Christi’s Tonsillectomy Experience
Hello everyone! It has been a few weeks now since my surgery, and I apologize, but I didn’t take the best of notes. But, I do want to share my experience as this forum helped me prepare tremendously.
My surgery was scheduled for July 31 in the morning. They put my IV in and wheeled me to the operating room. Next thing I remember is waking up in recovery. About two minutes after waking up I immediately threw up three times. I then fell back asleep for a few hours. Eventually I came to, the nurse had me drink some water, and off to home I went. The first three days were manageable pain wise. I was prescribed oxy and Tylenol which I alternated between. By day four the pain set in! I could not eat and I had excruciating ear pain. I managed to swallow some apple sauce and water, but that was about it. On day 5 I threw up ALL day (I’d say 15-20 times). I could not keep any food or water down at all. Plus, throwing up after a tonsillectomy is painful enough. I went to the ER where they told me I was allergic to oxy and they switched me to Hydro. That worked fine for about two days, and then I found myself throwing up again. I stopped taking the narcotics and just took Tylenol which reduced the throwing up. At this point I was still eating applesauce and instant mashed potatoes. The pain was still pretty high I’d say an 8. On to day 7 and I’m having difficulty breathing. I cannot take a deep breath without coughing or exhaling abruptly. This goes on for three days before I go to the ER where they diagnosed me with Pneumonia (from the breathing tube they used while operating). This was something I didn’t read about beforehand and is very rare! There is a high death rate associated with post-op VAP Pneumonia, but luckily I knew something was wrong and caught it early. My doctor said she has only had three patients who have had pneumonia and she doesn’t know why it happens. I was prescribed antibiotics, prednisone, and a breathing treatment. I had terrible night sweats for two weeks straight sweating throug four shirts and two sets of sheets s night. I also ran a fever of about 102 for a couple of days from the pneumonia. I started to get better, but then went downhill again. My family is very wholistic approach in their life and so I started taking colloidal silver which acts as an antibiotic. Immediately I started feeling better again!
I’m on day 26 now and am doing well. The tonsillectomy pain eased up around day 10 for me, but I couldn’t eat solid foods til around day 18. If you have breathing difficulties please go to the ER!