Previous Tonsillectomy Comments 6

  1. This is kind of a novel, but here’s my story! There’s a list of tips at the end if you’d just like to skip to that part!

    I am on day 9 of recovery, and I only discovered this blog yesterday. I SO wish I had discovered it sooner. I think it is absolutely ridiculous how much medical workers and the general public (bosses, family) underestimate the pain and the recovery time for this procedure. My ENT said, “The surgery is super easy and quick, and you’ll be home before you know it. However, you’re going to hate me for about 10 days.” I was given a list of tips for recovery, but I feel like they missed a LOT of things that would ease patients’ minds–I was not informed of the huge, swollen ovula post surgery, that my tongue would be completely white and that’s normal, and that the pain really kicks in on day 4 or 5 due to the scabs. When I woke up from surgery, I was in no pain due to the anesthesia, but then it slowly creeped up. They gave me pain meds through the IV and monitored my breathing until they took me to recovery where I met my mom and grandma. I was doing great! They asked if I wanted my first dose of pain medicine before I left, and I said yes. They made me eat a popsicle first and had me wait 30 minutes after taking it before I could leave. I was a little unbalanced getting dressed, and overall just felt kinda drunk. My mom and grandma were hungry, so we stopped at BK so they could get food. I went in so I could get a smoothie. Looking back, that was the worst decision. I ended up going back to the car after being on my feet for about 5 minutes, and the drive away from BK made me so nauseous that my mom had to pull over so I could throw up. When we got home, I felt fine and just slept. My mom went and filled my prescriptions. I was prescribed amoxicillin (antibiotic), hydrocodone/acetaminophen (narcotic pain killer/Tylenol), and Nucynta (narcotic pain killer) to take in between the hydrocodone doses in case it wasn’t cutting it or it made me sick. I was relieved because I had heard horror stories from friends and family who had just been given Tylenol basically or were not given enough meds and when they ran out were told to just use Tylenol. Tylenol generally does not work for me very well, and I always use ibuprofen for fevers and pain. I was really bummed to hear that I couldn’t use ibuprofen for 2 weeks post surgery because it could increase bleeding.

    I thought that if I just kept my pain under control and religiously took the medicine (like I do when I get strep and tonsilitis all the time) it would not be a big deal. I would just be in a sedative comfy state all week. The worst part for me when I do get strep is the fever. I am a HUGE baby when I get a fever, and they are always high with that type of infection. Well, without the fever, I was doing great! The first couple days were so easy, and I was talking and eating things like macaroni and cheese. The only issue is that I did get a really bad stomach ache on night 2 and it wasn’t relieved until I threw up (which was only dry heaving/gagging thank goodness). We think it was a combination of the anesthesia wearing off and the hydrocodone.

    Day 3 got worse, day 4 even worse, and day 5-6 were the worst. I got very nauseous the night of day 4, so I missed a dose of pain meds. I also slept for about 7 hours, so my mouth and throat were so dry that I thought I might pass out just from sipping some water. I never even thought about inhaling some warm steam to moisten the throat for a bit until I read someone’s comments on this blog! I had to take more mg of pain meds the next round so I could catch up to the pain because it was SO bad and thankfully I didn’t get nauseous. I forgot to mention that my excitement that I had seemed to be taken care of well in the medicine area faded when my insurance wouldn’t cover the Nucynta. The hydrocone wouldn’t last 4 hours before I was in severe pain again, because I was supposed to take between 15-30 mg with each dose and could only do 15 mg due to nausea. I started taking the 15 mg every 2 hours since that would be equivalent to the 30 mg every 4 hours. This was working wonderfully until I ran out of medicine. This happened on a Saturday, and luckily the on-call doctor at my surgery center faxed a prescription for acetaminophen/codeine. This did not make me nauseous at all, which was a plus, but it definitely wasn’t as strong and I was in a lot of pain. My mom is a medical aid so she knows a lot about medicine, and she knows what you can interact and not and strengths and everything (I have no clue). To be quite honest, I was lent some other strong pain medicine by a family member to take in between acetaminophen/codeine doses. I just could not bear the pain. When the acetaminophen/codeine ran out (seriously, do they not get that you take this stuff religiously??), this was a life saver because then it was the only thing I had to take and I was NOT ready to just start taking Tylenol (this happened yesterday).

    Last night I was doing great, but when my alarm went off overnight to take medicine I fell back asleep since I wasn’t in pain/immediate need to get up and take it. When I woke up this morning I felt like I was back to day 7. The dry throat makes things so much worse! I inhaled some steam and started sipping on water right away. It hurts so much, but it’s relieved fairly quickly as soon as it gets moist. I am still taking strong pain meds, but I have to go back to work tomorrow so I will need to switch over to over-the-counter stuff. I admit that I did take ibuprofen a few times in between doses yesterday and the day before to reduce tongue swelling and so I could eat something. I haven’t bled one bit the whole time, so I figured a couple times wouldn’t be a big deal (would have been more of a big deal on day 5 or 6 when the scabs are falling off more), and it helped so much.

    TIPS:

    *I’ve noticed a lot of people get on here and are like, “This is not bad at all!” but they are on day 1-3. Trust me. The real pain does not set in until after the first few days.
    *When you are in that state of, “Oh I could totally do this for a whole week” during the calm before the storm (days 1-3ish), eat as much as you can! It won’t be long before you don’t eat at all basically and you will be hungry.
    *Cold and numbing is amazing for the first 4-6 days. After that, it starts to just sting and luke warm/neutral temperatures seem to be best. Today I started doing a little warmer (day 9) because the risk of bleeding is way lessened and it’s soothing on my throat that just feels raw and dry at this point.
    *Take sips of water as much as you can. I would drink as much as physically possible right after I took my pain meds when my throat didn’t hurt as much so I could get it really moist and try to keep it up after the meds wore off until the next dose. This also helped with nausea since there was no food in my stomach.
    *Get nutritional drinks like protein shakes with vitamins and stuff. I was getting hunger pains on day 5 that just made everything even worse. The milkiness can increase phlegm, but I found that it also coated my throat more going down so it felt good. I would follow up with water and spit out the extra mucous when I was done drinking it. When cold didn’t feel good anymore, lukewarm milk went down the same way. I did have to spit out extra gunk in the back of my mouth a few times after, but then I followed up with water and it seemed to not last too long.
    *Make sure someone is there to take care of you for at least a week. Take AT LEAST 10 days off work, and do not let anyone tell you different. If you don’t need it, great. But you probably will.
    *Get a humidifier. Dry throat=everything is 23849734 times worse. I regret not getting one.
    *For wisdom teeth removal, I lived on smoothies. I couldn’t do that with this because the juice is so acidic. I wish I would have gotten Gatorade, more nutrition shakes, and more mashed potatoes and gravy because that’s all I could really eat at all the whole time. Yogurt was an occasional treat when my throat was doing well.
    * I didn’t use numbing throat spray (Chloraseptic), but I read on here a lot of people did. Would have been a great idea to use right after waking up while trying to choke down water when your throat is on fire.
    *DO NOT MISS PAIN DOSES. Set alarms.
    *They told me ice pack would be okay to use on my neck/jaw, but might not help much. USE ICE PACKS. It helped me so much. I had two. I would fall asleep with one on my face and then put it on the floor because I didn’t feel like getting up. The next time I needed one, there was one still frozen and I could bring the other one back to the freezer.
    *When the ear pain settles in, it’s terrible. Microwave that ice pack (make sure you have the kind where you can do that) and use heat on the ear. Helps a lot!
    *Talking can be very painful. I was talking great sometimes right after I took pain meds, but I think it made my throat worse later. Just try not to talk. My family got used to hand gestures and only asking yes/no questions. My mom also had to call me into work today because I didn’t take enough time off and call the doctor for me to get more pain medicine. However, moving your jaw muscles, like chewing can help so your jaw isn’t so sore.
    *Wake up frequently to drink water. If you don’t, you’ll regret sleeping at all. You will be tired, yes. But it’s worth it. You’re on the couch doing nothing but resting for 10 days anyway, so it’s not a huge deal.
    *I planned on binge watching Netflix. I didn’t even feel like doing that and sometimes I was in too much pain to follow a TV show. I mostly Facebooked or texted friends and family because I felt like I needed to communicate to the outside world while I was stuck at home in hell. I also downloaded a few games on my phone for mindless distraction.
    *White tongue is normal. White throat is normal. Swollen ovula is normal (mine was HUGE).

    Hope this helps! GOOD LUCK to anyone doing this. It really is hell, but the more prepared you are the better off you will be. And eventually, there IS a light at the end of the tunnel and it will all be worth it!!

  2. I’m on day 9 of my recovery and am feeling so good compared to the first few days. Day 8 I was able to eat normal food (yay!) and I feel as if it was the right decision to try it out. I had chicken nuggets and french fries. As long as you chew it up pretty well, you’re good to go. I still have some scabs that are coming off, but nothing terrible and my throat is a little sore when I swallow. I’ve also had no noticeable bleeding at all through the process. Overall, my experience was smooth sailing with some pain, but not as much as you would expect!

  3. I am now on day 9 of recovery and for me it is awful! I have had approx. 30 mins sleep last night and the pain is increasing every day. My ears are really sore and my throat is burning. I don’t have any pain relief, not had any for a week, as doctor wont give me any and i can’t afford to buy any….not having a good time!!

  4. Today is day 9 and I’m still in lot of pain, the white scabs have been falling a little but I don’t know if that’s because of my age 52

  5. I’m on day 8. I haven’t experienced any scabs falling off? I just want everything to go back to normal. I drink lots of water, well I try to.my throat is really dry during the night so it does tend to hurt. Does anybody anybody know when things will go back to normal. I know it will be worth it in the long run,but the pain is real.

  6. Recovery day 9: Today was a beautiful day. I did not have to take my prescribed meds or even ibuprofen for that matter. I feel like I have canker sores. The surgical site looks a little more transparent. I got my appetite back today. Even though I wasn’t able to eat a full meal, I did enjoy some bread, chocolate, and mashed potatoes. I was so tired of applesauce. I did throw up in the morning but I am feeling a lot better. I’m starting to feel like myself again!

    1. So…have your scabs fallen off!!??? I’m on day 8(in the morning) and I think mine are just starting to fall off. I’ve had quite the easy experience this far and im hoping it continues like this!! From what I’ve read and heard from previous tonsillectomy patients, I’m very lucky!! Just curious what the next few days will bring

  7. if you count the day of surgery (which i do) it has been 9 full days! i can’t believe that i made it this far! i seriously thought i would never make it. i still have to take my pain meds but not as much as i was in the beginning. i would have to take them every 2-4 hours and now i take them about every 6-7 hours or so except when i am sleeping, so that’s progress for me. i also think one of my scabs must have came off when i was eating or something because i checked the back of my throat today and some of them have disappeared, but not all. i woke up with a horrible migraine today. i suffer from migraines on the regular and they are very painful and my vision gets blurry. as soon as i noticed the blurry vision this morning i took some tylenol. i’d rather take tylenol on an empty stomach than a painkiller and i just went back to bed. woke up again and had lots of ear pain but my throat wasn’t as bad. i’ve said this before in one of my posts but waking up is when the pain really starts and once i eat and have my pain meds the pain calms down throughout the day. i am planning on going back to work tomorrow and i am bummed yet excited. i did enjoy this “vacation” only because i was able to lounge around all day but reality will set in tomorrow haha. i am set to see my doctor next week for my 2 week post op visit so i am excited/nervous to see what he has to say next week. good luck everyone!

  8. 9th day I am feeling so much better, still sore when I swallow but most of scab nearly gone uvala still big but not as bad, still can’t extended my head back without it making my throat sore but much much better and also now getting the stinging in throat and tonsil bed but I’m guessing that’s normal and I’m on the heal. I weight 104kg now I’m 96kg lost so much weight, can’t wait to be fully healed and back to the gym also I had bleeding on the 6 day which I went to the ER did some acid gargle and stayed over nite but after that no more bleeding can people talk about their bleeding experiences mine was sort of scary at the time…

  9. Day 9, so far it is not as bad as the first 8, 8 was killer doctor said i have THRUSH in my mouth which was causing a STINGING/BURNING feeling in the back on my tongue. I have been back to work since day 5 ( i sit at a desk on a computer) LOTS of pain and no pain meds allowed at work. NOT Sleeping well at all so i usually go home load up on some meds and hit the bed for a few hours have not really eaten in 9 days other then gum and ice water and ice cubes just do not have appitite and so not worth the pain i have lost 9 pounds in 9 days and have not had a bowl movement since the day before surgery

  10. Day 9 – I was able to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner today which is great progress! Hadn’t eaten much since day 5. Days 6, 7 and 8 have been just pure torture. I’ve lost almost a stone in weight already. I can definitely feel I’m on the mend although still very painful. The only foods i can take are plain vegetables, plain chicken and fish. Sorry if this next bit offends: I’ve not pooped since before the operation – 10 days. I don’t even feel like i need to go. Ive started drinking prune juice ( watered down because it stings like mad ) so hopefully it won’t be much long. More grateful the worst is over. Hang on in there to anyone going through the ‘hellish’ days. You’ll be on the mend any day now!!!

  11. I was doing fine until this stupid day 9. I am queasy and in so much pain that I’m just ticked off. This is by far my worst day.

  12. Ugh. For some reason I feel the scabs everytime I attempt to swallow. And it hurts. Im just ready to eat my favorite foods again.

  13. Lea says:

    I’m on tonsillectomy post-op day 9 and I just had a question. My days 1 and 2 were bearable, 3 and 4 were somewhat worse, days 5-7 were the absolute most painful with day 6 making me want to decapitate myself but I’m on day 9 and days 8 and 9 were a lot better. I’ve currently gone 48 hours sans vicodin so I consider this a win!

    However, I had a question. The pockets where my tonsils used to be are HUGE and while most of the yellow/white scabbing is gone, I’ve had issues with food remnants getting stuck in the pockets and collecting. It literally is just like big pus balls of solid/half digested food, almost like tonsil stones (that I never had issues with before). I had to remove one with a q-tip this evening because it felt like there was something somewhat stuck in my throat.

    It’s really not painful and doesn’t make my breath smell but I was wondering if anyone else had this issue? Does it go away with time?
    Btw this blog seriously got me through my worst days because it reminded me that it DOES GET BETTER. Thank you so much!

