Tonsil Stones - My Tonsillectomy *21 Days After*

This is so amazing to read!! I am 20 and having a tonsillectomy tomorrow after suffering with tonsillitis and tonsil stones over the last two years. I am a singer and a musical theatre student at a performing arts college in London so my tonsils are really holding me back and I am hoping the tonsillectomy will relieve me of the problems I have had! I am not looking forward to the recovery process but hope the long term outcome of the op is as successful as yours! I am supposed to be going back to college 7 days after the op however reading this has made me think that may not be possible?!

This was great. Now I don't feel like such a sissy. It's been 5 days since my tonsillectomy and I thought I was being a baby about the recovery. I'm happy to know it's not just me, others have gone through the same thing

So thankful for your detail information on your experience. Today is my third day in recovery and It so happened that I was searching for pictures to reassure me that my throat looks as it should when your experience caught my eye and gave me very positive insight and things to look out for and more importantly continue to have faith that everything will be okay. Thank You!!!

Omg! Thanks for sharing this! I'm 31 and had my tonsils out last Wednesday..... Great information!!j

Fifty-year-old woman and the throat and ear paint was ROUGH. I am on Day 8 and I think I am entering the nausea stage (back of my throat feels heavy - probably scab stuff). I think the worst may be over.

First two days were OK and then BAM! Sandpaper throat when I woke up and recurring INTENSE earaches!

EARACHE SOLUTION: Cold ice pack stuffed into a fabric wine bottle-shaped gift sack that is tucked under your chin and kept there for 15 minutes really reduced the earache pain.

Invest in a warm air humidifier - I placed mine on my bedside table - to reduce sore throat due to dryness.

Chewing on frozen ice chips helped reduced the swelling in my jaw and tongue (did this 6 staight days). Learned quickly that dairy products (including YOP drinks) made my earaches hurt more and the swelling worse. AVOIDED ALL DAIRY IN ANYTHING. (Only exception: Boost drinks.)

What hurt my throat the most: apple juice, applesauce, runny oatmeal (got caught in areas of my throat!), and dairy products (except Boost).

MY DAILY DIET PLAN:

BREAKFAST: one freezer-cooled Boost chocolate flavoured individual beverage. Put Boost bottle in freezer for 20 minutes and then pour into little glass and sip it. Really helped to ease sore throat.

LUNCH:  1 egg mixed with 1/4 c. cold water and scrambled in generous melted butter until barely cooked (think mushy). Let cool to lukewarm. Yum!

DINNER: 1 cup-a-soup strained of everything and cooled to lukewarm.

THROUGHOUT DAY: Yellow or orange jello to reduce throat pain; ice chips to suck on; and the odd hard salty licorice drop to suck on when I felt queasy. Drank ice water. Chewed a lot of gum. (Dentyne Ice).

Day 7 was the worst for me. I then started taking one Advil 1 1/2 hours after my every 3 hours Oxycodone with acetimenophin pill. Helped a lot to manage pain. Made me feel a bit in control of it which was psychologically good for me.

Kept journal of times I took medication.

"Slept" with one of those sit up in bed cushions that have arm rests. Lying down caused acid reflux and then I would need to chew a Gaviscon tablet. Slept only every 2 hours or so and would then take medication dose or chew on ice chips.

Whenever I felt pleghm develop in my mouth, I would spit it out into a tissue (I don't think swallowing this junk would be good for you.)

I hope this helps as much as it helped me!

I am kumar , 36 yrs, it is a 4 th day after my operaion. i having a heavy pain in my throat when any think to take for eat

 

day time the pain is better than Night time. But worst in morning time when i wake up

 

& also unwanted pasty taste having in my tongue

 

I pray go"very soon i will relieve from the pain& going to regular days"

Straight up honesty!! No BS or sugar coated details. I've got the utmost respect for anyone who is a "black or white" kinda gal.
No grey areas:)! Bravo:

Do you need to get stitches or can you get something else in you mouth to stop the bleeding. BTW I am a 12 year old girl I am getting my surgery on the 19th of this month and I am really scared can you tell me if there will be pain when the stitches come out or will you not feel it. Will the stitches all come out at once or will they take time to come out and is there away the pain will stop while your sleeping or is it harder to sleep with it. Sorry about all these questions I am just really scared and nervous and freaking out and I just want to cry if it will be this bad can you tell me some tips that might make the pain stop are let me sleep better or away of not getting stitches and getting something else. I heard there is like a laser that you can get that will take out the tonsills and stop the bleeding without getting stitches but after the surgery there will be lots of blood which one do you think is better for me. Can you please repley at your early convience. Thank You

hi, you don't have to worry about it because you don't get stitches when you have them removed because when they are removed its cauterized (sealed by heat) to stop the bleeding. You may get a little bleeding though for a bit but nothing to worry about, the pain effects different people different ways but they should give you pain medication to take for it, the best thing to do is drink plenty of cool fluids after you have had it done and even some icecream as it will be sore for a while like when you got tonsillitis it will soon wear off though. Hope it all goes well for you :-)

Hi There, You mentioned you had pudding but pudding is dairy...? Can you give a little more info about the pudding you had which wasn;t dairy?

