Tonsillectomy recovery is no picnic. Adult tonsillectomy can be downright miserable. Mine was. The time to plan and prepare is before tonsillectomy surgery, not during recovery. A few handy items can greatly reduce your pain, improve your tonsillectomy recovery time, and help you feel better during your tonsillectomy recovery. A simple item like a humidifier can help help your throat moist, especially while sleeping. A form fitting ice bag can help take the edge off throat and ear pain between doses of pain medicines. Stocking up on sugar free chewing gum while preparing for tonsillectomy can save you the misery of ear pain. (Ear pain is a common referred pain tonsillectomy patients experience) Many patients complain that sleeping in a bed causes added pressure on the throat. By sleeping in an upright position in a recliner, this can be reduced. A neck pillow helps support the head while sleeping this way. For this reason, I think it’s a good idea to buy one while preparing for tonsillectomy.
Preparing for tonsillectomy should also include consideration of what you’ll be eating after tonsillectomy. As we often say on the tonsillectomy forum, drink, drink, drink. Since you’ll want to be drinking quarts of liquids each day, consider stocking up on some more interesting beverages. Water is great, but it’s rather hard to stay interested in it. I drank lots of Gatorade. I’d recommend buying a couple flavors, since some may be more or less pleasing during your recovery and it’s hard to predict as you’re preparing for tonsillectomy.
You will probably find that sweet beverages lose their charm after a few days. Another source of hydration that usually goes down well is soup broth. Don’t heat it too much to avoid burning the throat, but I think it’s a nice alternative to the sweet Popsicles, Jell-o, and Gatorade. Go ahead and grab a case as you are preparing for tonsillectomy.
As you prepare for tonsillectomy you should also consider how much time you’ll be spending indoors. Most people are shut in for more than a week. How will you spend your time? Watching movies? Reading books? Surfing the web? Posting on the tonsillectomy forum? Probably. Most people do. There are several ways in which to do all of these things. For my money a product like a Kindle Fire or iPad is the way to go. You can do all of those things in your chair, in bed, pretty much anywhere you find yourself. Handy! If you don’t have such a device, and can’t afford one, at least stock up on movies or upgrade your cable plan when you’re preparing for tonsillectomy
