A collection of various experiences of adult tonsillectomy patients on their first day of recovery
From thousands of post comments to the tonsillectomy recovery forum, I have assembled a sampling of various accounts and impressions of tonsillectomy recovery for each day. We shall start with tonsillectomy day 1. These comments are taken from tonsillectomy patients who were kind enough to share their experiences to help others as they navigate the bumpy road of tonsillectomy recovery.
Check out our new tonsillectomy recovery video- Caution: Not always pretty
Please feel free to add your own experience with tonsillectomy day 1.
-Greg Tooke My short bio
Tonsillectomy Day 1
Tonsillectomy Day 1: This is not too bad. Pussies on the forum!
Tonsillectomy Day 1:(surgery day): Thank God I woke up! Whoa – drugs.
Tonsillectomy Day 1: I had a freezie when I got home and lots of water. I watched some television and took the amoxicillin that I was prescribed to prevent infection. I decided to try to swallow the capsules because they looked small enough…BIG MISTAKE! After the first one, it felt like it was stuck in my throat, but I tried to take the second one…even bigger mistake. So I start getting anxious because I feel like the pills are stuck in my throat and not going down – even with loads of water. It turns out they did go down, but because my throat was swollen, they felt like they were just sitting there. I was prescribed liquid codeine and told to buy liquid Tylenol. However, the only liquid Tylenol my mom could find was for children, so instead, she decided to buy Tylenol caplets that melt in your mouth – which turned out to be for children as well. The first night I only took Tylenol because I wasn’t in that much pain at first. Needless to say, I was in pain during the night and slept maybe 1-2 hours in total.
Tonsillectomy Day 1: i had the surgery at 3:20 pm ( they were over an hour behind schedule).I woke up feeling like crap and the nurse had to give me lots of morphine through the IV drip. I spent the night in a hospital and it was the worst night ever. My throat was in pain all night even though they gave me the liquid codeine. There was only 2 of us in the “day surgery” ward ( where they keep the overnight patients) but the other lady was snoring all through the night! which made things even worse haha. I only got about 4 hours of on and off sleep. My mom picked me up at 6am and i went home and slept for a bit.
Tonsillectomy Day 1 : My surgery was at 9:30am ET this morning and I was home by 1:30pm which included a 20 minute drive home. I had a tonsillectomy and he just trimmed a little of my extremely long uvula. I woke right up from the surgery with no problems at all. The pain I had was a 1or 2 on a scale of 10. hardly any pain after the surgery and I was able to eat apple sauce, ice and water immediately after waking. No side effects from the surgery med’s. They did give me some anti-nausea drugs. I still feel like I have just a mild sore throat.
Tonsillectomy Day 1 : Days 1&2 were definitely the honeymoon phase. All was grand in tonsil land
Tonsillectomy Day 1 : I just had it done this morning, massively consming water, pain meds every 4 hours, popsicles, little apple sauce and trying to maintain a healthy probiotic regimine. Its weird because it feels like a bad case of strep throat….so far. But I do feel instant relief with my breathing.
Tonsillectomy Day 1 : Well i just got home from surgery. I had my tonsils removed, deviated septum fixed, uvula removed and turbinates (nasal wall tissue) reduced. I have no recall of surgery, only remember maybe a minute of being in the operating room, then waking up in the recovery center.
Pain is not what i expected it to be. I think i have worse pain from strep throat
Tonsillectomy Day 1 : Post op eight hours……everything feels fine but I’m scared for the horrible days ahead. Sandra you developed ear pain at 3rd day? That makes me nervous
Tonsillectomy Day 1 : (Day of surgery) I actually felt pretty darn good, was able to eat a little, but I wish someone would have told me that I needed to re-learn how to swallow. VERY SMALL sips is the key.
