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:-)
Today is Day 2 for me, and for the most part the pain has been pretty manageable. I can tell when its close to my next dose of pain meds because the pain gets very bad. There are 2 things that I am noticing today that are actually bothering me more than the pain in my throat. First is my swolen uvula. It is so big that I feel like I am choking on it sometimes, and I feel like sometimes it makes me unable to breathe correctly depending on what position my head is in. Also, I have noticed that every time I am about to swallow, I clench my jaw together and then after I swallow, I forget to unclench my jaw, so my jaw has spent the better part of the day clenched, which is causing pain. I have tried relaxing my jaw a lot but it isnt really helping. This morning I was able to get a scrambled egg down when I took my morning dose of pain meds. I have also eaten a lot of italian ice and applesauce. I also drank some chicken broth which actually helped with the pain a lot more than I thought it would. I am really not looking forward to tomorrow though.
Day 2 was quite bearable on one painkiller every four hours. Also, I’m constantly hydrated – one tall glass of water – even throughout the night with an alarm set for every two hours. Throughout the night, I had a warm magic bag covering the ears, and the frozen magic bag around the front of my neck. Crossing fingers for day three but nervous.
I got my tonsillectomy July 2, and from the moment I woke up, I have felt horrible since. I was not scared at all going in the surgery, but I woke up in a panic when I was choking. I had tears running down my cheeks because it hurt so bad to cough btw. all the drainage and swelling I had. I woke myself up in recovery gasping for air. It resulted in nurses giving me a spit pan- which I filled up 3 times with phlegm and blood, them pounding on my back, and putting something in my IV. And little did I know the pain would only get worse. It was a b*tch to swallow anything, but I am continuing to force down liquids praying that staying hydrated will pay off for something soon. I am beyond exhausted, but I will only sleep every two hours or so. I take amoxicillin (antibiotic 3 x a day) and loratab elixir every 4 hours but it does not feel like it is enough. My glands are so enlarged around my neck I can’t move my head side to side. There is so much pressure on my ears they hurt by feeling clogged and the slightest pressure changes want to make me scream. My uvula is so enlarged it rests on my tongue. I have TMJ and I am wondering if the clamps from surgery did something to affect my jaw bc I can’t open my mouth bigger than the width of two of my fingers. I have so much drainage that I am terrified to even try pudding bc of the milk in it. I have only been drinking water and gatorade. It hurts to much to crunch and swallow ice chips now. I have been icing my neck, gargling epsom salt, and drinking at least 12 oz of water of gatorade every hour. The pain won’t go down, the swelling is still there -if not worse at certain times- and I can’t even open my mouth to check for thrush or what my tonsils look like. I gargle with salt water and sit in the bathroom with the water running completely hot to steam up and help try to break up this gunk, and I am a college student- I can’t just run out and buy myself a humidifier. My air pathway is so slim and I can’t reduce the amount of drainage. It is safe to say I am beyond pissed- I went in expecting the worse but I feel like I was just handed the worst with no mercy..and it is only day 2. So much for a 4th of July. Concerned I will have to drop my summer class because I am already missing two days (one summer class is equivalent to a weeks worth of class in a normal semester) esp. if this pain and other issues do not light up soon. I just want to cry in bed. I don’t know what other things I can do to help. I can hardly get down buttered noodles, but that too made me choke and if I don’t get something more on my stomach I am concerned I will begin to get nauseous.
To follow up- day 3 was just as bad, but add more ear pains and jaw pains. I really think my TMJ has flared up because every time i open my mouth (even the slightest) you can here poppop. Looks like after I heal from this I will be making a visit to the dentist if this doesn’t go away on its own soon. I already have had my wisdom teeth removed (like four years ago) but it feels similar to that pain…just add the ear, throat, and swallowing pain on top of it too. I am just wishing some of these things would lighten up a little. Instead of constant pain, I feel mild pain for the first two hours after I take pain meds, but then after that its like a battle of throbbing pains go on through my head and neck. So now (approx. day 4 I suppose?) it;s okay two hours, then bad two hours. I had my first bowel movement since before my surgery and that made me feel a lot better. Seeing that peppermint tea helps a lot, so may look into that tomorrow, and I am craving a good grilled cheese. Had a little soft chicken today and bread but it was a major challenge to get down, and was the only thing I ate today. I have been good about staying hydrated, I really hope that pays off. I have been avoiding dairy bc I have dealt with so much drainage, but may slowly ease in by having a grilled cheese or watered down yogurt. I want to make sure I do not get thrush, I just feel like I was hit with enough. My glands on my neck are still super sensitive and swollen. Wondering when that will go down too. I have been gargling daily with salt water, surprisingly does not burn but I wonder if it will now that I feel bits and pieces of my scabs coming off. Just a warning- it is a grimy bad taste to have in your mouth. I would chew gum but that would hurt my jaws even more (even though I’m sure it would help alleviate the stiffness) and swallowing hurts so bad. I already carry around a spit cup. Being a sorority girl in the south, I feel like I have succumbed to a new all time low having to do that. Honestly out of everything, the spit cup is what I despise most. Something that has helped is taking a warm shower and gargling salt water in there, and then when I get out put the shower on full hot water, turn the fan off, and just sit in there like a steam room. It seems to help break up some gunk, blow my nose, open my air passages a little more, and since I don’t have a humidifier it helps moisten my nose and throat, and esp. helps take the ringing pain out of my ears. So ready for this week to be over, and since day 1-3 were horrid, I am hoping 4-6 improve or at least not worsen anymore from what I have already dealt with. I need a break!!! As soon as I get better, back to work and class I go.
