Morgan Shares Her Daily Tonsillectomy Journal
I am 21 years old and had my tonsils taken out February 9, 2017, 6 days before my birthday. I am only on day 7, including the surgery day, I am believing my recovery time will end shortly.
Day 1: Surgery Day, I was at an outpatient surgery center around 9am. Went to get the procedure done at 10am. They didn’t really give me any information about recovery process except for the fact I need 8 days off of work. After the surgery my throat burned, on a scale 1-10 I would say it was about a 3 or 2. Not so bad, the nurses were nice, gave me popsicles and applesauce and water, a lot of water. I had about an hour to recover and to let the Oxycodone take affect then I was sent home. The pain was about the same through the day, I spent it mostly sleeping and eating applesauce and drinking lots of water.
Day 2-3: I would rate my pain on these two days about a 4 out of 10. It was a little worse than the surgery day but still bearable. I decided to stay silent and not speak just to not make it any more painful than already. My jaw was a little swollen, I had to stop the Oxycodone because of that and go straight to Tylenol. The Tylenol helped better anyways so it wasn’t all bad. I mainly slept all day and ate applesauce, mashed potatoes, and drank a lot of water. I also ran a little bit of a fever which is completely normal just as long as it didn’t get too high.
Day 4: Day 4 was a little different. I spent days 1-3 at my grandparents and I had to go home. My ears were hurting pretty bad and my pain remained at a 4. I ate some scrambled eggs, drank a lot of water. slept every few hours, and after I drove myself home I was so drained of energy I needed to sleep some more. Later that day my pain jumped from the 4 to an 8. My ears were hurting worse and the pain was just not tolerable. Despite it I still drank plenty of water but I can’t say my eating habits were all that great.
Day 5-6 Pain was at an 8. Starting from day 5 I can feel the scabs coming off from the back of my throat. Luckily no bleeding so that was a plus. I didn’t eat for the two days my throat couldn’t take it. But I am still drinking lots of water like there is no tomorrow. Tylenol isn’t really helping all that well either. I can’t even sleep. The end of day 6 I had to keep my head in a certain position otherwise the pain would worsen.
Day 7: I am at the start of day 7 at the moment and the pain is pretty bad. My ears hurt, my head can only hold at a certain position or the pain will worsen. Considering I have to go back to work and school in two days I hope the pain can subside long enough for me to get through a few hours of them.
Tips: My main tip is to NOT get a Tonsillectomy unless it’s absolutely necessary. I had to have one due to my tonsils swelling up to almost the point of suffocating me. Do NOT eat ice cream. It can cause a build up of mucus (according to my doc). Popsicles will be your best friend for a bit. Get protein shakes, you are most likely going to lose some of your daily needs of nutrition, I wished i had some and maybe I wouldn’t feel so sick. Lastly, take a shower everyday, it just helps not to be in bed 24 hours. You will feel better in the process too.