Tonsillectomy Day 1 : Slept only about 2 hours due to still being very restless and fidgety from the effects of the anesthesia. Stayed on a steady dose every 4 hours of pain med’s which seemed to edge my pain. Still in a great deal of pain all day. I ate more Popsicle and jello and applesauce and was able to eat some luke warm soup which tasted great and drank 2 ensure shakes and a yogurt shake. The anesthesia effects seemed to finally wear off sometime in the early evening making me a bit more comfortable. Still in a good deal of pain. My entire mouth now hurts along with the throat and I am having jaw pain and slight ear pain and tongue pain from the clamps they used during the surgery.
Wow Martha..sounds like you did great…how did you do after your posting? Also, it sounds like you have eating more than most in the first day of of surgery. My 21 year old will be having her surgery Wednesday. I just wondered how you made out for the rest of the time. What was the best thing you did to recover?
Check out my comments for each day post-surgery for specifics on those days. In a nutshell, this website taught me that the first few days would be the best, so wanted to eat as much as I was able to keep my energy up since I knew it would be harder later. Day 3 was noticeably worse. Days 4-6 I had a terrible time eating or drinking through the pain and I did not do as well as some. Days 7 and 8 I was able to eat a little more, but the preceding days took a toll and I was loosing steam fast. If I remember right, day 8 I went to bed believing the next day would finally be better, and it was!
Best thing i did? I can admit that I did not do it, and that was push those fluids, even if it’s only water. I really lost a lot of energy when the pain came up and I didn’t keep drinking. Hydration is key, like so many others have said. I did what is thought I could, but I know I could have done more. Maybe set a goal for each day (6 glasses, 4 oz every hour through the day, just anything to measure and make sure she is drinking). I thought I was, but my small sips were not enough.
Also, I had mine done by cold steel dissection, diathermy to cauterize and ties – the current evidence shows cold dissection is least likely to result in post op bleeding. However coblation may result in less pain and is also easier for the surgeon intra-operatively as there is less blood – I chose pain over the potential for increased risk of bleeding. That said every individual is different, every surgeon is different and you need to pick the method and surgeon you feel most comfortable with.
I had a bilateral tonsillectomy via the coblation method today, so I’m still on day 1. The surgery went smoothly, and the surgeon said she was glad the tonsils came out because they each had 8-9 tonsil stones, which she said was unusually high (typically, she sees 1-2). I didn’t have my tonsils removed for that reason – rather, it was recurrent strep + an abscess the last time. I am 42 and have had issues with my tonsils on and off my whole life, but my doctor in the 1970s/80s wasn’t into taking them out. After three bouts of strep in six months, my current ENT decided it was time to take them out now.
As others have mentioned, day 1 is OK. My biggest issue right now is the swollen uvula, which felt like it was blocking my airway partially when I tried to nap lying on my back. I am drinking lots of cold water, eating jello and popsicles (and mashed potatoes while I still feel up to it). I have a humidifier and am staying on schedule with the pain meds. I’m also taking zofran since I’m prone to nausea with anesthesia and narcotics. Not looking forward to the days ahead but appreciate everyone sharing their stories so I know what to expect.
One interesting thing is that coblation leaves your throat/tonsil beds looking WAY better than with electrocautery. At least right now, they just look pink, so the main thing I notice when looking in my mouth is the swollen uvula and swollen tongue.
I thought they looked much better than the traditional way, too! By day 3, my areas were pretty funky just like the traditional way. Today, Day 4, my tongue is too swollen to see the back! On a positive note, neither of us will ever have the pain of tonsillitis again… 🙂
Tonsillectomy, Day 1: I had my tonsils and adenoids removed this morning by coblation, a newer technique in use in only 30% of tonsillectomies (it was approved for use beginning in 2001). According to my hospital’s website, “Coblation is not a heat-driven process, therefore it does not char or burn healthy tissue like conventional electrosurgery and laser surgery. It combines radiofrequency energy with a natural saline solution to gently and precisely remove tissue leading to a fast and easier recovery.”
