide to go thru the surgery with one of the other ENTs who I felt very uncomfortable with.
Two days before my surgery I made the mistake of going online and searching “tonsillectomy recovery + adults” etc. huge mistake. I was greeted with tons of horror stories about losing sense of taste, endless bleeding and pain worse than multiple natural births. The next day my friends and family banned me from Googling anything tonsil related.
The Day Of, Friday:
I was lucky enough to be on of the first cases on Friday morning, and arrived at the hospital at 6am. The first case set for 730, and delightfully enough, since I was first, we were actually running on time. I got an IV and after a little bit my jolly anesthesiologist came by, hooked me up to my “IV vodka” as he called it, and before I could finish saying “oh I’m starting to feel a little woozy now” I was out. I have a very fuzzy very brief memory of the operating room – the doctors switching me from my current stretcher onto the operating table, and asking me to slide up a little more, jst a little more, a little bit more. I can only imagine that I exposed myself in my revealing hospital gown. I remember seeing some kind of pillow head contraption near the top, big bulbous lights overhead, a sheen of white and light blue and then I was waking up in post-op wondering why the nurses were all talking so loudly.
I was shocked to see that it was after 9am. The nurses were all fabulous, and I hung around for another two hours or so until I was allowed to be moved to another room where my mom could come in and see me. The nurses were great, and said they wished all of their patients were like me. They were surprised I wasn’t in any pain, and talking so well, and said sometimes they have patients wake up whining and in pain right away. I sat there for a while, got a little bit dizzy, drank some apple juice and waited some more, then finally got dressed and headed home.
I took about 4 steps to the couch, where I remained in sweatpants for the rest of the day. Dozed on and off, watched TV, drank lots of apple juice, white grape juice, and water, and took my Tylenol with codeine every 4 hours (and antibiotics every 8). i set my alarm and made sure to et up in the middle of the night to take the meds too, just to avoid any major unexpected pain.
Day 2, Saturday – still surprisingly not bad, and I switched to regular kids Tylenol. I used “very berry strawberry” kids liquid Tylenol, which tastes like someone took a chunk of bubbilicious strawberry gum and melted it down. It’s the only flavor I can tolerate. I tried the grape once but it has a slightly more acidic taste and immediately made my throat start to tickle.
Another couch day – TV, some reading and sleeping. Lots of juice and raspberry and lime jello.
Day 3, Sunday – Still feeling pretty good. Still on regular Tylenol at regular intervals. Sat outside and basked in the unnaturally warm and sunny day. Talking more and less couch-ridden.
Day 4, Monday – Woke up early in the morning with some pain, mainly on the left side and in my left ear. I think this is because I had stopped with the strict 4 hour medication cycle and was trying to sleep thru the night. Once I had the meds it felt better and again feeling not bad all day. A little bit sore, and maybe a different kind of sore than the past 3 days, but still very manageable with LOTS of fluids and the Tylenol.
I actually left the house also! A delightful treat. The only thing was I tricked myself into feeling a bit too good and did WAY too much talking all day. That night I got more sore.
Also my birthday. My mom put a candle in some jello and we all agreed to celebrate in a week or so when I can eat a LOT of real food.
Day 5, Tuesday – Again, woke up in the middle of the night with some pain on my left side and left ear. Took Tylenol and went back to bed. Woke up 5 hours later and had more Tylenol. Today was probably the most pain so far, probably because I was getting cocky and jinxed myself. I stayed on the 4 hour Tylenol schedule again, mainly because of increased soreness on the left side (throat and ear) – for some reason I really haven’t had much pain on the right side at all. (knock on wood!) My stomach was also upset, probably from so many days of the antibiotic.
The pain got to be the worse it has been at night. I went back on the Codeine right before bed, and then again in the middle of the night. Again the pain was concentrated on the left side of my throat, and pressure in that ear. I also had some cramps and stomach pain that night – maybe a combination of hunger and the antibiotic. Definitely the worse day so far.
Day 6, Wednesday – Pain was not quite as bad when I woke up, and I took regular Tylenol. It was starting to hurt worse again, maybe from laughing a little bit, but then all of the sudden subsided a good deal.
I ate applesauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and vanilla pudding. It was heaven.
Day 7, Thursday – The pain of swallowing was significantly dulled today. I thought I was doing much better. Then later in the day there was a different pain, more like a raw open cut in the back of my throat, which hurt most when liquid or hit it. I assume this is the scars beginning to come off, and leaving exposed skin.