Just putting this here for future readers. The spit cup is a BAD idea. The more you swallow, the BETTER! It actually makes it hurt LESS to keep swallowing. Seems counter-productive, but it’s true. You can spit out mucus if you need to, but for regular swallowing you really need to just swallow. It is actually recommended to chew gum because it forces you to swallow more often (and it works your jaw so it’s by stiff).
Day 6- actually did better for a bit but hurt again to swallow. However something that is now helping is that every for hrs I take the loratab elixir and then in btw at the second hour I take liquid motrin (nothing with acetomenophin in it) to help and I actually feel a lot better doing it. the scabs are beginning to somewhat fall off so maybe thats some of the pain but my ears and jaws are still KILLING me! Again, maybe more TMJ related. RIght now is the best I have felt, hurts the most to swallow now though but swelling went down. I seem to cough the most in the morning and again that hurts quite a bit too. May the motrin helps, but I am ready for the pain to settle more!!
Day 2< woke up with two sharp pains in my throat. I continued to drink clear liquids although more difficult than day one. I tolerate jello fairly well. There is a lot of mucus at the back of my throat, so I've started taking muscinex which has help loosen the secretions. I have also been more fatigued today. I also have a Halls periodically, and gum is good for keeping your mouth moist, avoiding jaw stiffness, and helping to swallow, I have also been using a humidifier constantly. Please remember to consult your physician before taking any advice, different pain relievers have different drug interaction warnings.
I am 32 years old and just had my tonsillectomy 38 hours ago. Thank you to everyone here for giving me an idea of what to expect ahead of time. Overall my experience so far has been good.
Straight out of surgery I was hungry and ate a Popsicle, 2 cups of jello and half a turkey sandwich. I was able to eat a bowl of rice krispies for breakfast and stuck with Popsicles and jello and sorbet for the rest of the day. I was able to eat some turkey and mashed potatoes with peas and carrots for dinner last night.
I slept 7 hours last night without waking up (which scared me because of the hydration issue), I have only been taking Tylenol every 4-6 hours along with my antibiotics. I did notice it was a little bit harder to talk this morning my voice has gone very hoarse. Also it seems like I have a bit of sinus drainage going on which makes it hard when I lay down.
Like all of the rest of you have mentioned I am not looking forward to day 4, and I am taking this day by day!
Today is Day 2 for me, and for the most part the pain has been pretty manageable. I can tell when its close to my next dose of pain meds because the pain gets very bad. There are 2 things that I am noticing today that are actually bothering me more than the pain in my throat. First is my swolen uvula. It is so big that I feel like I am choking on it sometimes, and I feel like sometimes it makes me unable to breathe correctly depending on what position my head is in. Also, I have noticed that every time I am about to swallow, I clench my jaw together and then after I swallow, I forget to unclench my jaw, so my jaw has spent the better part of the day clenched, which is causing pain. I have tried relaxing my jaw a lot but it isnt really helping. This morning I was able to get a scrambled egg down when I took my morning dose of pain meds. I have also eaten a lot of italian ice and applesauce. I also drank some chicken broth which actually helped with the pain a lot more than I thought it would. I am really not looking forward to tomorrow though.
Day 2 was quite bearable on one painkiller every four hours. Also, I’m constantly hydrated – one tall glass of water – even throughout the night with an alarm set for every two hours. Throughout the night, I had a warm magic bag covering the ears, and the frozen magic bag around the front of my neck. Crossing fingers for day three but nervous.
