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
Day 1 post op!! I SURVIVED!! lol … i remember that mask thingy they put over my mouth, a few seconds and i was outtttta there, i still told them ‘wooh it works fast’, and i was gone… Woke up coughing whilst still in the theatre room, but thank god not while they were operating lol…. then they wheeled me off to my room, and i remember seeing my boyfriend, and wanted to burst out crying. hormones and pain do not mix. … They only hooked me up with some meds about half an hour later… and they forgot to add the nausea stuff to my I.V so instand nausea attacked me. Oh they brought me supper… lasagne with toast. I mean really… no way was i going to touch that… and they brought me a little bowl of ice cream – i got 2 or 3 tablespoons in of that before i past out again. Drugs gooooooood.
Got released early this morning…and may i just add i hate hospitals. woke up every hour, peeing and being in pain… Not fun. but hey, i got through the night. The doc came to see me at 7am and released me with painkillers and antibiotics and a throat spray with a mouthwash. My mouth still tastes like ass though… seriously. Bad. sheesh.
Lets hope for the best for the rest for the recoop period… Will keep updated.
And let me just say, thank goodness for this site – it’s been quite helpful… No sugarcoating, which was very helpful, as i was expecting the worst, and hoping for the best lol.
I found this forum because a friend is recovering from tonsillectomy and it brought back memories of my own, 28 years ago. My story seems to be worse than anyone else’s on this forum. We were living in Nairobi, Kenya, at the time. After the birth of my last child, I started getting tonsillitis or strep throat twice a month for six months. Nothing could cure me completely, so we went for the surgery. Once I woke up from the anesthesia, I went home from the hospital that evening. I was given nothing for pain – NOTHING – for an entire week; the doctor said it would increase bleeding. The first night I thought I was going to die because of the apnea caused by the surgery (first time I ever experienced apnea). I went to sleep thinking what will happen to my 4 little kids, and I was too exhausted to do anything about it. Obviously I didn’t die, thank God. I was in so much pain I couldn’t take the antibiotic pills the doctor had given me. I couldn’t – and didn’t want to – eat anything except warm vanilla custard and sip a little warm water. (My friend got a feeding tube – what luxury!) I lost 15 pounds in 2 or 3 weeks. I got milk thrush due to the milk in the custard, which is not dangerous but tastes horrible and added to the misery. My ears became blocked and I could hardly hear or talk. Once a week had passed, I was allowed some pain reliever and eventually, slowly, things got better. I felt fully recovered after 5 weeks. It took a very long time before I felt that the surgery was worth the suffering. If you feel you’ve got it hard, think of me and thank God for the modern medical practices you (probably) have access to!
I didn’t do any research prior which is probably good because I would have chickened out. I’m on day 7 and found this blog. 49 yr old single mom. I can’t believe my surgeon didn’t give me more information on how to get through the past 7 days. The first 4 days were tough trying to stay hydrated. I do wish I had found this site for the tips. I’ve enjoyed reading the posts to know that what I am experiencing with jaw/ear pain is normal. I didn’t get anti-biodics. The pain liquid hurt going on – but keep up on it. The trouble with eating is that everything tastes terrible, but I force myself. I had some watermelon today that was awesome. I tried gum but couldn’t do it. The most frustrating thing for me is lack of energy/focus and the feeling that there is stuff in my throat. Dr. said carbonated drink like 7 up would help (doesn’t). Don’t know if something is really there or it is ghost feelings, but drives me crazy. Doc said to rinse with 1 pt hydrogen peroxide 1 pt water for the smell. I found Colgate Peroxyl Mouth Sore Rinse which seemed to work. Ice bags helped a lot with pain all over my head. Sounds like everyone has a unique experience so read everyone’s tricks and then have someone ready to help you give them a try. I’ll always have a special place in my heart for everyone who went through this experience. I’ve had 3 other surgeries one which included chemotherapy so I thought this was going to be A LOT easier than it was. Not a fan, but hopeful that I’ll be someone that said it was worth it. Hang in there 🙂
Soda is the worst at that point. After the first week I switched over to teas, a little more then warm. I personally love green tea and white tea so I drank a lot of that & lemon tea. I’m very big on herbal teas 🙂 so many flavors. Very good & tasty way to stay hydrated.
I will be 5 weeks post op tomorrow and yesterday I just found out the surgery triggered my thyroid to crap out.
I went through the first 2 weeks of HELL. Pain & blood, the whole 9 yards. I thought it was never going to end. And then it didn’t? In fact things after the pain went away other symptoms started getting worse. I stared getting more and more tired and my brain function was worse then when I was on the Vicondin. It got to the point where I slept for 16 hours strait one day. And I’m 29.
So I saw my Dr. on Monday and she ran some labs only to my THS was 10.46 and T4 was 0.9 which is hypothyroid and was triggered by the stress of surgery. Five months ago my levels where normal.
So something else to be on the watch for post op if the fatigue is lasting longer than normal.
I am 28 and had my tonsillectomy on Friday – so this is day 5/6. Aside from horrible nausea, it has been a pretty good recovery for me so far. That being said, this is my second night in a row with some light bleeding in the back of my throat. Last night it was the right side, tonight the left. I was able to stop it last night with ice and ice water and this morning it looked totally fine. I’m currently working on getting the left side stopped. I have a feeling it looks worse than it is, since it’s mixed with phlem and saliva. I called the hospital last night and the nurse on call said as long as it’s not mouthfuls of blood, to just be careful with what I’m eating, rest, etc. my question is, has anyone else had this issue during recovery? I don’t remember reading a lot about light bleeding. I think the scabs are starting to come off, so it makes since that there will be some blood. Any tips to prevent and/or stop it? I’m just hoping I’m not the only one with this issue. It’s a bit scary to taste blood.
I am on day 5. My doc told me if I had more then a teaspoon of blood, then to go to the ER. This was on my discharge paperwork too.