    1. I am a 39 year old single mom on day 7 of my recovery. I wanted to reply to the above comment as I soooo hope someone will answer this question as it came up for me today too. I only looked at the surgical site 2 days ago as I was afraid of what I would see (these things severely make me sick) and of course, I got sick and have not been able to hardly eat since I looked. I had no idea how big or deep the tonsil beds were. First, it sickens me to think of coating those surgical wounds with any kinds of food – let alone pudding or shakes ugh – I certainly wouldn’t want to pour pudding over a wound on my knee and try to rinse it with water. I have managed to eat 2 hard boiled eggs with salt today and 1/2 cup of sorbet. I am starving! So yes Im concerned too about food getting stuck in the tonsil beds. I assume as they heal its not like the food is going to heal with the new skin. It is gross though. I was worried tonight a Tylenol 3 would get stuck in there tonight so I broke it up into tiny pieces. I am going to continue to eat though cause it seems despite the pain, the eating helps to sluff off the scabs which is what I’d like to see continue to happen.

      1. I’m on day 11 now and I can tell you that for me, the first few days I didn’t have issue with stuff getting stuck. It only started getting stuck once the scabs fell off so you’re fine. Eat as much as possible.

        Let me clarify though, when stuff gets stuck in the pockets, it’s not latched onto anything, it kind of just floats around in there until it gets too big and then decides to come out and half of the time I swallow it, the other half I spit it out.

      2. So an update from my post yesterday on Day 8 after having been back to the ER with a bleed. So after I’d seen the ENT in emerg, I went home and later that day had another bleed that lasted only 5 mins. Then a few hours later, one really started to gush. I had my caregiver drive me to the ER and on the way I filled a liter bowl of blood. I was terrified it was more blood than I’d ever seen and my intuition said it wasn’t going to stop where it day say it would stop with the last one.

        Went back to the ER – turns out there was a hermmorage in the left tonsil bed, they admitted me and transferred me to another hospital equipped with am ambulance ride where the ENT surgeon was who I ‘d seen earlier in the day. The surgeon wanted me admitted overnight and said he would discuss possible surgery. After he examined me he said I could choose to either stay in over night for observation but noted that he was concerned with this because if more bled it would be hard to control at that time – particularly given almost none of my scabs had fallen off yet, plus he said he suspected another bleed would mean it was close to the main artery. I chose to be operated on again. It took 15 minutes. I stayed over night in hospital.

        Surgeon today told me he removed most of the scabs and there was a huge bleed which took administering some kind of adrenaline drug to halt the bleeding, then he cauterized again. He said he did a good sweep of the tonsil beds to see if there were any other possible clots or vessels that could bleed, and he said no and there was a great chance this would be it. I left with more tramacet, along with my biaxin and nystatin for the oral rinse for the oral thrush (man this stuff has a wicked aftertaste, its like crushing up a tyleonl and putting in your mouth without water).

        I asked if I should expect I was beginning at day 1 in recovery again and he said no, it would be rough for a day or two but I should feel better quickly, but damn, another week of liquids only. I do want to share a wicked tip I haven’t seen mentioned on this site for taking meds after tonsillectomy – insert them in jello and they swallow them. It works brilliantly, however any sugar burns but oh well it eases my relentless phobia things will get “stuck” back there. Going back for a review this Wednesday in office.

        Trying not to feel too sorry for myself being in the 4% of people who have to have a second procedure done – but great for me my childcare all lined up, my sister is willing to come stay again and a good friend came to pick me up on the way home from the hospital and get my new meds.

        Fingers crossed Im on the mend.

        1. My Goodness Liz! Sorry to hear of this. Thanks for sharing the tip about taking meds. Hoping for y a speedy recovery. Hang in there. It sounds like you have the right attitude. I really think that helps.

  14. Hello all. 25 y/o female. I am currently on day 9. It looks like about 75% of the scabs are gone but my holes are HUGE so its hard to tell. Im only taking percocet once at night and alternating ibuprofen and extra strength tylenol during the day. I slept 2-4 hour shifts last night which is the best yet. Had my first real meal last night-chicken pot pie! One thing about eating- dont stuff yourself when you start eating again, I only ate a modern portion and still had stomach cramps due to the liquid diet for so long. Poor tummy. The cramps only lasted like 30 min anyways. It still really hurts to swallow and feel swollen. By far the worst is the ear pain for me. Ive had it for 4 days now and it hasnt gotten better. Should it really last longer than day 9? Im expecting another full week be for I feel totally well. Even though its getting better, I am so over and done with this. :/

  15. Day 9
    Bring a cooler to bed with various frozen packs.
    Place on neck just below ear to treat ear and tongue swelling. I go to it 3 or 4 times a night. Huge relief

  16. I’m grateful I saw this post. I’m on 5 and I am miserable but it all sounds strangely familiar.. I’ve been napping a lot more lately which is not like me at all but I least now know why. Thanks for the blog! Day 5’er

  17. Day 9 after coblation tonsillectomy on 6/20. I’m still having quite a bit of throat pain, especially overnight and first thing in the morning, but overall I feel much, much better. Today, for the first time in more than a week, I got in the car and drove somewhere (nothing too exciting – it was the grocery store – but still). I also took the dog on a short (but longer than yesterday) walk and walked down to the neighborhood grocery store. I visited with friends, cooked some food, and pulled together a photo book for my son that I’ve been meaning to do for about six months. It took about 4-5 hours of uninterrupted work, and this was the first day since my surgery that I felt up to it. No naps today. Still sticking with soft foods because of the throat pain – today I had scrambled eggs, a popsicle, noodle soup, and a baked potato with hummus and sour cream. I am still taking Tylenol every six hours because the pain picks up even more if I don’t. I’ve felt as if I needed to cough a bunch of times – I don’t know if this is a scab irritating my throat or what, but it’s annoying since I am trying NOT to cough, obviously.

    The ancillary scabs around my tonsil beds are all mostly gone at this point, but I still have large ones inside the beds themselves. I am guessing the pain will last until that is all healed up, but we will see. I am hoping to avoid any bleeding and so am following the doctor’s orders not to do anything strenuous until after the two full weeks of recovery are finished. I am also staying hydrated and continuing to run the humidifier at night. Good luck to everyone out there who’s still in the thick of it.

  18. Martha says:

    Day 9 after coblation tonsillectomy: I am still taking some over-the-counter pain pills almost around the clock, but that’s mostly for the jaw aches I’ve been having for several days, mostly since I started eating and talking again. Energy is increasing, but I still needed a nap. I tire quickly, but when I am awake, I have energy! I washed dishes and laundry today. I felt alive again. Too much talking or swallowing is painful, but I’m able to eat and talk if I have to, though I can’t talk very loudly. By the end if the day, I felt like I had a “normal” sore throat.

    Downside to today: I had a bleed tonight. I was watching a show with my family and had a few swallows that seemed warm and sweet-ish. Slight blood taste in the back of my throat, so I spit upstairs and found out I had a full-on hemmorrhage in there! I rinsed/gargled with ice water (thank God for this website or I wouldn’t have known what to do!), spitting until it was all clear. It took around 3-5 minutes, although it seemed longer. Blood does not make me queasy, but that was the most I’ve ever seen myself bleed, and the thought of it needing ER treatment got my heart pounding. It happened 3 more times in less than 2 hours with dry heaves and blood clots and some chunks of scab coming up, but it stopped after 3-5 minutes of gargling as before. Still, we decided to head to the hospital and make sure it didn’t need action. I didn’t want to wake up to more bleeding.

    After an examination, the doctor could see a potential bleed sites on both sides at the edge of my scabs and decided cauterization would be a good preventative measure. I was numbed with a spray and cauterized a little on both sides with silver nitrate. It was like a small q-tip dipped/coated at the tip with silver nitrate, which heats up when it gets wet (when it touches the flesh of the tonsil bed) and cauterizes the area. It didn’t hurt. There was slight discomfort but not pain. The “procedure” took about 8 seconds for each side, not including the five minute wait for the numbing spray to become active. After a minute, I dared to swallow. It felt a little rough to my tongue, and raw like a dry throat. There was an unpleasant taste combination of numbing soray and burnt tissue. I was able to drink right away and did so. Once home, I got a cough drop (I use Ricola brand) to help sooth the raw feeling.

    Only tomorrow will tell if this is much of a setback. The doctor assured me it wouldn’t be, since she didn’t touch my new, healing tissue, only the edges of the scab where it has been pulling away. I guess if I have a sore throat an extra day, that’s not so bad. I know others out there have basically started their recovery over after bleeding. I am so thankful to have this long day behind me.

  19. I’m still at day 6 and I thought I was over-reacting… (I thik my boss and husband do too :( I’m in so much pain – however my husband wants meto ‘stay acctive’ and I can tell he’s a bit upset about me not returning to work (to answer phones and fill orders) after day 3…. Can someone pleas talk with them?? I’m not making this sh*t up! YOUUUUUUUUUUUCH!

  20. This sucks more than I thought it would by now, day 9 for me. Ears and jaw are throbbing, feels so tense. Pain goes up to a 6/7 any time I go over 5 hours with my meds. Nauseous if I don’t take my anti-nausea meds. Feel like a complainer!!! Have been getting out of the house, but probably shouldn’t, always feel twice as bad after…down 10 pounds and struggling still to eat solids. Developed thrush and an ulcer on my tongue…ouch!! Anyone have those issues??

  21. My stomach is bothering me more today that it has the entire time during this whole process. Frustrating bc my throat does not hurt as much as it has. I had my post op yesterday and Dr. says take is easy another week or at least 5 more days. I plan to take it easy and do “softer foods” until the weekend but the stomach ache is an unpleasant hurdle. I have not throw up yet(knock on wood) but really feel like I am going to. Just took a 3 hour nap so hopefully that helps.

    There is a nasty stomach bug going around this area and I am praying I dont get it.

    Started a probiotic today also…hope that has nothing to do with my stomach ache but after being on antibiotics the week before my surgery and again right after it my Dr. agreed that would be a good idea.

    Throat hurt at a 5 or so when waking up this morning and has hovered between 3 to 4 on the pain scale. Scabs are slowly coming off, but no bleeding yet(knock on wood)

  22. I’m on day 9 and although the pain isn’t bad, I have had a continuous stomach ache that will not go away and I feel extremely weak. I am so frustrated! I just want to feel better!

    1. Hi Nikko- thanks for reading and also commenting. The pain med’s are probably the cause of the stomach trouble. Try to take a little food with them- even Jell-o helps. Good luck!

  23. Day 9 today, at least i had a scrambled egg! The mincemeat made me go nuts! The pain in my ears/jaws is awful.
    My mouth is so bitter and everything tastes so horrible. I have just resorted back to my warm soup.
    Will this end

  24. Day 9 – Yesterday was the first day I actually felt like a live human being again. Such a relief! …. Then there was this morning. Stabbing pains down my throat, ears and tongue. The tears started to flow the second I felt the first sting. Does this ever end? After going through the now normal wake up routine of crying, choking down ice water and ice chips, taking medicine and waiting for the slighest sign of relief, I dreaded the thought of another pain riddled day. I mustered up the strength to drag myself to the shower and attempt a semi-normal day. I have found that standing in a steamy hot shower really seems to open up my throat. I stand directly under the shower head, head down and just breathe. There was a few times out of the day I felt like I was alive again but the stabbing pain in my throat reminds me that this is not over just yet. :( After a long day of pain, medicine and ice water a friend cooked me dinner. Of course I never thought I could eat it. BUT I DID!!!! A simple dinner of tortelinni with a mushroom sauce never tasted so good in my life. I was only able to get a few bites in before the pain was a little to intense to keep going but YAY…food!

  25. Well yesterday and today started a whole new recovery tactic. I can no longer handle anything even remotely close to cold, anything cold or room temp is agitating my throat and forming a stabbing pain from my jaw I my neck. So today I tried tea and it actually did not hurt so apparently some of the membrane has fallen off exposing something causing this. So now it’s got tea and no pain meds, and hopping I only have a few more days of jello to go. Today I managed a ham and cheese sandwich which my stomach didn’t know what to do with it was so foreign.

  26. Day 9 – December 28th
    I started out the day still is some of the worst pain I had experienced so far. My husband had to work and I was alone with the kids. Having to get myself moving and make them breakfast and lunch was almost more than I could really handle. Fortunately, by late afternoon, things finally started to get better. I had been taking my hydrocodone almost religiously every 3 hours since day 3, but tonight 4 hours passed before I even thought about what time it was and needing my next dose!

    When my husband got home he took the kids out for dinner to give me some quiet time to take a bubble bath and relax. I asked him to bring me back some cheese tortellini. I guess I imagine pasta to be significantly softer. Every bite was like daggers in my throat. It tasted good to be eating something different, but it was so not worth the pain!

  27. Day 9- This has been one of my better days. I am scared to swallow so I still have not had a meal. Icee & popsicles have been my best friend. Im trying to wean myself off the vicotin but it has been required at 4am in the morning. But I do not take it during the day. I am goin to try & eat some soup today. I have lost 15 lbs & im can say this surgery had me in the worst pain ever. Im happy for it to almost be over.

  28. Day 9: I finally turned a corner today and am starting to feel like myself! I am in far less pain was able to drive about 5 minutes into our town to get my car washed and go to the grocery store. I’m still struggling to swallow normal/solid food and am losing patience by having to stick with the applesauce, pudding, frozen yogurt, and soup diet I’ve been on. However, I can tell that the next several days will only get better and better.Thank you to this website for all of the amazing tips, guidance, and support! I prepared fairly well on my own for the recovery, but having additional clear suggestions and ideas from others made this experience far less horrific than I imagined it to be…and it is nice to feel validated that people get what you are going through.

    Here are some tips that I found helpful:
    1) Spend at least several days prior to surgery preparing your apartment/house/space with ice packs in the freezer, straws, cozy pajamas (seriously, I bought a ton of new PJ’s and a new bathrobe and that really helped!), and stock up on liquids such as soups, popsicles, and applesauce. I actually made a couple of soups at home 2 days before my surgery and froze them in little individual containers so they’d be ready to go when I felt like eating (I didn’t get to eat them until about day 3-4).

