From Sydney
I am a 16 yr old female who decided to get their tonsils out on December 22, 2016. My family and I made this decision based on the fact that I kept getting recurring sore throats and colds. After visiting with my ENT doctor, he said that it would not be an easy recovery but it would definitely be worth it in the end. I did some research about a few weeks prior to surgery to prepare myself, and make sure I knew what I was getting myself into. It came the day of surgery and since my surgery was at 11am, I didn’t have to suffer not being able to eat for too long. After I woke up from surgery, I remember balling my eyes out and seeing my dad holding my hand and my mom putting a wet washcloth on my forehead. From reading multiple stories that all said people woke up in no pain, that was what I was expecting…NOT THE CASE. The nurse that was in the recovery room tried feeding me crushed ice to help relieve the pain, however it did not help. Eventually they put more pain meds in my IV and I went back to my room. They tried giving me a popsicle but I was in too much pain to eat it so I tried applesauce instead. After eating a few bites, they told me I was ready to go home. Once I got home I felt a little nauseous from the anesthesia so I took a nap. After waking a few hours later, my pain intensified. I took more pain meds but those made me sick so I had to switch to children’s liquid ibuprofen. Throughout the night I woke up every 2 hours to take my medicine and drink lots of water to keep my throat moist,.
Day 2– I woke up in the morning very dizzy so I was not able to get out of bed pretty much all day. The pain was a little bit better than the actual surgery day so I was feeling good, aside from the fact that I was super dizzy. I continued taking naps throughout the day because I had no energy and couldn’t stay awake, probably because I didn’t really get any sleep the night before. Food/drink I had: lots of water, applesauce, chicken broth
Day 3: Today I woke up feeling so good! I took my pain meds and the pain was almost gone so I decided to run errands with my mom. We went to the mall and got coffee and I felt like I had superpowers. This continued throughout the whole day until night time. Around 7 pm the pain came back but I was grateful I could spend a whole day in minimal pain. Food/drink I had: lots of water, caribou coffee, mashed potatoes, chicken broth
Day 4 & 5: These were hands down the worst days ever. I cried constantly for 2 days straight and got no sleep at all. Swallowing water was not pleasant and did not feel good. My pain meds did not seem to help and I had no hope on these days. There is no point in sugar coating these days because this was easily the days where I had the worst pain I have every had in my life. Food/drink I had: water, few bites of applesauce
Day 6: Today was better than days 4 & 5 in that I was able to go out to lunch to get soup. While swallowing, I didn’t have pain, I just had a stinging sensation which was very uncomfortable. Throughout the whole day, it just stung when I swallowed. My scabs did come off in bits as I ate food today. It was not painful but I am assuming that is why I had stinging when I swallowed. Food/drink I had: lots of water, few bits of tomato basil soup, spaghetti o’s
Day 7 & 8: These days were a lot better than the previous days however the pain started to come back but it was definitely not as extreme as it had been. I was able to go hangout with friends and actually leave the house. Food/drink I had: lots of water, milkshake, mac n cheese
Day 9: Today was much better than every other day. I was able to have my first real meal! I had shrimp Alfredo and was able to eat it just fine. Friends came over and I continued to have minimal pain all day. Food/drink I had: lots of water, shrimp Alfredo, scrambled eggs, malt
Day 10 & 11: These days were better and the pain was almost completely gone. Food/drink I had: lots of water, scrambled eggs, chunky soup, pasta with meatballs
Day 12: This is by far the best day. I could basically eat anything I wanted with minimal pain. Food/drink I had: lots of water, scrambled eggs, salad, pasta, chips.
TIPS:
-drink a ton of water, it will keep your throat moist and keep the pain down
-gargle salt water, it seems like it would be gross and painful, but it helped speed up the healing process and keeps the site clean
-have a humidifier in your room to keep the air moist; helps your throat to stay moist so it won’t dry out and become even more painful
-take your pain meds on schedule; my mom created a chart that layed out when I should take each medicine so that really helped me stay on track