I had mild itching of my torso after waking, possibly caused by the anti-nausea meds which were given as standard with the procedure. I had never had them before. I took a Benadryl by mouth to ease that and it has not recurred. I was a 2/10 on the pain scale after waking up. Within an hour of coming to I had one cup of applesauce, followed by 2 pieces of dry toast and another cup of applesauce and 20 oz ice cold water. I chewed everything until very soft and had not discomfort. Pain has been easily controlled by alternating ibuprofen with the prescribed Percocet (oxycodone with acetaminophen). 400mg ibuprofen, followed by 1 Percocet two hours later, then wait 2 hours and repeat.
I ate 1 cup of cottage cheese a few hours later, all the while drinking several bottles of juice smoothies, to get good nutrition in while pain is low during this so-called “honeymoon phase.” I am also pushing ice water! I finally felt the need to sleep 5 hours after surgery. Alarm went off every hour on the hour: Drink, Ibuprofen, Drink, Percocet. My pain has peaked and leveled off at a 3.5/10. I will keep up this regiment very strictly because my throat has continued to feel very moistened and pain is managed.
My uvula is swollen and hanging down where I can feel it sitting on the back of my tongue. This may be linked to the feeling that I have thick mucus or a flap of tissue stuck in my throat. The trick is to try and ignore that rather than try to suction it out with the back of my tongue. It is only a nuisance and not any worse than the old feeling of my massive tonsils stuck in the back of my throat!
After resting for 3 1/2 hours, I am up again, eating the second half of a chocolate DQ Blizzard (I just have to chew the chocolate and brownie pieces until liquified). Taking pills orally his not been a bother at all.
Day 1: You will be lucky if you don’t remember this day. To me it is a dizzy blur of sleep, popsicles, and narcotics. Oh, and vomiting and feeling like I was dying. Day 1 is best reserved for the pain killers (at least take them with liquid or suffer from an upset stomach) and sleep.
I must say that the surgical department of the Seattle VA is, by far, the best I’ve been in. All the staff were awesome and really helped to keep me calm and comfortable. I really appreciated how everyone was always explaining exactly what was going to happen. The anesthesia definitely worked a lot faster than it has in the past: I didn’t even get to the countdown part. I remember that everyone was talking about the procedure and how things were going to go down, when I interrupted them: “Is the ceiling moving? And why is it suddenly blue?” I heard laughter and then I was gone!
When I awoke in the recovery room, I felt pain that I have never felt in my entire life and I’ve been through 11 surgeries over last few years. This was excruciating. The tears were just rolling down my face and I could barely get out the word “Pain”. Needless to say, they began pumping me full of all kinds of pain meds and muscle relaxers. Thankfully, my surgeon followed through with our agreed upon plans and made sure to give me lots of nausea medication during the surgery and in recovery. I have always vomited for at least 1 day after every surgery I’ve ever had – but I haven’t vomited once yet with this one. Not to say that I haven’t had some nausea spells, but the Ondansetron has been really helpful there.
After about 3 hours in recovery, I finally got to go home. I had prepared everything this weekend so I had everything I was going to need all set up. All I had to do was walk in and get comfortable. I wasn’t able to talk at all, so my boyfriend and I came up with an index card system. I had written out things I was going to need to communicate regularly on some cards so that I could just show him the card when I needed something. Then, I have a whole stack of blank cards and I just write on them when I wasn’t to tell him something or ask for something – it’s working out really well.
Ice chips have turned out to be my best friend! I suck on them constantly. I’m having a terrible time swallowing but I try to take at least 10 tiny sips of room temperature water every 5-10 minutes. I’ve been eating freezie pops and they are delightful! Was able to get one small jello cup down over a 5 hour period. Also, managed to eat a ½ bowl of warm chicken broth throughout the night. I’ve set my phone alarm for every two hours. I take the Oxycodone every 4 hours and Tylenol the two hours between. So far, that has really kept the pain down – of course, I might still be under the effects of the anesthesia and the meds they gave me in the recovery room. I did have a couple of “oh my god” moments when trying to take my meds. When trying to swallow, some water shot directly into the wound and it felt like I was going to die for about 5 minutes, then it subsided.