    2). After surgery keep a notebook and RECORD EVERYTHING: every medication you took, what time you took it and the dosage. I am a firm believer in investing in your health, and keeping track of everything is the best way for you to know how the recovery process is going, and give your doctor clear information.

    3). Similar to #2, write down questions you have for your doctor. If you’re anything like me, I think of a million questions, but immediately forget them. So make a list. When you go for your follow-up appointment it will be crucial to have this list so your doctor can address all your concerns.

    4). PUT A HUMIDIFIER IN YOUR ROOM, close the door, and let it run all day long to seal in the moisture. This helped me tremendously with sleep, which was a dreaded time of the day. I thought that after surgery and being exhausted and on medications I would sleep the night through….but nope, this was not the case. I was waking up almost every two hours for the first 2-5 nights in excruciating pain because of the lack of moisture in my throat. Having a humidifier really helped with this, and I also kept two large glasses of water with straws by my bed and forced myself to drink when I woke up in the night.

    5). ICE ICE ICE ICE ICE. I purchased a thin gel ice pack that you can wrap around your neck and this immensely helped with the pain. I basically iced all day long for about 20 minutes and would wait another 3-4 hours then ice again.

    6. HYDRATE NON-STOP EVEN THOUGH IT FEELS LIKE YOU CAN’T YOU HAVE TO JUST DO IT! You absolutely must force yourself to drink. It feels like there is a razor blade lodged in the back of your throat at times, or shards of glass, but you have to just work through the pain and stay hydrated. Iced water and iced gatorade were great for me. I also bought some V8 fusion juice boxes which have some vegetable juice in them in an attempt to get nutrients in me. If you have a blender or juicer you can make your own shakes/smoothies. Stay away from too much dairy though, it causes mucous, and acidic fruits will upset your stomach.

    That’s all….best of luck to everyone going through this and all my best wishes for speedy recoveries!

  29. It’s day 9 for me right now. 4 am. Throughout my recovery I was on/off Vicodin when I’d have my highs and lows, and now that I’m off of it officially, I haven’t been able to sleep more than two hours at night. I have crazy dreams (usually nightmares) and I always wake up terrified to swallow due to the one scab that doesn’t seem to want to come out. I’m 15, supposed to go back to school in two hours, and soooo done with this taste in my mouth. The doctor said there’d be a bad taste, but this is just awful. I’ve kept a trash can by my side since day 4, since I’m constantly spitting out disgusting mucus and the immense amount of drool buildup. I know it sounds gross, but it really really helps. Solid foods help a lot, too. I honestly think the bad taste/breath is the worst part of these last few days. And the lack of sleep.

  30. Entering day 9 – 4 in morning. Not slept a wink throat on fire just waiting to take pain meds . Going to see ENT today for check up. I am fed up but we are all soldiering on in this recovery. I thought the pain would be lessening now. The only thing is I was very dizzy from all meds and that has gone. Roll on day 9.

  31. Day. 9 For me. Can’t believe it’s finally there…the light at the end of the tunnel. I ate my first real meal tonight for dinner and I cried of joy. Before the surgery, I didn’t knew too much about it, beside that you are in pain for 10 days. Well they should tell you that you are going to experience the worst pain of your life. I gave birth naturally and I thought I knew what pain was ….well I would have 10 more deliveries instead of having a tonsillectomy. Maybe that why they don’t say it because nobody would ever do it! During my recovery, ICE, ICE packs, everything with ice was a gift from God, TV, WATER!!!! WATER and again WATER!!! Dring!!!! Whatever you do, don’t let your throat dry up. They also give you good drugs to ease the pain for a few hours but don’t oversleep because..you will suffer! I thought I was suffering when I was having a strepthroat every month, and having all the problems that comes with it, but believe me when I say that whatever you have experienced, you will feel 10 X worst after the surgery! You will need somebody to help you out, with your kids if you have some, to crush your pills, to bring you ice, lots of it, to bring you comfort because you will think you are going insane! But after all this, I’m still glad I did it! I’m at peace now, no more strepthroat, no more bad breath! If you are really tired of your situation, do it, if not don’t! But if you do, yes you will suffer, yes you will feel pain, real pain but…we all live through it!! My journey is still not done yet but I can proudly say I’m a tonsillectomy survivor!! 18 pounds lighter lol !

  32. I am 38 and had my op on 13nov. Just woken up to day 9. This site has been a godsend and like others I wish I had read all about the recovery before I had the surgery. I am in the uk and all I got was info about the procedure stating that the pain would start to improve after day4/5! How misleading was that! Also got no recovery advice. This site has been a real help and I will post my daily journal when up to it. At the moment I have a problem with the stabs near my jaw opening- they seem to be stuck which is causing more and more pain as my body is trying to get them out. Any suggestions please? Or has anyone else had this problem? I am worried that they will get infected if they do not cone out. Any comments or suggestions appreciated.

  33. Today is day 9…and still struggling through the pain.

    I had the UPPP done, a little more than your standard Tonsillectomy, so as I read others, I don’t know if I am doing better or worse. And not sure if I am losing scabs or not. I guess more questions than answers.

    Days 8 and 9 are all about the extremely painful throat and swallowing. Nothing seems to help the pain…ice, ice cream, icee, Percocet, Vicodin, magic mouthwash, nothing. I can’t seems to figure out how to eat.

    I’ve lost 16 lbs and at this rate, will break 20 by the end of this. This is the ONLY good part so far.

    But I am hungry, oh so hungry. I did splurge this afternoon… French toast. This is the most solid food that I have had in 9 days. Also, I am now paying for it. I guess my question is: will eating more difficult help the healing, hurt the healing, or just be painful?

    How much longer is this going to last??

    1. Jamie,
      Days 8 & 9 were by far my worst . I found that eating more hard food is better in the long run. It hurts like hell going down , but the time between meals seems to be with less pain. I have gone back to a pretty normal diet today (10) – it still hurts to swallow , but the tongue pain is about 75% improved
      Good Luck – and great job on the weight loss! I only lost 5 Lbs – :(

  34. Today is my day 9 day 1 & 2 were a blur. After ththat I’ve been back and forth with my pain meds. You literally cannot let them wear off. My liquid lorcet was only supposed to be taken every 4 hours but I needed it every 2. So I justnpicked up percocet to hopefully get me thru the whole 4 hours so I don’t ingest so much tylenol. Today my pain is bad cuz I’ve been like 6hours with out medicine. And it feels like I can’t turnturns neck to far or speak. I can’t sticl my tongue out to look at the surgery site cuz it hurts too bad. Hopefully this percocet kicks in soon. And have to up my water badly.

  35. What a roller coaster of a day- was woken up at 12:15am with the worst (so far) pain in my throat and ears. Took a Tylenol and watched some Netflix – slept for a few more hours and awoke again to horrible pain. Popped another Tylenol and started my day. Grabbed some soup and chicken from the grocery store and actually forced myself to eat a tablespoon of chicken salad. Exhausted after lunch I took a nap- woke up again to horrible sharp pain . Went and gargled and finally had a small piece of scab come off.
    For dinner I forced a very small salad and a chicken drumstick – figuring that swallowing ANYTHING hurts, I might as well eat something other than jello, applesauce and Mac and cheese! Now I am blissfully sipping a vodka cranberry.
    I am taking control of my life again! The heck with this pain!!!

  36. Man, I envy you all! I have been in and out of the hospital constantly since my surgery 9 days ago. The roxicet that I was given made me really sick so I got a fever and vomited constantly. The dr told me to stop taking the meds on day 4 so I have been off all medicine except nuasea suppositories since then. This is the worst pain I have ever experienced. I feel like hell, look like a druggie from all the IVs I have had in my arms. But thankfully I am home now and am slowly on the mend. I will try that chewing him technique for my ears! And man, I sure wish I saw this website before I went in for surgery:/ I had no idea about the pain. My dr just told me, it hurts some but you’ll be fine. Needless to say I hate him. Hoping for a quick recovery for you all!

  37. Day 9 for me, and menthol cough drops have been my only source of nutrition. No, I’m joking, but it feels that way. I’ve been able to eat soft noodle soups with cheese, and ice tea, without the ice. I can’t stand anything cold, except popsicles, and it takes me 30 minutes to eat those. I’m going to work tomorrow, and nervous about how I’m going to feel. I’ve been off pain meds for the past two days, those dreams were insane. I hope everyone feels better. It’s almost over.

  38. day 9 sunday and I feel like I am getting better however I look like I’ve been in an underground nuclear hideout for the past week – unshaven, unable to speak, weak, famished, miserable, demoralised, just wanna throw in the towel already. I know I’m close to the finish line but the only way I can be sure is for my scabs to be gone but its frustrating to see the white scabs are still there. I try my normal brekky of ramen noodles with poached eggs for brekky which still hurts to swallow from a combination of the throat and oral thrush. Later for dinner I take the plunge and risk a bleed for the sake of some cold pasta soup with small chicken pieces. Thankfully it went down without any bleeding. I’m thinking now if I have advice to you considering this surgery then do it when your a child otherwise the longer you delay it the more serious the risks you face and consequent torture to endure.

  39. I just wanted to take a moment and thank Greg and all contributors to this website, it has been my guide and saving grace to a surgery I did not thoroughly research or understand. I am now in day 9 of recovery and have finally turned for the better. I have lost over 20 lbs in the process as I refused to eat from day 3 on and had my first small meal for dinner on day 8. I still have some pain but have stopped all pain killers, I was only taking OTC Tylenol and Advil. I still cannot speak properly but am very happy that I can swallow liquid with bearable pain.

    My one piece of advice to others that I can offer above and beyond this site is to get your hands on some Chloraseptic sore throat spray for the painful nightime wakeups with dry throat. I would wake up in excruciating pain, go the the bathroom and spray the back of my throat, take down some meds and water and get back to bed in the matter of minutes. The spray would start working immediately and numbs your throat as well as extinguishes the pain.

    Other than that, get to know this website, it has all the direction you need to get through one of the most painful weeks of your life. Good luck to all.

    1. I decided to try the throat spray for the first time last night (Day 8 for me.) I hate that stuff, but I was in so much pain that I was desperate. At first I thought I was going crazy, but the pain got worse! I have sores on the sides of my tongue (I think because it is swollen and rubbing on my teeth) and the spray got in the sores and burned like my tongue was on fire. After a while I thought it started working and made me numb, but I realized it was just that the burning had stopped and I was back to where I had started :(

  40. DAY 9: 30 years old and had tonsillectomy (with adenoids removed too).
    I have achieved a whole new level of pain. As the scabs fall off and get stuck in my throat and I bleed all over the place, I find the pain overshadowing everything else.
    The doctor estimates that I may be a day or two behind the normal healing schedule since I had to have it recauterized…I’m glad I could draw out the process even longer.
    I have gotten to the point where I am eating very little and not drinking as much as I should simply because it hurts too much to swallow. Ice chips don’t soothe anymore because they make the new skin growing in my neck feel like it’s being attacked by needles. I also have some really bad sores on my tongue right where the tongue meets the gums, so every single time my mouth moves to swallow the sores get hit and it’s a burst of new pain.
    I want my life back…and to not be in pain just long enough to get a full night’s sleep.

  41. Starting day 9. I woke up around 4am with my throat stinging and ear and jaw pain. I had to take roxicet and use an ice pack to get it to subside. I woke again around 8am and the pain wasn’t that bad. I took a Tylenol around 10 am and was able to eat a piece of toast and a scrambled egg. Still drinking lots of water to keep the throat moist. Days are pretty good, nights and mornings seem to be when the pain comes back. Just wondering how long it will take until my night time pain improves! Have a good day everyone.

  42. So quick update on day 9. feel much better today, still woke up in awful pain and had horrible ear ache over night, warm face cloth on them really helped. Still needing 60mg codeine and paracetamol for night times, but can have just ibruprofen and paracetamol in the day. But once the meds are in my system the days are so much better. Getting my appetite back now, still really sore to eat and it’s a bit of a battle to swallow with the stinging when you want to eat, but I try to have meds half an hour before to help. Voice nearly back to normal so that’s easier. Feel like I am at last making some progress, have sorted out some things at home that needed doing like appointment changing and making so starting to get back to the real world at last. I will update tomorrow on day 10!

  43. Woke up feeling a lot better than past days. Didn’t nee medication for the pain until dinner time. I have been able to finally use a straw without pain, and I personally think it’s what helped start the process off the scabs finally starting to come off. Around dinner time I was really hungry as I didn’t feel hungry all day. I tried eating a banana, big mistake. Two bites in, it was burning my throat so bad! Who knew bananas were so acidic? I would’ve thought they were last acidic if all the fruits! My family and I decided to go to a buffet, in hopes that I’d be able to find foods to eat. I had mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, done cornbread stuffing, and I saw they had a taco bar. So, I figured the second craving could be conquered and decided to make myself a soft shelled taco, no salsa. Taco seasoning burns by the way… but at that point I was so hungry I didn’t care. I took an Advil liquid gel capsule and gave it about 10 minutes and forced myself to eat no matter how bad it hurt. Fir dessert I had some peach cobbler topped with frozen yogurt, to cool the cobbler down. By the time we left, I felt full and the pain had subsided enough that I was happy.

  44. I am on day 8 (including op day) and I don’t know why, but I have been blessed in my recovery compared to most of the others that have shared on here, I am in Australia, not sure if that makes a difference with surgery procedure? I have been pain med free for the past 40 hours and aside from a slight ache in my ears and scratch in my throat, I’d say I’m pretty much recovered. I found days 4-6 to be the worst, and even then it was only really for about an hour or so first thing in the morning upon rising, when the throat is dry and you take those first few swallows and few mouthfuls of water to moisten the throat again. My biggest struggle since surgery has been being so exhausted, lack of food and sleep, which makes one VERY tired and I have had my 3 kids 9, 12 & 14 home with me on school holidays the past week which has tested my tiredness just a little.
    I would say a big key to my recovery has been drinking LOTS of water, LOTS of rest in the first few days and I gargled salt water 3-4 times a day from day 1.
    I have found this site to be a lifesaver during recovery, knowing that there would be light at the end of the tunnel, so thankyou Greg for dedicating your time

  45. Just left my comment for day eight as I forgot to post on my actual day 8 ….. But I’m in England and it is 4:18 in the morning I woke up 30 mins ago in agony on my right side the burning sensation is killing me I got up had a glass of water and took a look in the mirror I think a large part of the scan has come away and it’s stinging like mad I feel like my throat is back to day 6/7… Not good past 2 days haven’t been sooooooo painful ( not pain freeware from ) but a lot less of a struggle to get through the day. Went down stairs had a banana and took meds hopefully these will kick in and I can have a good day. I’m very tired now and would love a decent meal but nearly over I hope… This site has been amazing and really got me through each day, just knowing that your not over playing the pain and it is real to prove to people what your saying is true (as I think people who see me was like DRAMA QUEEN!!!!!!!) the pain no one could ever imagine but slowly each day we get through it .. I am struggling to drink my tea as a write this hope it gets better as the day goes on usually seems to? I will let you know in my last post day ten!!!! big thanks to Greg this site is a little god send it makes you cry!!! Thinking omg day …. And still more pain but reading them can also cheer you up with people’s funny comments, reassuring comments and just the fact you know your not suffering alone!!! Thank you….. Xxxxx

  46. Starting day 9, pain has almost completely gone so glad I have gotten through this, worst week of pain I have ever experienced!

