Check out our new tonsillectomy recovery video- Caution: Not always pretty
A collection of various experiences of adult tonsillectomy patients on their second 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. Below I share comments about tonsillectomy day 2. 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.What to eat? Thoughts on the post tonsillectomy diet
Please feel free to add your own experience with tonsillectomy day 2.
-Greg My short bio
Tonsillectomy Day 2
Day 2 : I don’t even need narcotics. Give me some pudding!
Day 2 : This must be the pain everyone’s talking about. Yay, drugs!
Day 2 : So, I woke up today in some intense pain, as the children’s Tylenol wasn’t even lasting half of the time as it was supposed to. My throat and uvula felt extremely swollen, which is completely normal for the first few days after surgery. I was really adamant about not taking the codeine because I have a very sensitive stomach and I know that codeine is very strong – especially on an empty stomach. I decided to try to swallow the amoxicillin again – I guess I didn’t learn my lesson the first time! After 30 minutes and finally getting both capsules down, I decided enough is enough and next time I was definitely going to open the capsules and mix them with jell-o. Sure enough, I decided to be smart one more time and say that it’s all in my head and they won’t get stuck again. Um, why am I so stubborn at times? However, the third time they got stuck was the charm. I started getting upset and promised myself that I will not swallow them again. I stuck to my word this time! Needless to say, amoxicillin and jell-o don’t taste so swell together. In fact, I gagged just about every time I had to take them; lucky for me, it was 2 capsules 3 times daily for 1 week – what bliss! The morning and afternoon wasn’t terrible, as I was able to get by on the children’s Tylenol. I ate popsicles and freezies throughout the day, and was wondering why I had so much phlegm. I put my thinking cap on and realized that it must be the sugar in them that is causing the excess of phlegm – it wasn’t pleasant. Nevertheless, I continued to eat them because they soothed my throat. I realized a weird symptom today, uncontrollable burping!?! I was a little taken back by this, but after talking to a few people, I was told it was just my digestive track returning to normal. The evening on the other hand, got a lot worse! I decided to sacrifice my stubbornness, and take the codeine (yes people, on an EMPTY stomach)! That night my stomach hurt a bit because of the codeine, but I figured it would settle. I prayed it would settle! I didn’t even want to think about vomiting after a tonsillectomy – ouch!
Day 2 : bad morning, felt good during the day, night time pain was really bad Stopped pain meds on day 2 due to nausea and dizziness.
Day 2 : i went home and slept and woke up at 9:30am and wasnt feeling too bad. I lost track of time and missed my timing for the meds and was in excruciating pain at about 12pm. once the effects of the t3′s came in, it eased the pain a little bit. I managed to eat 3 fried eggs and some soft meat thing. but i felt really nauseated after eating it. I also drank a lot of water even though it hurt like hell to swallow
Day 2 : I’m about to finish day 2. I have been chewing on some juicy fruit gum, eating bomb pops and scrambled eggs(with just a little milk and cheese mixed in) and they are going down easy. I now have some pain on my tongue, several sore spots. Hurts worse than my throat. The liquid roxicet the doctor gave me works great. I’m only consuming about 5ml instead of the recommended 10ml.
Day 2 : Well it was a bit of a rough night. Had another anxiety attack around 6am. Had a bunch of flem/thick mucus coating my throat because it was drying out, due to breathing through my mouth. The this mucus was making it difficult to swallow and I began to worry i would choke or drown. It is also difficult to drink, when i swallow fluids creep up my nose, but since i cannot really breathe through my nose, i cant clear it. This also gives me anxiety.
tonsillectomy recovery day 2 : Day two–sucked!! Nauseous all day from taking pain meds on empty stomach, throwing up, finally doc gave a scrip for anti-nausea medicine so my mom (bless her heart, stayed with my for 5 days) went and got my meds. Couldn’t eat or take pain meds without barfing. Pain was awful.
tonsillectomy day 2 : day 2 was terrible! Mornings are the worst too. I found waking up a few times in the night just for a sip of water really helped! Also for the first time last night I used an icepack! So much relief! It’s such a long process but there is a light at the end of this painful tunnel!
