Tonsillectomy at Age 44-Rich’s Story
44 yo Male currently on day 10 of recovery from Tonsillectomy. I’ve read so much prior to doing the surgery, and so much after. I like to think Im above average with athleticism, keep in good shape and have a decent pain tolerance. Well, you can throw all that out the window as it doesn’t matter. “There is no way out but through.” With that said, I truly believe there are things you can do to make the journey easier.
First Ill explain the unfortunate second ’emergency’ surgery I needed due to excessive bleeding. After around 20 hours, late in the evening, I was struggling with pain. This wasn’t anything new. The previous 20 hours were bad too, but now when I would spit, I started to see blood. After this happening for a good 30 minutes and not seeming to let up (also felt like the pain was going to another level – which it already felt like a 10 – but I think I reached a new 10). At this point me and my mother decided we should go to the ER.
As we Uber to the ER, the blood seems to be seeping a little faster from my throat. By the time I got in front of someone, it had to be 45 min later. They gave me a bucket to spit in and took a plastic vacuum and stuck it in my throat to suck the blood out. Then, for whatever reason beyond my knowledge, the nurse said she will be back in 2 hours. I was in lots of pain so they started up an IV drip with meds and told me to spit out any of the blood that builds in my mouth. After 2 hours it was A LOT of blood. When the nurse finally showed up (around 4am) she said we need to try and get this blood clot out. I was thinking “no kidding what were you doing for the past 2 hours?!” Anyhow, thats when hell began.
Trying to deal with my throat that was filled with blood and the combination of gagging and intense pain from the end of the vacuum, it was horrific. I was able to allow her to do maybe 1 -2 minutes max and stop her so I could breathe and re collect myself. This went on for OVER AN HOUR. I was mentally and physically drained. I also knew I was loosing more and more blood. Now it was practically pouring out. Thats when the 1st shift REAL DOCTOR walked in. He immediately saw what was going on, ordered the operating room, put a giant swab in my mouth to stop the bleeding and told me to stay clam and they will fix it. Long story as short as possible, they did surgery to stop the bleeding, which was successful, but not after one of the worst experiences ever in my life. A combo of pain, discomfort and fear, all at the level 10.
From there they checked me in overnight to monitor the bleeding. No bleeding and I went home. Lets call the day home Day 3. Now its Day 9. Days 3-9 haven’t been much different. Extreme pain, very little sleep (2-3 hours total a night), very little food (couldn’t eat much but cream of wheat and jello) and just exhausted from the experience.
I did feel some relief yesterday on Day 8, but it was short lived. When I woke up Day 9, I had an extreme sharp pain again like I did in the beginning. No idea if it was a scab coming off or just part of the healing, but its a level 9 pain, so overall not a ton of progress. I guess Day 8 gave me a lot of hope that it is healing and perhaps Im getting closer.
Ill try to wrap up once I am completely recovered. Advice:
• Keep drinking water as much as possible. This made a noticeable difference in less pain.
• Write down all your pain med times and set alarms on your phone. Do not miss them or you are just going to go through more pain.
• Eat when you can but don’t kill yourself the first few days. Water is more important and anything you eat causes burning.
• BURNING BURNING BURNING. Thats all I can think of from this experience. Ice chips and cold water! Keep it going. I think Im almost done. It was brutal, but in the overall scheme of life, not TOO bad.