  47. amykat says:

    It’s midnight at the start of Day9 and all I’ve got is a brain numbing cloud of pain. I had it easy the first 5 days and had some good sleep between 5/6 but that left me. I’m exhausted and miserable. I can’t sleep more than 30 minutes without waking up in agony unable to swallow. When will this be over? I tried to eat scrambled eggs last night and it was incredibly painful and I was able to eat them on the 5th day. Feels like I’m sliding backwards and I’m never going to get better.

    1. I am feeling the same. I fee like I am going backwards. I too was able to eat scrambled egg but now I can’t even manage soup!

  48. Day 9 postop: I finally made it! I have been looking forward to day 9 since 2 days postop when I found this site. It seemed that most of the day 9 voices described feeling a bit better. I agree. I definitely feel better today. I am not even close to 100%, but I have not needed pain meds around the clock in order to function. I was in pain this morning, but last night was the first night that I have slept more than 1 hour in a row since surgery. I actually got 4 hours straight and I think I was pretty dry when I woke, even with the humidifier – hence the initial pain. I was able to eat more today as long as it was bland and had no spice or acid to it. The back of my tongue would feel like fire if it came into contact with anything acidic and then that would spread up to both my ears. Not worth it. I overdid it with supper and tried to eat some Chinese food (I was feeling that good) and now I am regretting it. I required pain meds and an ice pack to the neck to recover. Now looking forward to a good night of sleep and postop day 10!

    This is the first day I have felt that I could sit at the computer and post info about my tonsillectomy recovery, so I am going to give you my background and how my recovery had gone. I do this in the hopes that I can share any helpful tips and give back to this community that provided me such comfort throughout this horrible process. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and I only wish that I had found this site before having surgery.

    I am a 36 yo female with 2 small children (4 and 2) and a husband. We are both nurses and my husband works 12 hour night shifts, sleeping during the day, so he was not going to be around all that much during my recovery. My tonsils never gave me a problem as a child, only as an adult, and the last round of tonsillitis required 3 different antibiotics. This is the main reason I agreed to the tonsillectomy. I was more worried about some drug resistant bacteria taking up residence in my tonsils, or strep heading to my kidneys or heart. These would be much worse than just taking the silly things out.

    A few pointers:
    1) Someone needs to stay with you and take care of you, your family, your household, because you are not going to be able to. I thought it would be overkill to have my mother move in for two weeks, but I will forever be eternally grateful that she did. I was in more pain than I have ever experienced in my life and was physically and emotionally unable to take care of my children or my household.
    2) Talk with your doc about pain control. Mine told me I would be “uncomfortable”. I was so far beyond uncomfortable, I cannot even put it into words. Now maybe you will be one of the lucky ones who does not have that much pain, but just be prepared. At the very least have a script for lortab/norco/vicodin. I also recommend perocet. If your doc tells you that you won’t be in that much pain – switch doctors because they obviously haven’t done many adult tonsillectomies!
    3) Bowel program. I should have thought of this because I am a nurse, and we love our poop, but I failed to remember that with all the narcotics I was on my gut was going to slow way down. Combine that with not eating and little physical activity and surprise, no poop! At the very least have some colace and take it every day. I ended up on colace, bisacodyl, and miralax, and it still took me six days of treatment to have a bowel movement. I have continued with all three and will do so until off the pain meds.
    4) Others have recommended a humidifier. I used one as well, but I am not sure it was that helpful. I don’t have the best one on the market, so that may have something to do with it, but can’t hurt to have one running.
    5) Drink, drink, drink! If you do nothing else, drink water. Be it cold, hot, or luke-warm. Drink it. I found that I preferred different temperature at different times of my recovery. I also found it easier to take tiny sips rather than big ones.

    August 19th – surgery @ 1130. I had a couple doses of Fentanyl in the recovery room, but the pain was not too bad after surgery. After getting up I had a dose of Zofran and Phenergan for nausea. I was able to drink without too much difficulty. Sent home and by the time I got there, I was in need of pain medication. My doc had given my Tylenol with Codeine. Completely inadequate!! It provided very little relief and I did not sleep that night.

    POD 1: Called my MD office to get better pain meds and they called in Lortab elixir. This helped, initially, I was more comfortable this day. Sadly it was short lived. I had a lot of trouble sleeping overnight because I had so much swelling in my uvula. Every time I fell asleep, it would block my airway.

    POD 2: I was in much more pain today. Unable to eat anything, barely able to drink water. I am taking the liquid Lortab as well as the Tylenol with Codeine. Again no sleep overnight.

    POD 3: Called the MD again and asked about anything else I could use for pain, or any pointers. I was told there was nothing more they could give me for pain. I am a nurse and I knew this was BS. There are a ton of options for pain control out there that would be better than liquid Lortab, which burned every time I swallowed it. I told them I had not slept more than 6 hours since surgery, which was the truth, but they did not seem to care. The office told me it would probably be another rough 5-7 days. I was speechless and had I not been in such pain, I probably would have told them off. My husband however called back and left a nice message telling them that they were morally reprehensible individuals and that they should be ashamed of themselves. This was the worst night yet. I would sleep in 20 min increments and wake to drink water. If I slept any longer than I would wake in excruciating pain. I was also taking pain meds every 2 hours or so and coming dangerously close to exceeding the maximum Tylenol allowed.

    POD 4: Called the MD and demanded Percocet. They complied and said it might be hard to take because it doesn’t come in liquid form. Now, this was the stupidest thing I had heard. They knew I was still taking my synthroid pill and that I took a cholesterol pill. So why would I be suddenly unable to take a pain pill? Idiots! So I filled the Percocet and it brought me a little relief, but negligible. Nothing would last more than a couple of hours and I was maxing out on Tylenol, if not going over. I didn’t even care at this point. Still unable to sleep or eat.

    POD 5: More of the same. Things got pretty dark for me today. I was crying and depressed and ready for all the pain to stop. I can’t explain it, but I had reached my breaking point. It was a little scary really. I am not a religious person but I used the link on this site to send a prayer request on my behalf. I figured it couldn’t hurt. Had it not been the weekend, I would have called and begged my MD for more meds. I just kept going to this site and reading about day 9 and 10, knowing that the pain was going to come to an end.

    POD 6: I continue to muddle though. The pain is becoming more intense in my ears and back of my tongue and less so in my actual throat. Chewing gum helps at times and I do my best to drink my water and eat what I can – mainly jello and mashed potatoes.

    POD 7: I slept a couple hours the night before, which was a first since surgery. Woke with excruciating pain in my throat because it was so dried out. Even though I was still in pain this am, I felt that it was going to be a better day. The meds controlled my pain much better today and I continued to take them around the clock. I actually was able to eat more today and slept better this night than any previous nights.

    POD 8: Woke with terrifying pain across the back of my throat. Took a Percocet and after 30 min of drinking water, the pain became manageable. I figured this was the backslide that lots of people had mentioned and I prepared myself for a bad day. The day actually went really well. I found that I did not need around the clock meds and I was able to start weaning down my usage.

    I know I have left out things that may be helpful and I am sorry this was so long winded, but I hope that it helps someone and brings some peace. I am not sure that I would ever do this surgery again, and I hope the pros outweigh the cons. It sounds like they probably will. I thank you Greg for starting this site and it was truly a life saver!

    Carrie

    1. Thank YOU Carrie for this great and detailed account. Comments like yours are a big part of why readers like to come to the site. I wish you all the best. Take care and stay in touch!

      Greg

  49. Hey gang. Well here I am at the start of day 9 (10 counting surgery) and i can say that this sight has been oh so helpful to me. It’s really comforting comparing yourself and seeing the similarities with other peoples cases. I’m probally the youngest you can be for this procedure to qualify as an “Adult tonsillectomy” as turned 18 less than 2 months ago. I can only be thankful of my youth as i feel like the healing’s been a lot more easy going for me than most of you. Mornings have been the worst through this with a pain that takes a good 30 minutes to subdue and can spike up to a 6 or 7, but that’s about the worst i’ve experienced. I should also mention that i’ve stayed totally narcotic free through all of this ?had to take em previously for a peritonsillar abscess and I just hated how they made me feel. But being this far through it i really hope i’m “over the hump” so to speak, it seems like by this point most of you were doing decently well. My only concern is that the whole time i’ve had a hard time moving my jaw and tongue, almost exclusively now because of a pain on the right side, like almost behind the jaw. I seem to be able to move my jaw a little more day after day but the pain is defianetly there. I guess what my concern might be is infection. I’m not running a fever but I have been alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofen over the last 8 days and I don’t know if the Tylenol would snuff out a fever brought on by infection completely. I should also note that the right tonsil bore all the burdens of my pre-surgery issues. I got mono and strep at the same time (From a new lady friend i suspectXD) which ended up filling my right tonsil with a large 4 cm Abscess that took 3 different kinds of antibiotics, a 10 cc needle, and a rupture to finally fix. all the while the left tonsil was pretty much unharmed and only swelled a bit with the strep. So now that i’ve riddled your mind with this long boring and informative autobiography, i need to end it with a question to get some opinions… do you think my jaw pain could be coming from a infection? or just from the vast amount of trauma that the right side has suffered? My followup is in 2 weeks and i can’t really afford to just prance in the doctors office whenever so i only really think i should go if there’s a good solid chance. I apologize for all the text… i had to crunch 8 days into one :/

    1. I had the same thing, I don’t think it’s infection. It got back to normal finally within the third week. Once you are eating totally normally that kinda exercises the jaw muscles and it gets better.

      1. Spockster says:

        thanks bunches! I tried working the muscles and sure enough they gradually got better. I’m on day 13 now and feeling almost as good as new:)

  50. Have no idea what happened! Yesterday I was finally starting to feel better! And today I wake up in pain again =(. Last night I coughed up a giant piece of scab, and ever since I’ve been in pan. It feels like last night I was swallowing glass in my sleep =(. It’s been 8 full days, I’m ready to be healed enough to eat some damn Mac and Cheese at least!

  51. Wow what a difference 48 hours makes! Pain meds only at 830 this morning and advil the rest of the day. Had some mac and cheese for dinner and sat outside for about 30 minutes. So for all of those eentering into day 7, bear with it, its short lived. Im still tired so probably wont go back to work at least till wdenesday white crud continuously thinning out. Definitely better after starting salt water gargles!

  52. Just when u think you are moving forward wham, you aren’t..surgery for me was August 7th, I had bleeding on wednesday went to the ER, my ENT met me there. He had to recauterize then right side. Stayed for an or or so on IV fluids then discharged home. He said I think we got it fixed, not even close! Thursday, I felt great, laid around ate a little better, then at 8pm it all changed. I felt something warm in the back of my throat it was blood. I called the ENT on call he said see if uncan gargle and get it to stop. I tired for 30mims, no luck, called a friend went to the ER. I had never seen so much blood in my life. My ENT spoke to the ER doc, it eventually slowed down. My ENT wanted me admitted overnight on IV fluids, vitals every 2 hours and gargling every hour w ice water. At 8am I was being prepped to go back into surgery. He cauterized again, this time there wasn1 area but 6 blood vessels that had ruptured. I am now on a liquid diet til Monday and rest, as much water as I can get in me. The goal make it to Monday with no blood! On a liquid diet til then including crushing up medicine! This has been a long two weeks! If you see blood or something doesn’t feel right call you ENT ASAP!

    1. Oh Haley- I’m so sorry you’re going through this. It sounds awful. Luckily, most people report that after getting re-cauterized the recovery doesn’t, “start over.” Hope all goes well. I’m pulling for you. Take care.

      1. Thanks! Today relaxing at a friends pool, not swimming just nice to sitin the shade and listen to others talk,lol! Feeling pretty good, a little ear pain, glad it didn’t start over!

  53. 8-15-13 = post-op day 9. Actually felt pretty good all day except for a painful dinner and bleeding afterwards. I could feel a collection of warm, viscous fluid developing at the base of where my left tonsil once was. “This is just some blood. One of the scabs must have fallen off,” I thought to myself. Hanging my head over the kitchen sink and rinsing/gargling with ice water, I could see copious amounts of bright red blood in the sink watered down by my ice water gargles. I asked my husband to call the doctor. He couldn’t find the doctor’s number. I told him to call 411. I couldn’t speak much because the bleeding wouldn’t stop. Finally, he got a hold of the answering service and a request for the on-call doctor to call us was placed. Ten minutes later (still the whole time spitting up blood), the doctor calls back when I have already decided to have my husband drive me to the ER which is only 10 minutes away. I was feeling very anxious and scared at that point and had my trusty mixing bowl partially filled with bright red blood on my lap. My husband dropped me off at the ER waiting room and I waited behind one person to register. I’m throwing up blood into the bowl now and said to the tech: “I’m hemorrhaging from my left tonsil bed. I had my tonsils removed on 8-6-13.” That got someone’s attention then, I was triaged ASAP. (It helps being a RN with 27 years experience to tell people what’s going on and advocate for myself.). After the nurse took my vital signs and history, I was taken back to an ER room where an IV line was placed to draw Stat labs and then it was hep-locked for later use (e.g., anti-anxiety/anti-nausea med). Gradually, the bleeding slowed and my husband & I wondered why we were sitting in the ER. Ten minutes later, the bleeding started up again. I asked the doctor for some Lorazepam IV to help reduce my nausea and anxiety. It took awhile for the nurse to bring it, however, when she did administer the medication, it helped. Ultimately, the On-Call ENT surgeon showed up, examined me & said : “I’m taking you back to surgery.” That was at 0100 on 8-16-13. We arrived at the ER at 9:30 pm on 8-15-13. I had the surgery, recovered in PACU then, went to a nursing floor to further recover until it was safe for me to go home. We arrived home at 0430 and couldn’t believe that all of this had even taken place. My advice to all who experience bright red bleeding from your mouth or nose post-tonsillectomy surgery (post-op Day 1 and beyond), call your surgeon’s office. If the bleeding does not stop within 10 minutes, ask to be driven to your closest ER. This is an emergency,that can have fatal consequences if ignored.