Day 2 : Day 2- bad morning, felt good during the day, night time pain was really bad.
day 2 : Days 2-3: I would call this a “steady decline”. Pain became worse and I could not eat anything. No popsicles, no ice cream. Finally at the end of day 3 I discovered Jello. Oh thank heaven for Jello, it felt soooo good both on my throat and to actually have something in my stomach.
tonsillectomy recovery day two : Was able to sleep a little bit more over night but not much. The Lortab med made me feel very weird and I took a little too much of it because the pain was so bad and that was a mistake. Felt like I had a minor overdose. I ended the day with a slight mental breakdown in the bathroom with the worst pain in my throat and head that I have ever felt in my life. Did not eat much and my appetite seemed to vanish. Pretty much hit a roadblock today and my body just did not feel like doing anything.
tonsillectomy day two : I made it through the night ok. I was put on an oxygen reader to make sure I was breathing an acceptable level of oxygen. I didn’t get much sleep because of the pain.
Tonsillectomy
Aug 20th, 10:41a: (Sorry for long post, this outlines from yesterdays Tonsiectomy to the following morning)
Please forgive any typos, still have a ton of drugs in me. To be clear, I am the biggest pansy when it comes to pain.
So much so, when they were hooking me up to the IV I almost decided not to go through with my tonsillectomy. The wife and the sedative they gave me helped sway my decision.
The reason: I had a table saw accident several years ago and knew what 10-10 pain is. If you are anything like me, you researched the sh!t out of this procedure and are now terrified because almost 98% of the accounts of this surgery are horrible stories.
I am journaling my experience for those like me that are spending 100’s of hours reading and prepping. Hopefully, this will help you.
Just had a coblation tonsillectomy at 7:30a Thursday August 20, 2015, for chronic tonsil stones. ENT told my wife he could not believe they were not removed as a child because of the scarring on them from multiple sicknesses.
I am a 35-year-old male and live in the USA. Just got back home now several minutes ago from outpatient surgery and wanted to start this right away while it is fresh in my mind. This must be the “honeymoon phase” since I am in very little pain. Maybe a 1-2 out of 10.
Ate jello and now about to eat Kraft mac and cheese since I hear when the anesthesia the stuff wears off, it is bad.
I am prescribed 1-2 Dilaudid 4mg every 4-6 and Norco 10/325 every 2-4 hours. Phenergan suppositories for nausea, tetracaine numbing lollipops, the tonsil fire extinguisher, and a stool softener. ENT talked me out of the steroids since he said it prolongs healing but I really want them, all I need to do is call and ask.
Drinking a TON of water right now to keep hydrated. Took two soft ice packs you can get in the camping section of Walmart and put them in a sock to wrap around my neck. Will keep you posted.
Aug. 20th 5:30p.
So pain is at about a 2-3 out of 10. Not terrible at all. I am at 64oz of water in a Nalgene bottle that has a neoprene cover on it to keep it cold. Resting in a recliner watching TV. Have two TV stands next to the recliner with a humidifier on each one, tv remote, etc.
Ate jello, which went down great then ate Kraft Mac and cheese again, and a protein shake.
Wife made me mini Gatorade ice cubes and strawberry ensure ice cubes.
ICE, ICE, ICE and WATER, WATER, WATER is a must! Was able to take a few cat naps about 30 minutes a piece. Making sure I stay hydrated.
My sister is a surgical nurse for an ENT and stressed the importance of ICE and Hydration. I have had an ice pack around my next the entire time.
Not too much more to report. Oh, buy one of those travel neck pillows.
Aug. 21st 2 am
Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your seat trays and seat backs into upright and locked position because we are in for a bumpy ride. Boy am I glad I got that food down earlier.
Took my last pain meds yesterday night around 10:30p and fell right to sleep. I set an alarm for 1:30a to make sure I drank more H2O and took more pain meds. Well, no alarm clock needed. I woke up with a solid 7-8 out of ten pain level at exactly 1:19a. Feels like the left tonsil scab is wanting to peel (which it does not appear to by flashlight inspection) and like the worse case of strep throat I ever had.
I forgot to mention from when I woke up in recovery and to now I have not talked, but two words to make sure the vocals still worked. Been using a dry erase board or texting from my computer and phone to communicate with the wife. From several other peoples stories they said talking tends to make you pay for it later.
On top of that, I also forgot to mention I am on three different blood pressure medicines and Prilosec as well for acid reflux that my GP, who referred me to the ENT said I must stay on. That is an additional four pills a day that must go down each morning.
From up until now I was rotating from one Norco 10/325 to one 4mg Dilaudid every three hours. The pain I just work up in, I just took one of each and a Phenergan to keep the nausea down. I also drank another 16oz of water, had apple sauce, and made another protein shake.