Scrambled eggs, delicious.
Again, I’m amazed by how much your tongue is involved with eating, I never really noticed it before. But trying to eat the eggs, or anything else that you need to chew and then swallow, is extremely hard to do when your tongue is cut up, sore, and not moving around a lot.
Day 8, Friday – Same different pain today, like the scabs are peeling off and leaving expanses of raw sensitie skin. Even apple juice burns. Less the soreness of swallowing and more just irritated with anything, even water or pudding, when it hits the back of my throat.
Getting very tired of this whole ordeal.
Day 9, Saturday – Same obnoxious pain. Getting bored of this.
Day 10, Sunday – Fine in the morning and into the afternoon, virtually no pain and no Tylenol, then mid-mashed potatoes it felt like a scab peeled off and it got that very raw sensitive pain again. Not that bad today though….
Day 11, Monday – Post-op doctors appointment. He said everything “looked beautiful.” He said I cant basically eat anything I want as long as its not hurting and that usually the last thing people end up going back to is raw vegetables. He also said that even in as long as a month from now, it may unexpectedly be a little sore again, when you do something like yawn, since the new skin stretches over the muscles etc. He said it seemed like I had a pretty easy time of it, and that some people do have an easier recovery than others. He also said I just seemed to deal with the pain well, and seemed to be tough and able to handle it….
Day 12, Tuesday – Eating semi-normally, and working from home.
Day 13, Wednesday – Back to work. Since I had been so well rested for my recovery I realized I hadn’t yawned in almost 2 weeks. Today, tired after a long day at work, I kept trying to yawn but it felt really tight and sore near the back roof of my mouth. Otherwise, I’m back to normal!
Hope this proves even a little bit helpful for someone - good luck!
I had been plagued by delightful little tonsilloliths, or tonsil stones, for about three years. They were the bane of my existence and becoming more and more of a problem for me. I have very large tonsils, very scarred, with lots of craters and crevices. The main problem areas were tucked in the back of each tonsil, where very deep large holes constantly built up with stuff.
I was really scared of surgery – never having surgery before I was convinced something horrible would happen. (Knock on wood, as the recovery period is still not over). I had toyed with the possibility of surgery for a year or so and just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
In my pre-op appointment the doctor explained the procedure, the anticipated recovery period and diet and asked if I had any questions. I expressed my concern about anesthesia, and he assured me that in a young healthy person its usually a very safe and easy procedure. He was great – very understanding, listened to my questions, and took everything I said into consideration. I definitely think that finding the right doctor is the most important thing, and I’m so glad I didn’t decide to go thru the surgery with one of the other ENTs who I felt very uncomfortable with.
Two days before my surgery I made the mistake of going online and searching “tonsillectomy recovery + adults” etc. huge mistake. I was greeted with tons of horror stories about losing sense of taste, endless bleeding and pain worse than multiple natural births. The next day my friends and family banned me from Googling anything tonsil related.
The Day Of, Friday:
I was lucky enough to be on of the first cases on Friday morning, and arrived at the hospital at 6am. The first case set for 730, and delightfully enough, since I was first, we were actually running on time. I got an IV and after a little bit my jolly anesthesiologist came by, hooked me up to my “IV vodka” as he called it, and before I could finish saying “oh I’m starting to feel a little woozy now” I was out. I have a very fuzzy very brief memory of the operating room – the doctors switching me from my current stretcher onto the operating table, and asking me to slide up a little more, jst a little more, a little bit more. I can only imagine that I exposed myself in my revealing hospital gown. I remember seeing some kind of pillow head contraption near the top, big bulbous lights overhead, a sheen of white and light blue and then I was waking up in post-op wondering why the nurses were all talking so loudly.
I was shocked to see that it was after 9am. The nurses were all fabulous, and I hung around for another two hours or so until I was allowed to be moved to another room where my mom could come in and see me. The nurses were great, and said they wished all of their patients were like me. They were surprised I wasn’t in any pain, and talking so well, and said sometimes they have patients wake up whining and in pain right away. I sat there for a while, got a little bit dizzy, drank some apple juice and waited some more, then finally got dressed and headed home.
I took about 4 steps to the couch, where I remained in sweatpants for the rest of the day. Dozed on and off, watched TV, drank lots of apple juice, white grape juice, and water, and took my Tylenol with codeine every 4 hours (and antibiotics every 8). i set my alarm and made sure to et up in the middle of the night to take the meds too, just to avoid any major unexpected pain.