  54. Wow, I can’t believe I survived the last few days. Made it to Day 9 AND feel a bit better. Thank heavens. I still have nasty pain and I’m still taking meds, but it’s not as crippling as it has been. Phew! I wasn’t sure I could keep going there.

    Eating, swallowing, talking… those are my next challenges ?

  55. Starting day 9. Healing process seems to be slow but progressing. Two nights ago I had a significant bleed which was stopped. Felt like something might have come off back there but there is no telling if it has. No major pain involved. Haven’t experienced any major pain for about a week. Right side looks like it is more whitish now. Left side still has a brownish tint. Scabs don’t appear to be coming off. Been off the pain medication completely for about four days.

  56. Day 9 coblation tonsillectomy was good. Just doing Tylenol now. My throat was itchy today so I was scared of coughing. Watermellon gum helped the itch. I read a lot of people saying Dentyne Peppermint gum was good for recovery but for me the mint really hurt like a brain freeze in my throat and the thick gum shell left a hard piece stuck in my mouth. So I advise no Dentyne gum!

  57. Hooray! Every day just keeps getting better and better! Today I had energy to clean my kitchen. I even looked better–had color back in my face and everything! I was feeling so good that I tried pizza and got down to small pieces minus some of the crust. It was heavenly! There is still pain and I get sorer as the Advil wears off, but I can definitely see a light at the end of the tunnel!!

  58. I certainly feel a lot better today than I have on any previous days. Pain still there but not as intense. Ear pain comes and goes and I can get away with drinking a little less than I have been over the last week (though, still constantly drinking). I’m still eating mostly softer mushy foods but I know that if I’m given something tricky that I can chew it down and eventually get it down my throat. There is no way I would have entertained this thought 2 days ago.

    Today was my first visit with the ENT post-surgery. He was mostly concerned about checking my nose (septo/turbs). He vaccumed my nose – it was great! I can now breathe pretty clearly out of my nostrils. Joy! I’m sure it won’t last but wow, what a difference! He said that the tonsils were looking pretty good – a few pink bits.

    My friend came over and gave me a box of chocolates. I knew I couldn’t eat them but today I couldn’t resist. Big mistake. I think chocolate is definitely a post-recovery option. It’s too sticky and depending on the filling can be really difficult to get down.

    Still not sleeping well.

    Questions for the community – might have more to do with nose op as well…
    How much longer do we need to sleep on an incline? When were you able to lay flat and breathe properly?
    What about putting your head below your heart line? How long before you can bend over?
    What about having a hot shower? Do you? When did you start? I’m dying for one!
    How long is it before you think you are back to normal and not worried about things like bleeding?

  59. Hallelujah today i woke up with barely pain compared the the past 8 days! I just needed water and had soup for breakfast and it hurt a little to eat but later i took Advil for the swelling and i was feeling great! Went to the pool and went for a walk with my sister and had no problems eating a burger hehe just make sure i ate it slowly and chewed it well and drank water in between bites. My jaw pain and ear pain wasnt even noticeable today. My scabs are still slightly transparent white but its still hollow and raw. other than that I feel like my recovery is finally showing light hopefully ill be back at work in a few days or less! My

  60. Morning of Day 9. Woke up with sharp raw pain in throat. Forced eat a couple of ice cubes. Day has just begun. Took pain meds afterwards. Then I noticed a HUGE lump in my throat – mucus-like, what the heck is this? Tried to swallow it, then started coughing. Am glad though that pain at this point is minimal- about 3-4 so I guess pain meds are now working. ‘Lump’ has moved somewhere. I can still feel it there but not sure what to do with it. Updating later. Right now gonna try eat something before the meds stop working :). Still have the bad breath and so frustrating.

  61. Day 9 and I feel great! Can swallow scrambled eggs with no problem and I haven’t taken my pain medication yet! I finally feel like I’m getting back to myself, hopefully I can go to school tomorrow.

    1. I took a shower yesterday for the first time since (was too weak from no food,pain meds etc) an when I got out I could open my jaw again .. It was weird .

        1. My jaw is sore too and I can’t open it wide. My ears hurt too from the referred pain. On day 9, I feel worse than I did toward the beginning. My throat is red, raw and painful. It hurts so bad to even drink water. I have had to take pain medicine every 4 hours around the clock.

          1. Oh no :( it will get better. I’m on day 11 now, it just feels like a bad sore throat, and food still tastes horrible. but still cant open my jaw wide, only on pain meds in the morning and at night before bed. :) Hang in there ! it gets better.

    2. You need to chew gum. I started on day 4 and have been able to open and move my jaw normally. It’s a matter of exercising the muscles.

  62. Day 9: Second morning that i haven’t woken up in excruciating pain but i do feel like im swallowing knives. Still have the horrible taste in my mouth and any food or drink that i try to have tastes absolutely horrible which sucks because if it didn’t taste so bad i would be eating pretty normally. Still taking my pain meds pretty regularly, codeine and ibuprofen. The only thing that tastes pretty normal and doesn’t hurt too much is flavored milk. Still sound retarded when i talk, also hurts a lot, and can’t open my my jaw properly, feels really odd :/ got a cough around day four which continues to be torture ! Yawning and stuff is still painful too. Just want it to all end !! Looking after my toddler is impossible with no voice and pain.

    1. I feel sorry for you having to watch a toddler while going through this. That would be very challenging. I am on Day 7. I feel like I am swallowing knives too and take pain medicine to help. It takes the edge off, but as you know, it still hurts. The pain medicine makes me so tired, it is hard to function. I agree, food does not taste normal. Best wishes on your recovery.

      1. Aww thanks, i hope you’re recovery goes well too. and yes, it has been a huge challenge >.< I think if food tasted normal then i would eat despite the pain but oh well. Two weeks is soon so hopefully i’m better ! I cant wait !

  63. Day 9: 40 years old

    Slept better last night then any previous night. Scaled back meds to 1/2 of normal dose, and hope to continue. Still have significant pain when swallowing but was able to eat boiled noodles for first time (it still hurt quite a but). Ear pain is still there (for me this has been the worst part), but it is definitely decreasing everyday. Tongue is still very swollen. I am starting to move around a bit more. I’m able to work a tiny bit from home and that, with the decreased meds and increased mental ability is greatly helping my attitude. Still taking another week off of work just to be sure. Sun is shinning and finally a ray of hope!!!

  64. I am taking children’s Motrin which is WONDERFUL!! the heavy pain meds stopped working a couple of days ago. I am still in a lot pain. Today was the worst in the past few days. Still can’t talk right. I slept most of today but on the couch semi up. I am going to try laying flat the next few nights and see how it is. here’s hoping….thanks! gives me hope at least ! :)

  65. Sorry originally posted this in the wrong place! OPPS Blame it on the pain meds!

    Ok I need some help here. I’m on Day 9. (I count the surgery as day 1)… Pain is SLOWLY starting to break but is still coming in waves, specially in the mornings…..but here is the biggest issue.

    I can’t sleep laying flat still. I can’t lay down! Every time I get a TON of slavia which I swallow then I feel like I can’t breath. As if something (which I sure is) blocking my air from my nose and mouth! I wake up, if I am asleep, in a panic! I feel like I am drowning then. Does this stop? Or is there something wrong that I need to call the doctor about? I just don’t want to live the rest of my life sitting up! lol

    thanks!

    1. For me, day 10 was the turning point and I was able to sleep flat. Are you taking ibuprofen? That really helped me with the swelling. After my first night of normal sleep, I felt like a whole new person! Good luck!

    2. Question? Any suggestions on drinks that don’t burn going down? I need the fluids, just got home from ER. Popped a blood vessel and severely dehydrated. Got fluids and caterized the vessel. He said everything was healing amazingly well, I’m 37 and have and numerous bouts w strep and throat infections. Also, when taste come back? It’s hard to drink when it tastes so bad and hurts! help!

  66. Wow it’s like a switch was flipped, night vs day recovery! Up until this point it has been miserable for me. Last night was my first full nights sleep as well as this morning I found myself turning down my meds until late this afternoon. mild pain, just a little discomfort. I got down my first solid food, throughol chewed dry ramen noodles. When just 2 days ago I was struggling with chicken noodle soup. Finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

  67. I’m taking pain meds every three hours now and my tongue is still a little sore and looks horrible! My uvula is really swollen and I get worn out talking very long. When will this end?!?
    Last night I was sure I was about to be Elvis in the bathroom-nightmarish! So I added applesauce and Metamucil to my very short food and medicine list. Anyone else have a ‘metal’ taste at the back of their tongue?

    1. Yes, everything i eat r drink tastes absolutely horrible, as well as being painful to swallow. Just want to be able to eat again ! Or at the very least have food taste normal :(

  68. I also spoke funny and had a very swollen toungue along with my uvula. I think because they cauterise so close to it. I Had my adenoids removed as well but today is 2 weeks after surgery and the swelling is definitely down

  69. I am finishing up day 9, and up to this point I haven’t really had any surprises or concerns. I did so much research prior to my surgery that I had myself all worked up about it. However, here I am… feeling pretty good, just get worn out easily, off the Lortab and only taking extra strength acetaminephin, and eating just about whatever I want. I still see some white coverage in my throat, but my concern is my uvula. The thing is huge, and it still has me talking funny. I thought being on a 10 day dose of steroids would’ve kept the swelling down. I’m worried that it won’t go back to it’s normal size, am I over reacting? Has anyone talked funny and still had a huge uvula at this point in recovery? Hope everyone is healing well!

  70. Day 9, and I am doing much better. My throat still stings most of the time but the unbearable times are getting fewer, although they still exist. My ears hurt like crazy! It’s been this way for days though. I found that taking some ear drops helps numb my ear pain. My tongue feels pretty much normal with the exception of the very back which I’m pretty sure is connected to the bottom skin right below the tonsillectomy site. I do pretty well most of the day but then come evening it’s back to more pain. But that break during the day is so wonderful.

  71. Day 9 and I finally had some sort of improvement. Day 5-9 have been the worst with pain medication not being effective.(pain level 10) Today the pain medication is at least working but when it wears off I do feel my throat- it gets difficult and extremely painful to swallow my own saliva. I can’t eat or drink any cold things at the moment as it seems to give me excruciating earache. Does the ear ache go away? I found when I was chewing my dinner, that as my jaw opens and closes, my ears make fluid noises. should i be worried about this?

  72. Day nine is comparable to my first few days (pain level 3 to 4). I can feel myself healing, and am still resting quite a bit during the day. The next day is when I discontinue pain meds (writing this on day 13) and switch to acetomenaphen.
    Day nine marks the day when I also purchased a humidifier. I still wake up with a pinching feeling in my throat (from dryness), but it is less often. My sleep apnea from this procedure has also lessened, and I no longer snore (as I did on day one).
    I can also speak, and move around more. I am also able to eat solid food on this day (teriyaki chicken bites cut up finely). I feel this progression really sped up the healing process for me. I ate solid food for dinner on day 20, and then for every meal days 11-13. I am currently on day 13, with only very very mild sore throat symptoms.
    If you are still in pain, hang in there. I am very happy I had this procedure done, even though the pain was quite intense for a spell.

  73. Im 33 and i also had nasal surgery at the same time as my tonsillectomy, big mistake!
    9th day, good day. I worked half a day! Wanted to attempt a real schedule. Scrambled eggs for breakfast. I took my meds more today bc of going back to work and the doc emailed me to take as needed. Lots of pain but spirits were good. Left work 12ish and are a whole can of soup, amazing! The pain has changed today. It feels like someone is putting cigarettes out on my throat. Burning is different. Tea with honey helps. Still can’t do cold at all. Tetracaine pops help to tide me over until pain med time. Eat half a can of soup for dinner and some jello. Also ate some sugar cookies. probably a terribke idea. Most I’ve eaten since this thing started. Trouble getting to sleep. Too much energy from finally eating? Going to work tomorrow again, light duty. Remember to rinse and gargle after eating anything. Best day so far.

  74. I’m on day 9 and still feel pretty miserable :( ate a slice of cheese on toast this morning and suffered all day for it,the pain didnt subside till at least 2 more doses of pain relief,throats still hurting but not as much,the back of my tongue feels really weird tho all sore and numb :/ pain in my ears is still pretty bad too..I am feeling better than previous days tho so there is light at the end of the tunnel :) can some one explain to me what they mean about the ‘scabs’ I have white/yellow gunk is this what u mean or are the scans yet to come?and also I keep dribbling has any1 else had this and is it likely to be permanent?thanks guys,wishing u all a quick recovery!

  75. I had my tonsils and adenoids removed on 3/16. (I’m a 31 year old female with Type I Diabetes)

    This is my 9th day and I am finally feeling like a real human again! I had pasta for dinner and it tasted great! I took Advil and 3ml of liquid Oxycodone a few minutes before I ate so I didn’t feel anything. :-) I’m trying to reduce my amount and duration of Oxycodone. I started taking 10ml, so hopefully tomorrow will be my last day and I can just take Tylenol and Advil, alternating.

    My tonsil beds only have little patches of white right now so I’m assuming that some scabs fell off on their own. I now have pink and red patches where I am thinking the new skin is. This could also be why even water burns right now.

    Nighttime seems to be the WORST for me. I use a cool mist humidifier and have been waking up to stay hydrated and manage pain but nighttime is rough.

    My husband has been a saint, bringing me meds and ice chips throughout the night. He has kept a detailed med log, which has been very helpful as I lose all track of time and just know when I’m in pain!

    Day 3 was hands down the hardest day for me. I was on three different anti nausea meds and was still sick several times. That is something that I wanted to avoid (because of pain, and diabetes!). It set me back a day or two. It was awful and painful.