It is not my intention to scare anyone away. I did mention earlier I am the world’s biggest pansy when it comes to pain, I just want to share an accurate experience of what I am going through as it happens. It has been pretty much on par with other people’s stories.
I am journaling this in pages on my Mac, so I will go ahead and upload it to this forum in case someone else is in or near the same recovery phase as me.
The Phenergan is starting to kick in which makes you sleepy. Thanks for listening and must keep that end goal in mind of NO MORE TONSIL STONES:-)
Day 2 (including surgery day) I was worried about not being able to eat but I ate a full pizza today! Drinking lots of water too and think that’s helped 🙂
Day two I woke up to a very dry mouth. It really hurt to swallow but I read that you HAVE TO DO IT. I drank tea with honey, and drank 2 venti passion tea lemonades from Starbucks. I forgot that you shouldn’t drink from a straw so when I remembered I started sipping. I tired to eat scrambled eggs but chewing was tough and I couldn’t’ get the egg small enough to swallow (maybe because the eggs where so dry). So, I ate Jell-O from the cold isle in Safeway (the room temp. Jell-O have way to many preservatives and I try to stay away from that stuff). I ate some blueberry greek yogurt (which i shouldn’t have because I read that daily is not good right after surgery because it puts a coating on the healing area), chicken noodle soup from Tim Hortons (without noodle) and a popsicle. Today I really felt like I wanted to eat pizza haha. I was very sore all day overall body weakness and throat pain…. and whenever my bend over I feel a lot of pressure to my throat so don’t do this. I took 2 demerols and didn’t puke once!!! I’m having a difficult time falling asleep and I just took a Tylenol 3. We’ll see what tomrrow brings!!!!!
Day 2 – I feel like I got off light. Gently dosing with Hydrocodone – I can’t feel any side effects of the medicine. Slept plenty – had a Paczki yesterday. Hurt, but I couldn’t skip the family tradition. Pain is minimal, only when speaking do I notice really anything. Lots of sticky saliva and woo does that look pretty inside.
Today is day 2 for me, I woke up feeling pretty good I must say, but I also woke up and took my meds throughout the night, and made sure to drink water each time I woke throughout the night, also had the dehumidifier running. Keeping my throat moist with water and pedialyte Popsicles has seemed to help a lot. I was able to eat scrambled eggs and cheese for lunch today, and a baked potato with a little milk, butter and cheese for dinner. As the day progresses one side of my throat clearly feels worse and is much more swollen than the other, but there’s been no blood, so I’m trying to remain optimistic and hydrated. I am a little freaked out by reading people’s hell stories of the days to come, hoping that I will continue to breeze by as easily as I have thus far.
The worst is that I’m trying to quit smoking (no better time than when your throat is disgusto) and the craving and withdrawal is making me a little anxious, but it is keeping me eating, I am only 118 lbs so I was concerned stepping into this surgery about losing too much weight. Just trying to remain positive about the next 10 days and the smoking, please send happy no smoking mojo through the computer for me, it’s been a solid 19 years of smoking and it does really suck to stop, but I know my life and lungs are worth it;)
Yesterday I had a tonsillectomy, septoplasty, and turbinate reduction. It all went smoothly, woke up in some pain and was given pain medication. Slept about two hours since then. So much great advice on this site. I think my best purchases for post surgery included a spine reliever wedge for lounging upright, a cool mist humidifier and the elasto gel cervical collar. Worst purchase was Hamilton Beach ice shaver. That thing takes forever to shave ice and you have to constantly shift the ice in order to get it to work. A blender is just as good. I made a very refreshing drink last night with a chocolate ice cream, zero sugar, lactose free protein shake, Torani sugar free chocolate syrup, peppermint extract, a few packets of Splenda, and ice in the blender, it tastes like a Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie. It really made my throat feel good. The person that recommended coating your throat with some pudding before taking the gigantic pills they give you for pain and infection is my personal hero. It really does work. Diet mainly consists of ice water, jello, chicken broth, pudding and the occasional ‘thin mint’. I have my phone set to go off every four hours for pain medication, another great idea! Gearing up for the days ahead and hope it doesn’t get too bad. I also purchased an EARDOC just to be on the safe side, because of the many complaints of ear pain I’ve read about. If I happen to need it, I’ll post about the results. Thank you so much for all the information on this site. My surgeon was great, but he explained the surgery this way, “it’s like scraping your knee”. I’ve scraped my knee on more than one occasion and this is no knee scrape. The next time I meet up with my surgeon I’m going tell him what a great help this site was and perhaps he will recommend it to his other patients. Wishing everyone a speedy recovery.