I was able to get about 3 hours of sleep, off and on. I know today was the “honeymoon phase”. Really dreading what is to come. 🙁
Wow Martha..sounds like you did great…how did you do after your posting? Also, it sounds like you have eating more than most in the first day of of surgery. My 21 year old will be having her surgery Wednesday. I just wondered how you made out for the rest of the time. What was the best thing you did to recover?
Check out my comments for each day post-surgery for specifics on those days. In a nutshell, this website taught me that the first few days would be the best, so wanted to eat as much as I was able to keep my energy up since I knew it would be harder later. Day 3 was noticeably worse. Days 4-6 I had a terrible time eating or drinking through the pain and I did not do as well as some. Days 7 and 8 I was able to eat a little more, but the preceding days took a toll and I was loosing steam fast. If I remember right, day 8 I went to bed believing the next day would finally be better, and it was!
Best thing i did? I can admit that I did not do it, and that was push those fluids, even if it’s only water. I really lost a lot of energy when the pain came up and I didn’t keep drinking. Hydration is key, like so many others have said. I did what is thought I could, but I know I could have done more. Maybe set a goal for each day (6 glasses, 4 oz every hour through the day, just anything to measure and make sure she is drinking). I thought I was, but my small sips were not enough.
Also, I had mine done by cold steel dissection, diathermy to cauterize and ties – the current evidence shows cold dissection is least likely to result in post op bleeding. However coblation may result in less pain and is also easier for the surgeon intra-operatively as there is less blood – I chose pain over the potential for increased risk of bleeding. That said every individual is different, every surgeon is different and you need to pick the method and surgeon you feel most comfortable with.
I had a bilateral tonsillectomy via the coblation method today, so I’m still on day 1. The surgery went smoothly, and the surgeon said she was glad the tonsils came out because they each had 8-9 tonsil stones, which she said was unusually high (typically, she sees 1-2). I didn’t have my tonsils removed for that reason – rather, it was recurrent strep + an abscess the last time. I am 42 and have had issues with my tonsils on and off my whole life, but my doctor in the 1970s/80s wasn’t into taking them out. After three bouts of strep in six months, my current ENT decided it was time to take them out now.
As others have mentioned, day 1 is OK. My biggest issue right now is the swollen uvula, which felt like it was blocking my airway partially when I tried to nap lying on my back. I am drinking lots of cold water, eating jello and popsicles (and mashed potatoes while I still feel up to it). I have a humidifier and am staying on schedule with the pain meds. I’m also taking zofran since I’m prone to nausea with anesthesia and narcotics. Not looking forward to the days ahead but appreciate everyone sharing their stories so I know what to expect.
One interesting thing is that coblation leaves your throat/tonsil beds looking WAY better than with electrocautery. At least right now, they just look pink, so the main thing I notice when looking in my mouth is the swollen uvula and swollen tongue.
I thought they looked much better than the traditional way, too! By day 3, my areas were pretty funky just like the traditional way. Today, Day 4, my tongue is too swollen to see the back! On a positive note, neither of us will ever have the pain of tonsillitis again… 🙂
Tonsillectomy, Day 1: I had my tonsils and adenoids removed this morning by coblation, a newer technique in use in only 30% of tonsillectomies (it was approved for use beginning in 2001). According to my hospital’s website, “Coblation is not a heat-driven process, therefore it does not char or burn healthy tissue like conventional electrosurgery and laser surgery. It combines radiofrequency energy with a natural saline solution to gently and precisely remove tissue leading to a fast and easier recovery.”
I had mild itching of my torso after waking, possibly caused by the anti-nausea meds which were given as standard with the procedure. I had never had them before. I took a Benadryl by mouth to ease that and it has not recurred. I was a 2/10 on the pain scale after waking up. Within an hour of coming to I had one cup of applesauce, followed by 2 pieces of dry toast and another cup of applesauce and 20 oz ice cold water. I chewed everything until very soft and had not discomfort. Pain has been easily controlled by alternating ibuprofen with the prescribed Percocet (oxycodone with acetaminophen). 400mg ibuprofen, followed by 1 Percocet two hours later, then wait 2 hours and repeat.