    I’m a teacher so I am really hoping that I can go back to work and not be in pain from talking! This week is spring break and I’m planning on going back to work full time in April.

    This website has been extremely helpful!! Thanks for all of the information and comments. They have really helped me through this recovery process.

  76. (I am a 15 year old girl.)
    Thought I ought to shine some light. I will tell you I read all these horror stories. Not going to lie. I’m still in pain. But I guess I’m doing alot better than most people. Yes, I had my moments where I cried because it felt like I was swallowing glass. But today. The pain is very small. Like a sore throat, I woke up went to Denny’s, (no crunchy food… Sadly I couldn’t eat my bacon) took a walk at a local flea market, and later went to a crawfish broil. (Thankfully the host didnt make them spicy at all, everyone else was dissapointed but I was very happy)
    I’m just not looking forward to school Monday. Oh. And… My doctor doesn’t want a post op check up??? Says i Can just go to school. Oh. And is it normal to spit up a little bloody phlegm??? I had my adenoids and tonsils removed

    Note: It hurts to yawn

  77. I’m on day 11 and my scabs haven’t fully come off yet (though there aren’t many left). I have an area of red on the left side of my throat that hurts really bad (worse than the first few days because, like you, it seems that the pain meds don’t keep it at bay). I was assuming it was an area where scabbing had come off and it’s raw..been like this for a few days…so my guess to your question is that yes, it’s the scabbing area. However, if it’s not better by Monday I’m going to the doctor to get it checked out…just for peace of mind.

  78. Today is day 9 and I’m concerned about the scabs coming off. I thought the worst was behind me by day 6 and started working from home on day 7 and day 8. Other than work, I’m not back to regular routine at all. I’m staying in bed away from others just to be safe and fully heal before returning to the office Monday morning (today is saturday). I’ve been coughing up phlegm since day 4 or so. The scabs seem to be thinning (on one side at least) but the pain is intense. Since the evening of Day 7 I’ve been getting sharp burning pains, it feels as though someone is holding a torch to my throat in certain areas. Luckily, the pain isn’t constant. The stinging sharp pain cuts through the pain meds and there’s no way to sleep. It isn’t just severe discomfort like the first six days, it’s a shooting stabbing burning feeling. Is that the scabs coming off? Also, I haven’t seen or felt pieces of the scabs coming off like others have reported. I’m just assuming they are since the scabs seem thinner. Any thoughts??? How many days does it take for them to come off completely? This pain has been going on for almost three days and the majority of the scabs are still there.

  79. Day 9. Woke up with a bunch of gunk in the back of my throat. Took me about an hour to get it completely cleared out. It was so disgusting. There was also something sticking out (whether it was my inflamed Uvula or scabbing) that was hitting my gag reflex area and I gagged about 10 times, almost vomiting. Luckily, I cleared whatever that was (or moved whatever it was). Still really sore. Feels really raw. Still waiting to get my sense of taste back. Had some more elbow macaroni with sauce and cheese for lunch and going to have broccoli cheddar soup in a bread bowl tonight (the soup gets the bread nice and soggy to where I can eat it). Overall, just waiting for my taste to come back and hoping for the area to heal quickly. I’d like to have steak this weekend.

  80. Krissy says:

    I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who posts on this site! I have been reading it just about everyday since I had my surgery on 2/12/13 and even a few days before! Y’all really helped me through this recovery. I am going into Day 10 and I feel great. I was miserable days 4-9 and would wake up crying in excruciating pain every morning. I could barely eat or drink anything. On top of that, I had got sick from the NORCO and the doctor REFUSED to change my script but gave me a 65.00 script for anit-nausea meds instead. NO THANKS. So I have been taking extra stregnth Tylenol since day 3. But suddenly day 9 came I am have felt amazing all day. I ate pizza and even somed a cigarette. I feel almost no pain and only taken two does of Tylenol today. Once early this morning and once before I ate the pizza for dinner. So, if you feel like the pain will never end…trust me I was there just yesterday…but one day it will just disappear! My scabs are still there, just transparent. And luckily, I haven’t had to cough any up yet. They just fall off while I am eating. Anyways, thanks to everyone! And if you need any advice, just let me know!

  81. It’s been 9 days since my surgery & I’m ready for this to be over!!! The pain is lessening but it’s so bad, less isn’t all that much better.

  82. I’m on day 9 of recovery and starting to fell,better overall, the mornings and nights are still a little rough, but I just get up and drink water, throat care tea to hel coat it, and maybe chew some gum. I have to say, this website has been a life saver, to know others are going through the same and that my,pain is normal has been a life saver!

    I did have something weird last night, which I wonder if anyone else has experienced? I woke up in the middle of the night, and the bottom half of my sheets were soaked, I honestly wondered if had bladder control loss (which has never happened) but it wasn’t, it was just sweat. Really wierd. Yesterday was the first day I was off my pain meds, so maybe withdrawal sweats? It was super weird and kind of freaked me out, anyone else experience anything like this?

  83. Day 9 – Things are definitely improving. Swallowing is still uncomfortable, and I haven’t actually spoken a complete sentence since day 4. Got a bit ambitious in painkiller reduction, and was left with a nasty sandpaper-throat. But it’s definitely only sandpaper now. The daggers are over. In terms of comparison, it’s like a very painful sore throat, and nowhere near as bad as a quinsy. The biggest annoyance is some muscles in my throat that seem to stretch my tonsil beds, but I can’t work out what sets them off. It feels like the inside of my throat is smiling, stretching my tonsil beds outwards to the sides. No apparent connection to any other physical or mental activity! Not really painful either, just uncomfortable. Interestingly my tongue STILL hurts at the back, and whilst I can run it around two thirds of my upper teeth, I can only manage about one third of my lower teeth before hitting pain just from the effort of shaping my tongue. I’m assuming it’s either referred pain, or else actual swelling due to proximity to the tonsils. Either way, I’ll be glad when it’s gone. Night 9 I actually slept pretty well, though the dribbling from the corner of my mouth while I try to get to sleep is getting a bit old.

    One thing someone might be able to answer… I’ve read a lot of people on here talking about eating low-calorie food, diet food, artificial sweeteners instead of sugar, etc. People seem to structure their limited food intake around things that have no calories whatsoever. Is there some reason for that? I’ve been trying to do the exact opposite, given that it’s not easy to shovel down much of anything: full-fat milk, honey, butter, ice cream, pasta, rice, pancakes, chocolate, cheese, sugary desserts and eggs have all featured in my diet to try and ensure that my body has the resources to repair itself, and still I’ve lost 9lbs in as many days. I must admit that excessively sugary foods sting a little on the way down, but it’s not that painful and it’s over in minutes. I was just surprised to see so many people apparently selecting foods which would leave their bodies in starvation mode, and I wondered if this was actually the medical advice somewhere in the world. Or are some people just used to eating like that normally? Thoughts welcome!

  84. Thank ya jesus!!! I been eatin drinkin water and gatorade which is a blessing. Ate mac and cheese meatloaf and mash potatoes smuthered in gravy. So delish

  85. Post Op Day Ten
    Stacie Got Out Of The House!

    I finally had to put on real clothes and face the snowy, bitter Iowa weather yesterday for my first follow-up appointment. My sinus surgery went well – the scabs from my turbinate reduction have not fallen off yet inside my sinuses, but the ENT said they would eventually come off and I’ll swallow them (gag!). I still have a LOT of sinus drainage, as well, which exacerbates my throat pain, but that is inevitable when combining sinus surgery with a tonsillectomy. He told me that the worst is **probably** over, but that the ear pain, tender throat, and sinus pressure will not be completely gone for quite a while. Though I should feel much better by this weekend {fingers crossed}, he did say I won’t really feel “normal” for another six to eight weeks.

    The doctor’s biggest concern has been my inability to take in any significant nourishment – he said my body can’t really begin to heal without a bit of fuel. I have been EXTREMELY dizzy and weak – he said that I am hypoglycemic from lack of calories, so I numbed up my throat with my tetracaine lollipop, took my pain meds, and actually ATE last night! I had some Hamburger Helper noodles with a little bit of hamburger, some avocado, and banana baby food. It made such a difference!! I had the energy to do some stuff around the house and I drove to get my daughters from school this afternoon.

    I am exhausted, my ears and throat are really hurting, and there is NO WAY I could be back to work right now, but I AM starting to feel like ME again! Good luck to you all :).

    ~Peace & Blessings~

    1. Hey there, you are the first i have found with the same- tonsillectomy, turbinate and fess! I was (pleased to hear you are similar – not i wish it on you) glad to get another version of my own event! I have been eating baby food myself which has kept me going, and bread and butter is my most substantial meal! Dont know how anyone can eat toast, lucky i guess. (43y old male) the surgeon mentioned “you’re in for a rough time” – bet everyone on here likes a bit of honesty huh? I like that – a rough time. I now know the understated elegance of that little definition (insert here acronym for tonsillectomy recoverees rolling on the floor quietly gaggin to stop a piercingingly painful laugh!) ha ha… I must say my surgeon anaesthetist and team looking after me were all great.

      How are you now if i can ask.? Im day 9 and feeling the best is about to turn up! No pain on waking this morning and no rush for meds – a first. Still drowning in whatever sinus residue is there blocking and bubbling away but the pain reduced is a great relief. Not to mention the tonsils ( or lack of!! ) now not aching and stinging…

      Cheers and thanks for the post, take care!

  86. Day 9 oh what a day! I woke up with minimal pain, took my meds anyway just to be sure and went back to sleep for an hour or so. When i awoke again there was no pain at all, my throat was a little dry but that was nothing a little water couldn’t fix. I decided to go out today because i was feeling up to it, i just went to our local tesco to look for some food. I bought some muffins, oreos, pizza and just a few little bits. When i got home i ate a muffin no problem and went for a shower. I decided to try do a few things today while i had the energy and was feeling up to it. After my shower i had a little dinner, spaghetti bolognese and that’s where everything started to change. I started getting a little bit of pain again, i thought maybe it was the bolognese so i decided to leave it. I went back to eating the muffins and everything felt okay. I ate some oreos and had some milk and still i was feeling okay. Then at about half 8/9 o clock my throat started to hurt again and my ears started to ache. Granted it’s not nearly as bad as it has been previously but still it’s sore. I thought i was done with all the pain but i guess not, i was well and truly fooled. I’ve decided to come off the meds, and just to take them in the morning and then maybe in the evening if i really need them. I don’t want to be too reliant on them and believe i can do it without them the rest of the way, fingers crossed that tomorrow is a better day. I hope all the rest of you recovering out there are getting on okay.

  87. Day 9 today! I feel so much better, as I could eat a small portion of potatoes and chicken without the aid of painkillers. I feel this is going to be only better from now on. I woke up several times at night with terrible pain, yes, but I drank some water and it stopped. Still cannot eat anything flavoured (sweet/salt), fruity or milky, cos it burns in the throat. Also, I realised today that I´m finally done with all those tiring strep throats, tonsil stones and so on. Hope my imune system will grow now, so I will have normal life without antibiotics after many years. If there will be an improvement, it was worth it.
    Greetings from the Czech Republic :)

  88. Today was day 9 for me I had a really bad night last night throat was on fire and my ears were crazy hurting but made it with meds. Woke up this morning feel sore tired but I’m sleeping much better now. I ate today pasta and pizza it hurt just a little but if I eat small bits and very tiny drinks its not so bad. Just ready to be over this. I hope everyone has a great recovery god bless

    1. That is exactly how I feel. I also ate pizza yesterday ? good luck with the rest of the recovery I also can’t wait to feel well again! Im greatful for Greg starting this to help us all threw it. Good luck

  89. Day 9 for me 36 years old sore sore sore I have is white patches no scabs. Everything tastes bad haven’t lost any weight even though Im not eating verry much food. Very constipated from the pain meds. Trying really hard to not take them so I can feel semi normal! Well my normal any way ? I am still sore! Going back to work Tuesday a little worried cuz I have to talk a lot with the public :/ thanks all for posting I really hope I get tatse back this site is amazing! Thanks

  90. My 8 yr old daughter had a tonsillectomy December 27th. Today is her post op day 9. She’s clearing her throat a lot but did not wake up in tears from the pain today and is able to eat soft burritos with cheese and Mexican rice with cheese. (It’s not spicy). She still has trouble talking and opening her mouth all the way. 2 days ago she was in the ER due to dehydration and she’s came a long way since then. This has been pure hell for her.

  91. I am at the end of day 9 and think that so far I am probably doing exceptionally well. However, today was the first day that I was around people in a social situation where I felt I had to talk alot and I think I may have over done it (football game on tv)! Has anyone had anything problems after talking too much? I don’t recall there being anything about talking too much in my post op info after the first few days? Just wondering.

    1. I have the same thing, if I talk too much, my throat starts swelling and it starts stinging… if you are quiet for a while again, the swelling goes down :)

  92. Day 9:
    Woo hoo! One more day!
    I think I’m pretty much recovered. I have no serious pain, and hardly any of the post-op side effects still remain. And no more tonsil stones!
    I think what helped me is that I only followed my liquid diet rules for the first three days. On day four, I ate McDonald’s. I’ve heard that in other countries doctors tell their patients to eat normally because it heals the throat quicker, and HEY, I think they’re onto something.
    The majority of my scabs are also gone. There’s only two little dots on each side in the very back of my throat; barely visible.
    One more day and I can finally say I’ll be fully recovered!

  93. December 29th, Day 9. Surgery on the 21st. 53yo:

    I remember my ENT coming in just before the drugs kicked in and I passed out. I had read many of the experiences here previously. I said to him: “This is really gonna suck isn’t it?” . He gave me a sheepish grin and nodded in affirmation.

    Mind you I had biopsies taken from my tongue, nasopharynx and a laryngoscopy in addition to the tonsillectomy. The first couple days were fine. Uncomfortable but fine. Days 4 through 9 (today) have been difficult. The pain in unreal if I’m not on my meds. I have some good stuff (hydrocodone) and it’s 4 tsp every 4 hours. At hour 3 (I’m there now), I feel the pain start in the back of my throat and tongue. By hour four I’m standing at the sink, measuring spoon in hand ~lol~

    If I sleep past 4 hours I awaken in agony. From what I’m reading here, the extreme pain I’m experiencing is not unusual. I’m tired. Tired of the pain, tired of not eating, tired of feeling this way. I WANT A PIZZA with sausage, mushrooms, black olives and peppers, a bottle of hot sauce and a cold beer!

