At age 16, Kendall has some insights to share
Teenage Tonsillectomy Tips and Advice
I am 16 years old and day 6 post op. The first day and a half were minimal pain compared to what was to follow. I was able to have friends over to check on me, I watched movies, I colored, etc. I was also able to eat jello, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and sausage bits. I drank some Gatorade but mainly water. The night of day two was when everything went downhill. I set alarms to wake me when it was time to take my pain medicine, but it ended up that I would wake an hour before in pain. The next day (day 3) was very painful. This is when my ears started to hurt. I am supposed to take my pain medicine every four hours, and around hour 3 my ears would be in pain as well as my throat. I found that placing a cold wet washcloth around my neck soothes the pain.
I didn’t have an appetite for anything that day. Of course I was forced to put something in my body, but if I remember correctly all I ate on day 3 was half a jello cup and an individual cup of sherbet. On day 3, I also began to have a horrible taste in my mouth. It made everything, even ice water, taste bitter and just felt out disgusting. That was another reason I didn’t have a big appetite. The night of Day 3 was the same as day 2, but a little worse. In addition to the inevitable sore throat, my ears were hurting as well as my tongue and jaw. The pain of my ears was so bad it had me in tears a couple of times. I forgot to set alarms for my medicine this night, which was a big mistake. I got a little more sleep, but not without consequences. Because I slept past the four hours my pain medicine was due, I woke up several times in excruciating pain.
I would wake up, refill my ice water, chew on some ice from Sonic (it’s much easier to chew), take my medicine, and wrap a cold washcloth around my neck and go back to sleep only to repeat the process about 4-5 hours later. One thing that I found did help is keeping a humidifier on my nightstand. It’s nothing fancy, it releases just enough to keep the air around me moist. Day 4 was a tiny bit better compared to day 3, but still very very painful. Still had no appetite, still had a bitter, nasty taste in my mouth constantly, I wasn’t able to drink as much as I should because of how painful it was to swallow (in my ears mainly but my throat as well), I slept a lot, considering I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep the night before. By this time I figured out that I should probably wake up every 30 min-1 hour to sip some water to keep my throat moist so it wouldn’t be so painful when I wake up, but sleep has always been precious to me so that didn’t happen. Day 4 was blah. The night of day 4 was much better.
I didn’t set alarms to take my medicine, but it didn’t seem to matter. I would wake up in pain, but it wasn’t unbearable. I would do the same routine, drink water take medicine chew ice etc, and go back to bed. I woke up on Day 5 and felt the best I felt since day 1. I felt as if I was able to get out of the house and run some errands with my mom. I woke up and got a shower, but I think I may have gotten overheated or it took too much out of me because as soon as I got out I had to lay in bed and rest for a few minutes. I blame that on me not eating as much as I should. We ended up going into town and running the errands, but by the first one I was over it. The pain in my ears was back, I felt nauseous, I felt tired, I still had no appetite, it was bad. We didn’t get to finish the errands. When I got home I could hardly talk and I went straight to sleep. However, I had to wake up because of a mandatory Europe meeting. (I’m going to Europe in a little less than 3 weeks so pray that I’m better by then). I went to the meeting feeling bad but it is what it is. However, about thirty minutes into the meeting I felt tired and very sick to my stomach, and I was cramping as well, and I could not talk without having a sharp pain in my ear. And by sharp I mean like knives being stuck in my ear. It. Was. Horrible. We stopped by my grandmas house on the way home because she made me my favorite soup and pie, but I was in so much pain I couldn’t take one bite before I was in tears, once again.
I went home and began to feel a little better, but that didn’t last long. Maybe 45 min. I went to sleep last night (day 5) and woke up at 4 am and was in excruciating, unbearable pain. I was, again, in tears. I did the routine, took medicine, drank water, wrapped cold washcloth around my neck, etc. it took a while for that to help but I think I only went back to sleep because I was so exhausted. I woke up again at 6 coughing. I coughed before but this was like a choking cough and I’m wondering if my scabs are coming off (even though my doctor said it wouldn’t happen until about day 10) I took more medicine but less dosage. I went back to sleep and woke up at 8 and took the same dosage. So far, I still have no appetite, still have a horrible taste in my mouth (which btw is the only thing that is making me feel even the least bit nauseous. It’s THAT bad.), still have pain in my ears, etc. I also find myself spitting a lot. I think it’s partly because it hurts to swallow and partly because it taste like the horrible taste in my mouth, so swallowing it is double the taste.
TIPS I HAVE FIGURED OUT:
•sit up slightly while sleeping. It helps for some reason
•keeping something cold around your neck may help with throat/ear pain
•humidifiers will probably be your bff
•Sonic ice will probably be your bff too
•have a trash can beside your bed at all times
•try to eat, even if you don’t want to. You will thank yourself later
•stay on top of your medicine by all means
•stay hydrated