I had my tonsillectomy done at 19 due to tonsil stones.
The operation it self went successful. When i woke up, I was not in a lot of pain. I was extremely tired, but couldn’t sleep, cause every time i was just about to fall asleep, i made a snore, which was so hurtful, i woke my self up.
That unfortunate situation went on until the second night. By then, I was able to get one or two hours of sleep before waking up with a sore throat. Drinking some ice-water helped a little, but i didn’t find anything that could take the pain away.
When sleeping, i was sitting halfway up. It was just not possible for me to lay flat down, because my uvula, tongue and throat was so swollen.
I took my painkillers (paracetamol, diclofenac) every 5-6 hours. The first couple of nights I forced my self up at night to take them, but due to my lack of sleep I decided, that if I was awake I could take them, but if I was lucky enough to finally be asleep, I would do that, and take pills when I woke up.
At day 3-6 the worst pain in my ears appeared. As a kid, I had a lot of problems with my ears, but this was by far the worst. The first 3 days of recovery was nothing, compared to this.
I found that, eating, drinking, taking pills couldn’t take place at normal hours. When there was a pain-break, I would eat, drink and take my pills. This would result in the pains coming back, but I would now have som food ect in my body to survive from.
From days 1-6 i lost 0.5kg a day. (1.1 pounds) and in the total recovery period, I lost about 4 kg (8.5 pounds)
At the 7th day, it all turned over. I slept all through the night, woke up and felt good. I was exhausted in my body, I had pains in my throat, but my ears didn’t hurt, which was a major relief!
!!! BUT !!!
At 8pm, I was watching som TV with my parents. I had been relaxing all day, and enjoying not being in pains. But at this time, I felt something hot running down my throat.
I spit out, and nothing but blood came out.
My dad immediately called an ambulance, and I was taken to the hospital.
I was bleeding a lot, and from the bleeding started, it took two hours before they managed to stop it again.
I got in to the trauma room, where the doctor worked her magic, and with some different medicaments managed to stop it.
Since I lost a relatively big amount of blood, I was hospitalized for little over 24 hours, before my parents could take me home, and care for me.
This was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced, but the doctors, nurses and paramedics helped me a lot, and calmed me down.
Post tonsillectomy bleeding can be very dangerous, so it should be taken serious!
I was told, that one can’t tell if you will get post-bleedings. I was sitting still, and felt the burst, and within seconds, there was blood everywhere.
Only a minority will get the bleedings, but it is important to take them serious if they do happen.
I do not hope, that i’ve freaked anyone out but I belive it is important for everybody to know that there is serious risks to this procedure.
Remember, that there is a reason for your tonsillectomy, i had mine, and i’m happy it all worked out in the end.
Best wishes.