Day 2, Saturday – still surprisingly not bad, and I switched to regular kids Tylenol. I used “very berry strawberry” kids liquid Tylenol, which tastes like someone took a chunk of bubbilicious strawberry gum and melted it down. It’s the only flavor I can tolerate. I tried the grape once but it has a slightly more acidic taste and immediately made my throat start to tickle.
Another couch day – TV, some reading and sleeping. Lots of juice and raspberry and lime jello.
Day 3, Sunday – Still feeling pretty good. Still on regular Tylenol at regular intervals. Sat outside and basked in the unnaturally warm and sunny day. Talking more and less couch-ridden.
Day 4, Monday – Woke up early in the morning with some pain, mainly on the left side and in my left ear. I think this is because I had stopped with the strict 4 hour medication cycle and was trying to sleep thru the night. Once I had the meds it felt better and again feeling not bad all day. A little bit sore, and maybe a different kind of sore than the past 3 days, but still very manageable with LOTS of fluids and the Tylenol.
I actually left the house also! A delightful treat. The only thing was I tricked myself into feeling a bit too good and did WAY too much talking all day. That night I got more sore.
Also my birthday. My mom put a candle in some jello and we all agreed to celebrate in a week or so when I can eat a LOT of real food.
Day 5, Tuesday – Again, woke up in the middle of the night with some pain on my left side and left ear. Took Tylenol and went back to bed. Woke up 5 hours later and had more Tylenol. Today was probably the most pain so far, probably because I was getting cocky and jinxed myself. I stayed on the 4 hour Tylenol schedule again, mainly because of increased soreness on the left side (throat and ear) – for some reason I really haven’t had much pain on the right side at all. (knock on wood!) My stomach was also upset, probably from so many days of the antibiotic.
The pain got to be the worse it has been at night. I went back on the Codeine right before bed, and then again in the middle of the night. Again the pain was concentrated on the left side of my throat, and pressure in that ear. I also had some cramps and stomach pain that night – maybe a combination of hunger and the antibiotic. Definitely the worse day so far.
Day 6, Wednesday – Pain was not quite as bad when I woke up, and I took regular Tylenol. It was starting to hurt worse again, maybe from laughing a little bit, but then all of the sudden subsided a good deal.
I ate applesauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and vanilla pudding. It was heaven.
Day 7, Thursday – The pain of swallowing was significantly dulled today. I thought I was doing much better. Then later in the day there was a different pain, more like a raw open cut in the back of my throat, which hurt most when liquid or hit it. I assume this is the scars beginning to come off, and leaving exposed skin.
Scrambled eggs, delicious.
Again, I’m amazed by how much your tongue is involved with eating, I never really noticed it before. But trying to eat the eggs, or anything else that you need to chew and then swallow, is extremely hard to do when your tongue is cut up, sore, and not moving around a lot.
Day 8, Friday – Same different pain today, like the scabs are peeling off and leaving expanses of raw sensitie skin. Even apple juice burns. Less the soreness of swallowing and more just irritated with anything, even water or pudding, when it hits the back of my throat.
Getting very tired of this whole ordeal.
Day 9, Saturday – Same obnoxious pain. Getting bored of this.
Day 10, Sunday – Fine in the morning and into the afternoon, virtually no pain and no Tylenol, then mid-mashed potatoes it felt like a scab peeled off and it got that very raw sensitive pain again. Not that bad today though….
Day 11, Monday – Post-op doctors appointment. He said everything “looked beautiful.” He said I cant basically eat anything I want as long as its not hurting and that usually the last thing people end up going back to is raw vegetables. He also said that even in as long as a month from now, it may unexpectedly be a little sore again, when you do something like yawn, since the new skin stretches over the muscles etc. He said it seemed like I had a pretty easy time of it, and that some people do have an easier recovery than others. He also said I just seemed to deal with the pain well, and seemed to be tough and able to handle it….
Day 12, Tuesday – Eating semi-normally, and working from home.
Day 13, Wednesday – Back to work. Since I had been so well rested for my recovery I realized I hadn’t yawned in almost 2 weeks. Today, tired after a long day at work, I kept trying to yawn but it felt really tight and sore near the back roof of my mouth. Otherwise, I’m back to normal!
Hope this proves even a little bit helpful for someone - good luck!