I ate 1 cup of cottage cheese a few hours later, all the while drinking several bottles of juice smoothies, to get good nutrition in while pain is low during this so-called “honeymoon phase.” I am also pushing ice water! I finally felt the need to sleep 5 hours after surgery. Alarm went off every hour on the hour: Drink, Ibuprofen, Drink, Percocet. My pain has peaked and leveled off at a 3.5/10. I will keep up this regiment very strictly because my throat has continued to feel very moistened and pain is managed.
My uvula is swollen and hanging down where I can feel it sitting on the back of my tongue. This may be linked to the feeling that I have thick mucus or a flap of tissue stuck in my throat. The trick is to try and ignore that rather than try to suction it out with the back of my tongue. It is only a nuisance and not any worse than the old feeling of my massive tonsils stuck in the back of my throat!
After resting for 3 1/2 hours, I am up again, eating the second half of a chocolate DQ Blizzard (I just have to chew the chocolate and brownie pieces until liquified). Taking pills orally his not been a bother at all.
Day 1: You will be lucky if you don’t remember this day. To me it is a dizzy blur of sleep, popsicles, and narcotics. Oh, and vomiting and feeling like I was dying. Day 1 is best reserved for the pain killers (at least take them with liquid or suffer from an upset stomach) and sleep.
Tonsillectomy Surgery
DAY 1
I must say that the surgical department of the Seattle VA is, by far, the best I’ve been in. All the staff were awesome and really helped to keep me calm and comfortable. I really appreciated how everyone was always explaining exactly what was going to happen. The anesthesia definitely worked a lot faster than it has in the past: I didn’t even get to the countdown part. I remember that everyone was talking about the procedure and how things were going to go down, when I interrupted them: “Is the ceiling moving? And why is it suddenly blue?” I heard laughter and then I was gone!
When I awoke in the recovery room, I felt pain that I have never felt in my entire life and I’ve been through 11 surgeries over last few years. This was excruciating. The tears were just rolling down my face and I could barely get out the word “Pain”. Needless to say, they began pumping me full of all kinds of pain meds and muscle relaxers. Thankfully, my surgeon followed through with our agreed upon plans and made sure to give me lots of nausea medication during the surgery and in recovery. I have always vomited for at least 1 day after every surgery I’ve ever had – but I haven’t vomited once yet with this one. Not to say that I haven’t had some nausea spells, but the Ondansetron has been really helpful there.
After about 3 hours in recovery, I finally got to go home. I had prepared everything this weekend so I had everything I was going to need all set up. All I had to do was walk in and get comfortable. I wasn’t able to talk at all, so my boyfriend and I came up with an index card system. I had written out things I was going to need to communicate regularly on some cards so that I could just show him the card when I needed something. Then, I have a whole stack of blank cards and I just write on them when I wasn’t to tell him something or ask for something – it’s working out really well.
Ice chips have turned out to be my best friend! I suck on them constantly. I’m having a terrible time swallowing but I try to take at least 10 tiny sips of room temperature water every 5-10 minutes. I’ve been eating freezie pops and they are delightful! Was able to get one small jello cup down over a 5 hour period. Also, managed to eat a ½ bowl of warm chicken broth throughout the night. I’ve set my phone alarm for every two hours. I take the Oxycodone every 4 hours and Tylenol the two hours between. So far, that has really kept the pain down – of course, I might still be under the effects of the anesthesia and the meds they gave me in the recovery room. I did have a couple of “oh my god” moments when trying to take my meds. When trying to swallow, some water shot directly into the wound and it felt like I was going to die for about 5 minutes, then it subsided.
I was able to get about 3 hours of sleep, off and on. I know today was the “honeymoon phase”. Really dreading what is to come. 🙁
Hi Jaretta! Thanks for sharing. Hope all continues to go well. STAY HYDRATED!