    On the bright side, this is all taking place during the holidays so I’m not missing much work. I did go to work Wednesday through Friday and while it was uncomfortable at times, it was much better than sitting at home. I make a living with my voice. I speak to customers on the phone and I work part time as a guitarist/singer. Speaking has been difficult but manageable, however, the part time singing work has come to a screeching halt. I had to cancel a gig on Jan 4th and 18th and I’m not booking anything for the next few months as I will be starting treatment for cancer (head and neck). My goal is to be ready to go come the Spring as April through November is the season for me concerning music.

    I’m thankful for this site and having a place to vent ~lol~ As much as I know it sucks for everyone going through this, it’s comforting to know I’m not alone.

    1. mark, i wish you the best of luck and that you have a speedy recovery, and may the angels keep you safe and your cancer goes away… :) <3

    2. Mark,

      Good luck with your cancer treatments, I know pushing your music to the side must be tough, but it will be even better upon your healthy return!

  94. Today is my day 10, and I’m right there with you. I’ve been coughing my head off for several days now and have even woke my husband up at night while coughing in my sleep. Yesterday I did manage to bring up some mucus and it was nasty looking (thick opaque dark green / brown and smelled bad). Hubby seems to think its a throat tickle. Can’t get across to him it’s in my chest.

    My ears are also super sensitive and tender. I never thought of the hat, that’s a great ordeal!

    I’m still on pain Meds ever 4 hours and take the full dose ( 10 ml roxicet). If I don’t I’m in extreme pain! My diet is still mainly liquids with a few soft things ( mashed potatoes and soup). I can talk a little sometimes, but it is a huge strain and I sound def, things just don’t come out right.

    I’ve decided if the cough isnt better by Monday, I’m gonna go see my primary sincey surgeon is 2 hours away. I would rather be safe than sorry, and my family has a history of respiratory problems (pneumonia is common after surgery),

    Maybe u should see your dr about that cough as well. Hope you feel better soon!

    1. Try some of the old fashioned Horehound Candies. Made from an herb and loaded with Vitamins. My throat was so sore and itchy yesterday I felt like I was going to die and then I remembered I had these candies that my friend bought me in the house. Alleluia, Praise The Lord they really helped with the itchy and sore parts of this recovery. They don’t burn and it really feels good to suck on them.

  95. The last few days I have woken up with severe coughing and I am coughing up what looks and smells and looks like infection. I am still on Antibiotics so I am hoping it is part of the healing process. Both of my ears feel like I have double ear infections. They are very tender and I have been wearing a winter hat just to ease the pain. Talking is very strenuous and tiring. My throat feels very sore still and I am still very reliant on the pain medicine. I had my first bowel movement to days ago but I was beginning to worry before that so I took some laxatives, which didn’t help and finally decided to try some prune juice and that helped!! If anyone has had problems with coughing up infection looking stuff let me know!

  96. Day 9 was another mixed day for me. It began with extreme pain when I got up. After my meds and smoothie it was time for my ice packs and apple juice slushy.

    Spent most of the day coughing with the congestion in my chest. Finally got the pain to ease up and the coughing to slow down early this evening so I was able to open wide enough to take a good look at my throat.

    I guess due to all the coughing, I lost several more large pieces of scabs(gross!). Most of what is left is translucent. Im able to see a lot of bright red tissue which is both good and bad.

    This evening I started having a lot of pain again, so continued with meds on schedule. I did eat a few mashed potatoes, and about 1/2 can of soup about 30 min after a dose of meds. Took me about 2 hours to eat the soup, but I did it :-)

    My ears are still super sensitive and achy. I have yet to find them any relief.

    All in all, things are looking up. I desperately hope this trend continues!

    1. have you tried chewing gum? that has helped me heaps with ear ache
      that and either covering them with a blanket or holding ice wrapped in a towel next to them

  97. Well its the morning of day 9 for me, I feel very nauseous I hadn’t had that symptom until last night. Now that i feel a bit more human im starting to feel frustrated that I can’t do anything or eat anything ugh

  98. My op was on Dec 19 and I would say the worst days have been from days 5 -9 . On day 7 I started bleeding and ended up in A & E with a 2 day stay in hospital over Xmas and Boxing Day. Since the bleeding the pain has been at it’s worst accompanied by severe pain in my ears . Starts to get worse as the pain meds wear off. This morning I was nearly in tears when I woke up as the pain was so bad. Have no idea if scabs are off yet as I can’ t open my mouth wide enough to check as it is too sore. Drinking lots of water and managing to eat meals very slowly , ice pops are also a god send. Here’s hoping I wake up tomorrow and feel better .

    1. My 19 year old son had his surgery on Dec. 26th. He has his tonsils and uvula removed as well as some nasal work done. After reading all of the other posts, he is doing as well as everyone else…. taking pain medicine, drinking lots of fluids, and anxiously waiting to eat “real” food.
      He is on day 9 today and unfortunately he woke me up this morning after bleeding for 30 minutes from a scab that had fallen off. He drank lots of ice cold water and ate a large glass of ice chips trying to get the bleeding stopped, but after 3 hours of the bleeding, we headed for the ER as we were afraid he was losing too much blood (we had changed his trash can liner 2 times… quite a lot of blood). While there, they gave him IV fluids and the bleeding actually stop on its own…. at that point it had been 3hr and 45 mins…..I just wanted to pass along that the hospital told us that we were doing the right thing with the cold water and ice chips as it will help clotting. I had not seen many posts about excessive bleeding and wanted to share. Hopefully not any more scares like this….

  99. Hello everyone. I just started my day 9 and it feels pretty good. Other than the fact of having a dry mouth when I woke up (dumb humidifier turned off in the middle of the night), I feel pretty good. On day 7 I was able to cautiously eat some mashed potatos and gravy biscuits from Bojangles ( chicken/biscuit fast-food place similar to Popeye’s) the strongest thing I can possibly urge anyone about recovery and be an adult (I’m 19 by the way) is a HUMIDIFIER!!! you won’t believe how much pain this saves you. And the longer your throat is moist, the quicker your body can heal. So you’re getting a slightly quicker healing process. I waited until day 5 to buy one and I’ve had it running ever since! honestly the best purchase I’ve made in awhile. I can wake up in the morning and not feel like I’m swallowing daggers. It just helps a ton and I strongly urge to get one. You can buy a cheap one from Walmart “vicks warm steam” for about $15. I hope this helps and goodluck with recovery.

  100. Today is Day 10 and after taking advice from here, I slept propped up on the chaise side of our sectional and slept better than I have the past three nights. However this morning after five hours in between pain meds, I was in tears. I am just not seeing a light anywhere. My nose is itchy and I have to keep blowing it. After a full day of that yesterday too, I have broken down and taken a Benadryl. Light, I need to see you!!! I’ve been drinking the sleepy time green tea and it is soothing. Glad to hear you’re doing better and yay for green tea! :)

  101. Thank you so much for the support. It is truly appreciated. I have been able to go a little longer between dosages of pain medication so that is an improvement. After reading several posts on here, I had my husband pick up some bubble gum and I think that has helped. I find warmer drinks to be more soothing. I’ve had some gum issues which preceded this whole thing so the cold stuff is not as soothing as I’d hoped. Thank you again for the support and the light at the end of the tunnel.

    1. Today is day 9 for me and I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Today’s pain is different than all the other agonizing pain. It feels like 1000 little wasps stinging me at the back of my throat when I drink. On a happy note I get to drink green tea again today! I have missed it sooo.

  102. Really uneventful day. Slept most of it. Pretty weak and tired. Pain isn’t so bad, but keeps me from eating normally. Still eating jello and soft stuff. Wish I wasn’t so weak though. Thank god it’s getting easier. White stuff in my throat is almost gone.

  103. feeling great! been out all day even treates myself to a mcdonalds with no pain ? only time it hurts now is when i yawn..ive eaten as normal as i could since day one as i like my food and im stubborn.and i think it was for the best.Ive had no bleeding as of yet dnt wanna jinx myself!!! good luck all :-)

  104. Michelle says:

    Hello, it is day 10 for me and my scabs fell off a few minutes ago, I was bleeding quite a lot and my mom panicked I’m fine it’s all part of the tonsillectomy and I am going to try more fluids in about an hour. I think I Gould swish ice water

  105. I’m on day 9 and feeling extra fine!! Was able to eat my first real meal today. All the tonsillectomy pain nightmare seems to be a thing of the past! I’m still keeping up with my pain medicine even though I don’t feel the need to take it, but I believe that this has really allowed me to introduce more food into my diet. Also advice for those who are going through this, I found that cream of wheat in the morning helped with the “sloughing” off of the scabs if you make it like a thick drink and just take good gulps of it. Good luck to those still going through it! It gets better I promise!

  106. Day 9. The previous 6 days were awful. I’m at a point where food is a lot more tempting but it still stings afterwards. It’s amazing the amount of people who said they couldn’t believe it would take 10 days to recover from a tonsillectomy.I guess they are comparing it to children (I’m 22.) I do wonder though if many people need longer than 14 days before returning to their normal activities?

  107. I’m on day 9 today and I am a million times better than day 6 and day 7. I am on stronger meds but i don’t feel the need to take them every 4 hours anymore like i previously had been doing. My throat is clearing and there’s is no build up of saliva and swallowing is not painful anymore. I feel like I’m over the hump. 3 days ago I thought I’d never get better, and I sat crying on front of my dinner because the pain was so bad and I was so frustrated at not being able to eat even though I was starving. So it looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel after all.

    1. Glad to hear it!!!

      1. Yeah its such a relief to know I’m getting better. This site has been such a help to me too, it showed me I was not the only one going through the pain so thank you for that :)

    2. I’m on day 9 and the pain really doesn’t bother me until night time. I have been eating proper meals since day 2 as advised by my doc but now when I eat even something soft like stew one side bleeds slightly :/ on antibiotics for an infection but does any one else experience this bit of bleeding when the scab comes off? Went to a Gp and he isn’t worried , says recovery is going very well

  108. Day 9. Pain continued all morning to be a 9/10. Overnight last night was the worst ever! I hardly got any sleep and had to keep putting the ice pack on my neck. I am still taking 4 Tylenol Jr. Rapid Melt tabs every 5-6 hrs (they go down the easiest!). I am still sleeping sitting up to prevent mucus, and my throat still closes up if I lay on my back. When will that go back to normal??? I forgot to ask the doctor! Had my follow up appointment today, and doctor said it looks fine and should heal in about a week or so. He gave me a script for lidocaine to gargle mixed with water. This should numb it enough to get food down. Cold things are really painful for some reason, but warm seems okay. I had Cream of Wheat (Cinnabon flavor – yum!) for lunch, and tried a protein shake but it was cold and stung so bad I could not finish it. For dinner I had chicken & stars soup and 1/2 small container of Panera Macaroni & Cheese. After that, my throat gave up swallowing and screamed at me like a fire-breathing dragon. Most scabs are still on, except the right side of my uvula — it looks like those are gone, and the scabs on left side of uvula look like they want to come off. Tonsil bed scabs are still there, though, making it very painful to swallow or eat much. However, they look much thinner, like they are wearing away instead of just falling off. Does this happen?? I have been so busy running errands today I haven’t been drinking as much water. Yikes! I still have a lot of mucus and it’s hard to eat creamy things without choking sometimes. However, my uvula seems a little smaller today, so it feels like I can fit more food down my throat (with sips of water of course). By 7pm I am totally exhausted and ready to crash. My advise to anyone would be take naps during the day if you can! Please let tomorrow be the day I turn the corner! I am having dreams of eating fried chicken again!

  109. Felt a little better today but still in pain, tried to eat Risotto, not a good idea. Hurt to talk, stayed on my pain med schedule, 2 paracetamol/Tylenol every 6 hours. (Allergic to any other kind of pain med.) Hoping for a more fun day tomorrow.

  110. I feel that today might be the day I turned the corner. Woke up dry and gross and painful until I got my meds in and drank some water and tea. Then I realized it just didn’t hurt as much. Doesn’t mean I ate a lot or that I was magically hungry again. It just felt pretty good to swallow all day. I hope it continues to get better every day!

  111. Day 9: I went to work today for the first time since surgery. I did 5 hours and it wore me down, but it was okay. Came home and slept the rest of the afternoon with my pain meds. Only taking them every 6-8 hours now, my ears still hurt, I am still swollen a bit, but on day 7 I got an Rx for prednisone since I was very paranoid about the swelling since about day 3 or 4. Still eating soft foods, can’t wait to eat a big deli sandwich. Throat looks yellowish white with black spots. Not working again for another 4 days, then back to life again.

  112. Okay so yesterday was my day 9 and that was the day things really started turning around. Night was pretty much the same, woke up in agonizing pain every few hours and spent the morning in pain but after an hour the pain subsided and it wasn’t too bad. I was able to talk, but I talk like a def or mentally handicapped person and eventually my throat would start hurting again and I got really tired so I didn’t talk much but then the weirdest thing happened! I actually like left the house and ran some errands with my husband and we decided to go to Panera bread, I of course had no energy but did my best to walk without totally hanging on my husband. Anyway, Panera bread, I got Mac and cheese and we were chatting a little me with my def sounding voice still and I half way through my meal (oh did I mention this is the first solid beside oatmeal I have eaten in 9 days? Ya, best thing ever.. Hurt like hell but whatever) and I swallowed some mac and cheese then continued my sentence and my voice totally came back!!! I think a scab came off or something cause all the pain disappeared from that side too! It was so weird. But as the night went on my voice slowly went back into the def sounding voice. Weird. But anyway every night it starts to hurt again. But I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel so I have regained some faith. Hang in there, you WILL get there! PS huge blessing from God: I have had insanely bad menstral cramps (and I won’t take birth control) since I was little, like I have had to go to the emergency room bad, so you can imagine I was terrified to not be able to take the only thing on this earth that helps, ibuprofen, when I started (2days early) right? The pain was like nothing. Totally tolerable. First one in my life. I could never give God enough praise for this one! Sorry tmi

  113. I don’t want to jinx myself..but i think i can see a little speck of the light!! Lol finally slept probably 6 or a little more hours last night. It still hurt pretty bad when i got up to take my pain meds but i could handle it. After 5 minutes of getting it in me it helped. Drank as much water as i could when i woke up also & had the humidifier going. Today i can whisper a little bit louder but i think i got too excited and over did it to i kinda got sore again :/ the ear ache is a lot better today. I ate the inside of 2 biscuts for breakfast & right now im eating some afredo noodles (smushed up) and guacamole. Omg yummmm! ? lol still taking my pain med every 4 hours but either the pain is better today or i’m just tolerating it way easier today. Thank you Lord! :) hoping tomorrow will still get better and not regress like some people have written -_- everyone keep your heads up ?