Day 2 (including surgery day) I was worried about not being able to eat but I ate a full pizza today! Drinking lots of water too and think that’s helped 🙂
Day two I woke up to a very dry mouth. It really hurt to swallow but I read that you HAVE TO DO IT. I drank tea with honey, and drank 2 venti passion tea lemonades from Starbucks. I forgot that you shouldn’t drink from a straw so when I remembered I started sipping. I tired to eat scrambled eggs but chewing was tough and I couldn’t’ get the egg small enough to swallow (maybe because the eggs where so dry). So, I ate Jell-O from the cold isle in Safeway (the room temp. Jell-O have way to many preservatives and I try to stay away from that stuff). I ate some blueberry greek yogurt (which i shouldn’t have because I read that daily is not good right after surgery because it puts a coating on the healing area), chicken noodle soup from Tim Hortons (without noodle) and a popsicle. Today I really felt like I wanted to eat pizza haha. I was very sore all day overall body weakness and throat pain…. and whenever my bend over I feel a lot of pressure to my throat so don’t do this. I took 2 demerols and didn’t puke once!!! I’m having a difficult time falling asleep and I just took a Tylenol 3. We’ll see what tomrrow brings!!!!!
Day 2 – I feel like I got off light. Gently dosing with Hydrocodone – I can’t feel any side effects of the medicine. Slept plenty – had a Paczki yesterday. Hurt, but I couldn’t skip the family tradition. Pain is minimal, only when speaking do I notice really anything. Lots of sticky saliva and woo does that look pretty inside.
Today is day 2 for me, I woke up feeling pretty good I must say, but I also woke up and took my meds throughout the night, and made sure to drink water each time I woke throughout the night, also had the dehumidifier running. Keeping my throat moist with water and pedialyte Popsicles has seemed to help a lot. I was able to eat scrambled eggs and cheese for lunch today, and a baked potato with a little milk, butter and cheese for dinner. As the day progresses one side of my throat clearly feels worse and is much more swollen than the other, but there’s been no blood, so I’m trying to remain optimistic and hydrated. I am a little freaked out by reading people’s hell stories of the days to come, hoping that I will continue to breeze by as easily as I have thus far.
The worst is that I’m trying to quit smoking (no better time than when your throat is disgusto) and the craving and withdrawal is making me a little anxious, but it is keeping me eating, I am only 118 lbs so I was concerned stepping into this surgery about losing too much weight. Just trying to remain positive about the next 10 days and the smoking, please send happy no smoking mojo through the computer for me, it’s been a solid 19 years of smoking and it does really suck to stop, but I know my life and lungs are worth it;)
Yesterday I had a tonsillectomy, septoplasty, and turbinate reduction. It all went smoothly, woke up in some pain and was given pain medication. Slept about two hours since then. So much great advice on this site. I think my best purchases for post surgery included a spine reliever wedge for lounging upright, a cool mist humidifier and the elasto gel cervical collar. Worst purchase was Hamilton Beach ice shaver. That thing takes forever to shave ice and you have to constantly shift the ice in order to get it to work. A blender is just as good. I made a very refreshing drink last night with a chocolate ice cream, zero sugar, lactose free protein shake, Torani sugar free chocolate syrup, peppermint extract, a few packets of Splenda, and ice in the blender, it tastes like a Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie. It really made my throat feel good. The person that recommended coating your throat with some pudding before taking the gigantic pills they give you for pain and infection is my personal hero. It really does work. Diet mainly consists of ice water, jello, chicken broth, pudding and the occasional ‘thin mint’. I have my phone set to go off every four hours for pain medication, another great idea! Gearing up for the days ahead and hope it doesn’t get too bad. I also purchased an EARDOC just to be on the safe side, because of the many complaints of ear pain I’ve read about. If I happen to need it, I’ll post about the results. Thank you so much for all the information on this site. My surgeon was great, but he explained the surgery this way, “it’s like scraping your knee”. I’ve scraped my knee on more than one occasion and this is no knee scrape. The next time I meet up with my surgeon I’m going tell him what a great help this site was and perhaps he will recommend it to his other patients. Wishing everyone a speedy recovery.