Deviated Septum Turbinoplasty and UPPP

Rich’s Tonsillectomy:

I’m 48 and I’m on day 7 of my recovery. I had a deviated septum fixed, turbinoplasty, and UPPP. Yes, I’m a moron. I knew that I wouldn’t have another voluntary surgery so I opted to do it all at once. UPPP, for those who don’t know, is tonsillectomy, adenoid removal, soft palate resection, and uvula removal. Hoping to cure my sleep apnea. I’ve heard the horror stories and expected to die on the table because it was a voluntary surgery and luck sometimes works out that way. Well luckily I didn’t die. Recovery was fine for the first two days.

I expected way worse and was pleased. Pain kicked in on day three and hasn’t let up. I’m on Percocet 10 every 4 hours, 600mg of advil every 6 hours, 10 days of Amoxicillin as a prophylactic, and Cepacol throat lozenges as needed. I bought applesauce, instant mashed potatoes, Popsicles, and 1 minute instant oatmeal. I noticed I was swallowing a lot of air with my water because my throat felt funny anatomically, that hasn’t gone away. Prior to my surgery i watched a recovery Youtube video and the guy stated that he would be able to eat certain things one day and wouldn’t be able to eat them the next, so don’t be surprised. It was true. Applesauce went down great for a while and now feels like acid. Popsicle’s did not help at all. I was advised by my ENT to continue using my CPAP and I was a little worried because my mouth dries out with that thing, even though it’s humidified. I would wait until 4 hours to take the perc, and I would advise every 3.5. I didn’t want to run out because I could tell the minute it would wear off. It would then take about 20 to 30 minutes to kick in again. I would nibble on a banana or applesauce with each dose which helps with the nausea. In between percs I would take the Advil (400mg), but I’m not sure if it helped. I’m not a fan of percs or ibuprofen so I wanted to take as little as possible. I would set my alarm for every two hours to take percs and advil, alternating. Obviously you shouldn’t take those every two hours. I’m a firefighter so waking up every two hours all night is fairly normal for me so I was quite rested. I slept in a recliner the first night but slept in my bed with a wedge pillow the second night. Third through seventh I slept propped up on regular pillows because the wedge pillow was like a rock. I found that if I slept more than I should the pain would wake me up. I would force down the razor blade water and pills and sit in bed cringing and rocking back and forth until they kicked in. I tried to picture how wounded soldiers who didn’t have anesthesia or pain med’s would just lay there and suffer to try to put things in perspective. Much respect to them.

I found that if I doubled my dose of perc’s and upped my Advil to 600 mg around food time that I could tolerate eating a lot better. I would constantly sip water to wait until I could fee all the med’s kick in and then I would eat as much as I could and chug as much water as possible. I also took a daily Dulcolax even if I didn’t think I needed it. I made frozen banana smoothies with almond milk and a handful of salad greens for fiber and nutrients. I heard dairy was bad because of all the mucus. On day 6 I had the nasal splints removed and breathing was easier. I read that in the UK they advise to eat rough food like toast. I asked my ENT and he said we stopped doing that in the states about 20 years ago. I would advise a blender and as many nutritious foods as possible. If you eat jello and ice cream for a week you’re not helping the healing process. You can make frozen smoothies with healthy foods by using frozen bananas as your base. Hummus is also good because it’s soft and has a lot of protein in it. Also, I had withdrawal symptoms form percocet a few years ago after a shoulder surgery. I didn’t sleep for 4 nights, my heart was pounding out of my chest, and I was miserable. A simple google search found that if you take benadryl the withdrawal symptoms go away. My scabs are still there and I’m expecting to be off work for two weeks. My ENT told me even if I feel GREAT, I should wait 15 days to return to physical activity. He said he has never had a single patient in 30 years bleed after 15 days. Plenty after 13 days who pushed it. Don’t blow your nose, bend over to pick something up, strain on the toilet, etc. The pressure build up in your neck could cause bleeding. After 15 days all should be good. He also advised gargling with salt water. Just enough salt for the water to taste salty but not enough to irritate your wounds. The hypertonic something something blah blah blah will pull fluid from your tissue to reduce swelling and it also helps with bacteria control. Oh yeah, I also got some magic mouthwash, (topical lidocaine rinse), but I got it on day 6. He said it might not work because it may not penetrate the scabs that have formed. He was right. It numbed everything else in my mouth, just not my tonsil wounds. If you get it, get it early on. Also, be careful with cepacol and topical lidocaine because you can overdose on them. Too much topical lidocaine can do something to your heart conductivity. Every 4 hours like the directions say. I hope any of my experiences have or will help out there.