Anon Shares Daily Tonsillectomy Experience

Daily Tonsillectomy Recovery Summary

I had my tonsillectomy on 3/14/18. I am 17 years old. I got this surgery because I snore and have sleep apnea (I am also overweight) and just have very large tonsils as well. I wanted to share my experience in detail to help anyone that has this surgery in the future.
Day 1 (day of surgery)- I went in around 8 AM and they checked my vitals and eventually gave me a pill thta was supposed to make me slightly woozy. I really didn’t feel anything though. They wheeled me into the surgical room and gave me a mask and told me to breathe in and was out of it right away. I woke up in another room feeling out of it and had ice on my throat. I didn’t have a ton of pain but it was definitely uncomfortable to swallow and was a little sore. I didn’t have anything to drink or eat at this point. They also told me they wanted to keep me overnight because I was overweight and could have complications but I was totally fine. Once I got to the hospital room, I sat around and eventually ordered dinner which was grilled cheese w/ tomato soup, a little mac and cheese and mashed potato, ice cream, and water. I was fine eating all of this, just a little uncomfortable to swallow. I didn’t have much pain. Throughout the night, the nurse came in to give me meds (children’s liquid motrin and tylenol) and asked me my pain level. I said 1 or 2 all the times they asked. I slept very well.

Day 2- woke up and drank water (I had to drink 22.5 oz to leave hospital). I ate chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. I was discharged soon and got home and was exhausted. I continued to take my meds and ate rice for dinner. I still wasn’t in a lot of pain, just uncomfortable with my scabs.

Day 3- I woke up in the middle of night 2 with a lot of pain (around 6). I took the meds but it didn’t help a lot. Woke up Thursday in pain because my throat was dry but water hurt to swallow so I wasn’t drinking as much as I should have. I ate scrambled eggs w toast, rice, and some other soft foods in between. Eating hurt but my mom is very persistent and made me eat. Although it hurts at the time, I definitely think its why my recovery went by quick.

Day 4/5- These were rough and had pain of around 7. I was still eating as normal as possible (eggs, toast, rice) and drinking lots of water but it was painful. My parents wouldn’t let me take the oxycodeine I was prescribed but the children’s liquid stuff was not cutting it. I started taking regular tylenol and motrin pills and I was actually able to swallow the pills! They helped the pain much more! Weirdly, in the day the meds would work well but in the evening I would be taking them more often. Nights were the worst though because throat is super dry, water hurts, can’t sleep. This was the point that I felt like the pain would never end, especially reading posts that were on day 14/15 and still in pain.
Day 7- These days was better! I ate about the same but had less pain but it still got worse at night. I definitely knew I was getting better though
Day 8- This day was good! Only a little uncomfortable but honestly felt pretty good!
Day 9- Went back to school this day! Felt good, ate normal
Day 10/11/12- These were the last days I felt anything really and it was a slight discomfort when swallowing- no pain though. No pain meds day 12 and lessened them from day 8.

Overall this procedure was more painful than I thought but not nearly as bad as I thought after reading some posts. I think I was really lucky and looking back now it was only about 4 days of pain..what’s that in our many years of life? It just seems never ending at the time but just take the meds, eat as much as possible, and entertain yourself. Also don’t take naps because you want to be exhausted by the end of the day so you can sleep easily. I also was sick right before surgery so afterwards I had a cough which sucked but didn’t make it more painful while coughing. Sneezes suck though- hold it in. ALSO- don’t eat ice cream/ dairy the first week at least cause it makes throat phlegmy. One of the worst parts was the awful taste in my mouth and it made some things I ate taste bad s well. This went away around day 8.