    1. Oh & saliva build up is WAYYY less today. Makes it a little easier to swallow (even though it still feels like hmmm hot glass)

  114. I just woke up and I am beginning my Day 9. So far, the pain is no better than Day 8 which is pretty bad. The right side feels ok, but the left side is still real bad. I have to jump up and down to get my pain meds to swallow it hurts so much. The pain meds do take a lot of the edge off. Dr. wants me off of the pain meds by the end of day 10. If day 10 is similar to day 9, we will have a serious problem without pain meds!

  115. Hello! I’m on Day 9 of recovery and I am still in quite a bit of pain. My ears, throat, tongue and jaw hurt, but I don’t have all that foam in the back of my throat anymore do I feel like I can at least breathe better! I haven’t been able to eat much at all except 4 bites of a pancake today and I’m only getting down around 20oz of Gatorade a day. I’m pretty weak and light headed when I do get up and I run down quickly. Hoping I wake up tomorrow and feel much better!

  116. Wow…day 9!! I actually had a meal: protein, carb, vegetable. Still some pain but bearable with some moderate pain meds. I feel most normal today. I still see a small area of scabs so I’m guessing those will be coming off in the next couple days, and that pain will come again. I’m so glad I’m finally turning the corner. The only taste issue I find is the sweet drinks are a little too sweet.

    1. Well that was yesterday! I think I’ve had a set back today my throat is soo very sore. Even water hurts today fore some reason. I don’t really know what to do..i’m back to ice chips and Percocet ..who would have thought that??? Anyone else have a similar experience after feeling like the worst was behind you?

      1. Yes! I felt great day 4-6, then day 7 my throat tickled so bad I kept coughing and woke myself up coughing night 7 until I thought I was going to throw up. This is the night of day 8 and I completely feel like I’ve gone backwards. I’m now back on the oxycodone liquid that makes me sick just so I can get some sleep. I was so proud that I didn’t need anything but Tylenol after day 3, but here I am with the worst pain since day 1-2 in the hospital. Miserable. And I’m not sure what these scabs are that everyone is always talking about. I just see white in the back of my throat that has spots of a slightly yellowy color now (hideous), but what exactly falls off and what stays? I really hope these pain meds kick in so I can sleep.

        1. Omg, I thought it was going pretty good until day 6, and now I’m on day 9 and its a good thing we don’t keep a gun around. I’m coughing and sneezing, my ears are killing me and I finished the original bottle of pain meds last night. They gave me a new script of 10 more Percocet and I am just praying that this all ends very, very soon. I’m still eating soft foods however cold ones seem to bring a throbbing pain in my mouth/gums. Not sure what to do anymore, so over this!

          1. You poor thing. Hang in there. It WILL get better. It has taken me three weeks to be able to say there is no pain left. It will get better. This is the peak of it.

  117. Today I went to olive garden with the family and forced myself to eat some ravioli and a little bit of a breadstick. It was the first real food I’ve had in nine days. I guess the food did the trick because I went home, went in my bathroom and coughed slightly an all o a sudden the pain on my left side went from a 10 to a 2. I guess my scab came off. I feel so much better now that at least one scab is off, it’s such a relief! The other side is being a little more stubborn but I feel so much better already!

  118. I’m nearing the end of post-op day 9 and although I’m still experiencing a significant amount of pain (throat/ears/jaw), my body is slowly starting to wake up on its own rather than from the pain. I also noticed that mouth is not as dry waking up today as it has been during the past week. I’ve been brushing my teeth with arm&hammer breath freshening toothpaste a 2-3x/daily and gargling salt water after meals–that seems to have helped the white film on my tongue disappear. Out of fear of harming myself, I didn’t start gargling until day 6 (which was also when I learned about baking soda based toothpastes helping with bad breath). Eating foods that involve some chewing still hurts, but I suck it up and eat as much as I can. My tongue is still huge and is preventing me from getting a good look into my throat but I think I may have ripped them off while eating because after eating lunch yesterday, my throat felt so raw and I haven’t had the feeling that something is stuck in my throat since then. It mostly feels like a mild case of a sore throat– I read (on here or another website) that someone had been using chloraseptic and I tried yesterday but with my tongue being so huge, the most I could do was numb my tongue. I start working again on Monday–which is good since then I’ll either be too distracted to acknowledge my pain or I’ll just suck it up and deal with it but I’m going to miss being able to just relax all day (even though this past week hasn’t really been a trip to the spa). I read on this forums facebook page that it took some people months to get their voice and sense of taste back– I really hope that’s not the case for me!

  119. It’s finally came to the end of day 9 now, and how good it’s feels to go through the day feeling somewhat normal. I have to say the last time I remember posting was on day 2 or 3, regardless I will u give u a summary and some helpful tips I used that worked. Day 1 of Surgury will be okay u won’t hurt and u won’t remember when u get home that same day just take your pain med hopefully you can take loratab (Liquid Form) doc will give u a steroid to help with inflammation oh don’t forget I would recommend med for nausea just in case you will thank me later it comes in handy. The nausea comes from the everything but when u take pain meds on a week stomach the nausea will hit u. Take as directed I took mine every four hours with a little Gatorade, took pills with applesauce and ate a Popsticle. I do not recommend to eat ice cream because too much dairy upset stomach and thickens your saliva. Oh yea you may be given an antibiotic so u definitely want to stay away from dairy if u can. I’m not saying u can’t eat it just don’t eat too much of it especially if u notice stomach pain. Eat like I said the first day liquid stuff the next day I started to eat applesauce, little mash with shredded chicken but with caution don’t over due it. Your diet will progress from there. I do recommend to eat as soon as you take meds to keep stomach happy. It also helps because once the meds start working it will help u eat. You will have trouble sleeping at night I did and it will seem like it will get worse as you go further into recovery. I did sleep with a humidifier as recommended but either my machine sucked or I should have bought a different one. (You will wake up very soar the worst of pain u will feel during recovery is at night). Please research and do a better job to figure how to take that prob away and recovery pain overall will be cut by half. The other prob I had was that on day 7 I ate at chilies a bowl of chili and the next day I felt so sick I don’t know if it was from food but that was the only day I could not stand being nausea I almost threw up but I didn’t eat much or drink that much because I was so nausea nothing came out. At the end of the night I drank some coke did not take loratab just alieve and I was able to sleep a gods few hours and work up pretty good the next day. So to be on safe side just because u can eat be careful with the foods u eat it will ruin your day with a regret. I could of prevented this so don’t do it, eat smart. Today is day 10 for me since it’s 2:50am right now hopefully a start to a new beginning. Good luck on recovery I did not mention that I also had work on my sinus they fixed my passageway and removed polyps I’m glad I did it at same time. U won’t worry about your sinus the tonsils will have all the attention so get it done if u have too. Just pray at night when it gets tough and ask for strength don’t forget To pray and thank the lord when u do have strength.

  120. Day 9 for me and this is the first day I’ve felt like a normal human again (well, almost). Sure, I still have a sore throat and It still hurts to swallow, but this is the first day I didn’t need to rush for ice chips/pain meds as soon as I woke up. My energy level is a bit better and it doesn’t hurt quite as much to talk or eat. I’m also starting to wean myself off of the pain meds. Day 7 turned out to be the worst for me. Pain was at its worst and panic started to set in that I would never recover. Man that was a long day/night. Hopefully it only gets steadily better from here. For those in the 7-10 day range, hang in there, it will get better.

  121. Hello everyone. I’m on day 9 of my recovery process and all I can say is WHAT A LONG RECOVERY THIS IS…..and painful. I literally lost 9 pounds and I was only 123. I feel like I’m withering away. I am taking Lorab, sometimes i use Sprix (burns like hell, but works) and Advil. The pain is mostly gone except for my right side. It burns and aches every time I swallow. If it weren’t for that I’d be eating whatever I want. Also, I get this tickle in my throat ever so often and that’s awful cause I don’t want to cough so my eyes start watering and I run for my water. I’m thinking it could be a scab falling off.?!… I am so hungry. Today I had a couple hours of no pain when I swallowed so I had some mashed potatoes & very small bowl of macaroni. Then about an hour later the pain on my right side returned!! I know my doctor told me it was going to be painful, but my gosh….on day 7 I was in tears!!!! I am hopeful that when this is all over we will all be healthier and so glad this process is OVER!!! I would not wish this on anyone. Good Luck to us all!

  122. Day 9- I had a great day today! I actually worked from home for about 2 hours, I watered my plants outside, and even went for a little walk. I must say that by 4 PM I was completely exhausted and rested the remainder of the day. The pain on my left side is completely gone. The pain on the right side is still there, but it is bearable. I am still taking tylenol and advil every so often. I do still have scabs but they are slowly coming off and I am continuing to eat only soft things such as soups, pancakes, oatmeal, eggs, etc.
    The worst part of today was dealing with the constipation issues I developed from taking the percoset. My #1 recommendation to anyone about to have a tonsillectomy is to make sure you begin taking a stool softener probably the day before you go into surgery. And, religiously take them throughout the recovery period. I had quite a time trying to get my digestive system back to normal.

  123. Day 9, June 30, 2012 – Scabs continue to come off slowly. Pain is bearable. I think tomorrow I will start weaning off of the pain meds. I don’t feel up to doing anything. I barely have enough energy to get up and fill my glass with ice and a fresh drink and sit back down. I asked for a full 2 weeks off of work as per the recommendations on this site. I am glad I did. If someone told me I had to go in this Monday and be fully functional. I wouldn’t last. Everything is still fuzzy. Finally started eating solid food.. Had a piece of chicken from KFC and some mashed potatoes. I have no idea how much weight I’ve loast, but I’m guessing 15lbs.

  124. Just out of hospital. Still in so much pain. Back to the old pain meds at home. Worried as I’ve been on morphine in hospital hope what I have will be enough. Happy knowing It’s day 9 not and earlier in the recovery process. Scabs off except for a thin layer :)

  125. Just started day 9 and I feel terrible. Throat feels better, I can eat more and speak more but this ear pain & throbbing has me in tears. The pain medicine won’t make it go away :( I return to work on Monday, I am afraid I may not be ready :(

  126. Just finished Day 9…I thought I’d never get here! But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I ate normal-ish foods today. My throat is still sore, but the kind of sore I’ve been used to with such frequent tonsillitis. I’m using Tylenol still, and still the Benedryl…not sure if it’s surgery related or just allergies, but either way, that’s all I’m doing for meds. I can talk more easily. Still hydrating lots, and am much more able now to drink more fluids. I know you’re supposed to drink so much while you’re going through recovery but I was lucky to get 30-40 ounces a day, and on a day or two, probably much less.

    You can do this! Just think of how we’re going to feel so much better after this is all over. I know it’s hard to remember that now, but keep your chin up. Or just take some children’s benedryl, and sleep through it :)

    Good luck, everyone!!!!

  127. Went to the doc yesterday for my one week follow up. I was still unable to eat much and having a significant amount of pain. He offered a Celestone (steroid) shot which I gladly accepted. I must say by last night I felt like the skies were finally opening and I could actually eat again! I highly recommend that to anyone. Today is a little better as well, just hoping its nothing but improvement from here!

  128. Day 9 was one of my worst days ever!!! that morning when I woke up I felt like I had wire and glass in my throat and I just could not take it anymore. I called the emergency number my ENT gave me and they admitted me into the hospital. I got there around 7:30am and they gave me fluids, steroid for swelling, morphine, and Loratab (oral meds. for pain). Out of all the medicine they gave me I felt as if the steroid worked the best. By about 12:00pm I was eating, just a little, talking and feeling like I was finally getting better. Then at 11:00pm all the pain I had when I was admitted came back! At this point mentally I was so messed up, all I have been hearing and reading is that by day 9 and 10 I should be feeling better, but I was not getting any better. For the rest of that night I had to deal with the pain all they had left to give me was morphine (which really did not work for me) and the Loratab. The morning finally came and the doctor was making his rounds. When he got to me he gave me some medicine to gargle with to coat my throat, more steroids and a stronger pain medication. Overall, he told me that everyone heals at their own rate. Nothing was wrong with how I was healing it was just taking me longer. I ended up staying in the hospital for another night and that was the night I got my first good night sleep since I had the surgery on the 12th. I am now home and I feel as if I am recovering!

    I hope this post helps someone, having this procedure done as an adult is very hard physically and mentally. Just know it’s true what they keep telling you, it will get better ? but don’t be upset or ashamed if you need to go back to the hospital to help you deal with your pain and recovery. I wish everyone reading this the best.

    1. Bless your heart, you poor thing. I feel the same way though!

      Day 8 and specifically night of day 7 (tonight for me) is the worst since day 1-2 in the hospital. I just put myself back on the oxycodone liquid they gave me (which makes me dry and nauseous) just so I can sleep. It feels like I’ve gone backwards with healing. I was really proud that I was feeling so great and only needed Tylenol day 4-7, but here I am. Miserable.

      I’m glad I’m not alone, but I’m sorry you’re so miserable. I hope you’re feeling better now.

      1. Ick. I completely threw up after taking the oxycodone and I’ve remained nauseous throughout the day. It’s terrible. I guess I’ll deal with the pain.

        1. We will need to party after putting up with boring soft foods, sleepless nights, ear throat and neck pain, pain even swallowing own saliva. Im literally counting down the days..just want my normal daily routine back of going to work and travelling.

          1. I agree! I’m on week three now and my throat is still sore. Lol. I’m happy that I had this done, I sleep better than I ever have, but its a lot to deal with. Now I’m mostly itchy in the back of my throat. Probably because it’s healing. I notice that if I drink eater too fast, eater wants to come out my nose!