Tonsillectomy Recovery Time
After a lifetime of tonsillitis, it was time. I made the appointment. Was I scared? Yes. Was I prepared for tonsillectomy recovery? NO. Can you be? YES!
Planning for and recovering from a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy procedure, (often referred to as T & A Surgery), can be daunting experiences. The days leading up to your surgery can be frightening. If you haven’t read up yet, you can find information on tonsillectomy methods, risks, costs, adult tonsillectomy, sleep apnea, and numerous tips for tonsillectomy recovery on the other pages of this site. I’ve even added pictures of a post tonsillectomy throat by each day. Study, talk with your doctor and consult with your friends about the decision to undergo tonsillectomy and adenoid surgery. Explore the pages created here to aid in your journey.
If you should decide to have tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, let us help you through the entire process. Whether due to problems with sleep apnea, chronic tonsillitis and strep throat, tonsil stones, trouble swallowing, or a combination thereof, you can benefit from the experience of others. My own experience taught me that, as patients, we need to advocate for ourselves. Ear, nose, and throat doctors are, by and large, extremely talented individuals. However, very few of them have experienced an adult tonsillectomy, and the subsequent recovery. I have. Many others have too. We share our experiences here at the adult tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy recovery resource center. As you’ll read in the tonsillectomy recovery forum, everyone’s experience is unique. There are many factors that influence the level of pain you experience, as well as the length of time required during recovery. The method, and skill of your surgeon can have an affect, but there are also many things within your control that will reduce pain and recovery time. I’ve tried to include as many helpful tips as possible within the pages of this online resource. Tonsillectomy recovery can be pretty rough, especially if you are unlucky enough to be an adult! It takes longer for an adult to recover from most things. Tonsillectomy is no exception. There are many things you can do to make it go more smoothly. I’ve published numerous tips here on various pages. I encourage you to read up BEFORE you are in the throws of tonsillectomy recovery.
Talk with your doctor, friends, family, and work as you prepare. You are not alone in this. Like you and like me, many others are facing or have faced a tonsillectomy recovery. I created this forum for you. The community of adults or parents of patients will amaze you and warm your heart. I read these comments every day and every day I am humbled by everyone’s story and their compassion for others in the midst of recovery, or the anxiety that often precedes a tonsillectomy. Please join in. Hundreds of other people, perhaps in your same situation, have shared their wisdom, concerns, tips, and questions about tonsillectomy, as well as their tonsillectomy recovery.
-Greg My short bio
Hi Terry: I am glad you posted!
I am on day 4 and also can bareky do water sometimes withiut slowing it way down or I coke. I had custard (becky’s recipe) for breakfast, lunch and dinner yesterday and I am about to have the last one right now for breakfast. I need to ask my husband to male another batch.
My major pain triggers have been at night if I sleep a solid 3 hrs and wake up with my mouth open. Mouth breathing drys out the throat anb makes for a very painful wakeywakey time. I am chugging the ice water now to try to get back to normal pain level.
I tried eating mashed potatoes last night and couldn’t do it. Literallly I can not swallow them and I choked. Even a super small bite. I think I can do the custard cause it slides right down.
Holly, I think on the surface mashed potatoes sound great but they are very thick and sticky. I thought the same thing with pancakes which I very much looked forward to but found them to be too sticky even with a decent amount of butter and syrup. I don’t think I would have been able to get them down on day 4. They would have had to be really runny. Have you tried any Slimfast or some nutrition drink? They don’t always taste great but they are full of nutrients and at least you can get some protein and vitamins in at the same time.
How are you feeling today? How is the pain when you’re taking the meds around the clock? I hope it’s been manageable for you! Is your husband still helping you a lot? I’ve been thinking of you!
Found this website 5 days after tonsilectomy. Now I check every day to make sure I’m not crazy! I remember my daughter having her tonsils out and she was back to school within a week. I’m 7 days out and am still having trouble finsihing a glass of water! Things are getting easier, but I thought this would be easier!
Hang in there Terry! It is definitely a challenging process!
Hi Greg, I have been reading postings by “invoinctoge”…what do they have to do with tonsillectomies?
?? Posts or comments?
Trish I noticed that too….who is that and what the heck are they posting about??
Me too! I didn’t know what that was about.
please help me here folks. i dont see rhem. have I been hacked or just spammed?????
Robert – thank you so much. Yes, I’m at day 11. Still have pain but it’s gradually improving every day. How are you doing?
Hello! Today is day 12 for me and I’m feeling no pain except for when I yawn. I think I’ve just been plain lucky, because I’ve been maybe at a 2 or 3 on the worst day on a scale of 10 this whole time. Last night, I sang a couple of songs with my hubby on SingStar (a karaoke-type game that’s awesomely fun – go 80s songs!) and I only lost by maybe 20 points…Don’t You Forget About Me by Simple Minds was my best song 😉 oh yeah baby!
Other than that, I haven’t used pain meds for about three days and I have my post-op on Monday. Am just tuckering out more easily. We went to my best friend’s son’s birthday party at a park today and that wore me out. I only lost 5 lbs this whole time which sucks for me and I wish I would have lost more. Oh well, I’m onto getting Invisalign and starting a juicing and vegetarian diet to lose more and will hopefully be able to get into the gym on a more regular basis. Got to lose some more weight before we try for baby #3.
Take care all 🙂
Delicia, wow no pain! I’m starting to feel like something’s wrong with me at day 11 and still have regular pain throughout the day. 🙁 I feel like my healing has gone well but others seem to be pain free so much earlier. Also blows me away that you have never had more than a 2-3 on the pain scale! WOW! I’ve been at 8 or so at the worst and that was even with my pain meds. I guess everyone’s response to pain is so different, there’s not telling how it will go for each of us. I’m glad for you, 🙂
I’ve only lost 3 lbs and I’m sure it’ll come right back on soon as I eat more regular foods. I didn’t have weight to lose but was still a bit surprised that more didn’t come off.