This helped me a lot. I just got mine out today so now I have something to go by. I also had tonsil stones that bad so its awesome to know someone else had the same problem but turned out great. Thank you.

Omg thank you for this *clapping*. I am on Day 9 and am still in A LOT of pain. It's so true what you say, the first two days are cake. I even went shopping a couple of times which on the rest 6 days would have killed me. I just graduated and have to start my new job in 6 days so this pain is really stressing me out! This really made me feel better as I've been up in the middle of the night now for 3 hours worrying. Haha. Great, thanks!!!

hi you could try rinseing your mouth out and gargling with a mild salt water solution as that is an antibacteria agent and salt Walter also helps the healing process.

I (20y/o F) got my tonsils taken our recently too for tonsil stones also. SOOOOO worth it. I'm on day 16 now. Luckily for me, the most pain I had was probably about a 4 after I would wake up and my throat would be dry. Took the tylenol/codeine I was prescribed and the pain went to about a 2 only if I were swallowing. I did have a problem on Day 9 after the surgery where I sneezed when I woke up, and it must have loosened something enough to start bleeding pretty badly. Luckily my ENT just had me come in so he could remove the clot that had formed and re-cauterize it (not a fun experience for someone with a pretty bad gag reflex), rather than go to the hospital where I probably would have had to go back under to stop the bleeding.
Other than that episode, it seems like my experience has been a bit more positive than most, just based on my pain level alone. It didn't hurt nearly as badly as I was expecting it to. My biggest issue was that I couldn't really swallow anything that wasn't almost completely liquid until about day 7.
I cannot reiterate enough how worth it I think it was to get them out to solve my tonsil stone problem. It was to the point where I was constantly gagging on them as they would try to pop out, I'd cough them up at least once a day, my ears were maddeningly itchy, and my breath was awful. I'd try to dig them out myself as much as possible (again... not fun with a horrible gag reflex), but as soon as Id get some of them out, more would show up. Now I never have to deal with the little nasties ever again. :)

I agree completely for the most part!  Thank you for your honest, frank post on post-op. Currently, I am a 34year old female and I am at day 19 post-op.  I had both tonsils and adenoids removed due to frequent throat infections ( 9 in 14 months, only 3 of which were strep).  My main issues began around day 3, and were my tongue swelling (which was just horrible) and the referred pain in my jaw and ear.  I wasn't able to to eat more than a few bites at each sitting from day 2-6, and ended up back in the hospital on day 7 for dehydration.  Now, understand that I drank PLENTY of water and gatorade, but due to the lack of nutrients my body was just shutting down.    I was given 2 bags of fluids and glorious morphine, which made everything okay for a bit.   *** A bit of advice... my drinks had to be room temp.  Anything cold just seared through me and I could have climbed the walls due to being in so much pain.  I tried and tried to drink cold things, because I was told they would help-- NOPE.  I kept room temp water near my bed, and sipped as often as I could.   Also, after day 7, I got one of those portable heating pad things, like a buckwheat pillow thing that can be warmed in the microwave (it looks like a tube sock to me) and wrapped it around my neck.  It was wonderful and was good for short term relief, as you know it isn't safe to sleep with a heating pad on, but the buckwheat pillow/sock thing would stay warm for about 30 mins and if I fell asleep, it was still safe.   I'm not sure how safe it is to use immediately after surgery, because the dr. will advise you to use ice, but after a week and then being in the hospital AGAIN, the nurses told me I could try it.    It was also a lifesaver.  I found mine at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for like $10, but I think they can also be found at pharmacies.   By day   16 I was feeling so much better, with the exception of my throat feeling as if I had a toothpick stuck in it when I ate.  I would attempt to eat and get a stabbing pain.  My understanding is that this is the scabs.  I still have some sensitivity on the right side of my throat (feels like a raw nerve), but it's way better.  I have my 3 week follow up in 2 days, and hope to be cleared to take Aleve, because I fully believe that would make me feel so much better.  Tylenol does nothing for me, and doesn't last nearly as long as it needs to.   I was told no ibuprofen/Aleve until 21 days after surgery.   Hope this helps!