I got my tonsillectomy July 2, and from the moment I woke up, I have felt horrible since. I was not scared at all going in the surgery, but I woke up in a panic when I was choking. I had tears running down my cheeks because it hurt so bad to cough btw. all the drainage and swelling I had. I woke myself up in recovery gasping for air. It resulted in nurses giving me a spit pan- which I filled up 3 times with phlegm and blood, them pounding on my back, and putting something in my IV. And little did I know the pain would only get worse. It was a b*tch to swallow anything, but I am continuing to force down liquids praying that staying hydrated will pay off for something soon. I am beyond exhausted, but I will only sleep every two hours or so. I take amoxicillin (antibiotic 3 x a day) and loratab elixir every 4 hours but it does not feel like it is enough. My glands are so enlarged around my neck I can’t move my head side to side. There is so much pressure on my ears they hurt by feeling clogged and the slightest pressure changes want to make me scream. My uvula is so enlarged it rests on my tongue. I have TMJ and I am wondering if the clamps from surgery did something to affect my jaw bc I can’t open my mouth bigger than the width of two of my fingers. I have so much drainage that I am terrified to even try pudding bc of the milk in it. I have only been drinking water and gatorade. It hurts to much to crunch and swallow ice chips now. I have been icing my neck, gargling epsom salt, and drinking at least 12 oz of water of gatorade every hour. The pain won’t go down, the swelling is still there -if not worse at certain times- and I can’t even open my mouth to check for thrush or what my tonsils look like. I gargle with salt water and sit in the bathroom with the water running completely hot to steam up and help try to break up this gunk, and I am a college student- I can’t just run out and buy myself a humidifier. My air pathway is so slim and I can’t reduce the amount of drainage. It is safe to say I am beyond pissed- I went in expecting the worse but I feel like I was just handed the worst with no mercy..and it is only day 2. So much for a 4th of July. Concerned I will have to drop my summer class because I am already missing two days (one summer class is equivalent to a weeks worth of class in a normal semester) esp. if this pain and other issues do not light up soon. I just want to cry in bed. I don’t know what other things I can do to help. I can hardly get down buttered noodles, but that too made me choke and if I don’t get something more on my stomach I am concerned I will begin to get nauseous.
Sincerely, 19 and miserable
To follow up- day 3 was just as bad, but add more ear pains and jaw pains. I really think my TMJ has flared up because every time i open my mouth (even the slightest) you can here poppop. Looks like after I heal from this I will be making a visit to the dentist if this doesn’t go away on its own soon. I already have had my wisdom teeth removed (like four years ago) but it feels similar to that pain…just add the ear, throat, and swallowing pain on top of it too. I am just wishing some of these things would lighten up a little. Instead of constant pain, I feel mild pain for the first two hours after I take pain meds, but then after that its like a battle of throbbing pains go on through my head and neck. So now (approx. day 4 I suppose?) it;s okay two hours, then bad two hours. I had my first bowel movement since before my surgery and that made me feel a lot better. Seeing that peppermint tea helps a lot, so may look into that tomorrow, and I am craving a good grilled cheese. Had a little soft chicken today and bread but it was a major challenge to get down, and was the only thing I ate today. I have been good about staying hydrated, I really hope that pays off. I have been avoiding dairy bc I have dealt with so much drainage, but may slowly ease in by having a grilled cheese or watered down yogurt. I want to make sure I do not get thrush, I just feel like I was hit with enough. My glands on my neck are still super sensitive and swollen. Wondering when that will go down too. I have been gargling daily with salt water, surprisingly does not burn but I wonder if it will now that I feel bits and pieces of my scabs coming off. Just a warning- it is a grimy bad taste to have in your mouth. I would chew gum but that would hurt my jaws even more (even though I’m sure it would help alleviate the stiffness) and swallowing hurts so bad. I already carry around a spit cup. Being a sorority girl in the south, I feel like I have succumbed to a new all time low having to do that. Honestly out of everything, the spit cup is what I despise most. Something that has helped is taking a warm shower and gargling salt water in there, and then when I get out put the shower on full hot water, turn the fan off, and just sit in there like a steam room. It seems to help break up some gunk, blow my nose, open my air passages a little more, and since I don’t have a humidifier it helps moisten my nose and throat, and esp. helps take the ringing pain out of my ears. So ready for this week to be over, and since day 1-3 were horrid, I am hoping 4-6 improve or at least not worsen anymore from what I have already dealt with. I need a break!!! As soon as I get better, back to work and class I go.
Just putting this here for future readers. The spit cup is a BAD idea. The more you swallow, the BETTER! It actually makes it hurt LESS to keep swallowing. Seems counter-productive, but it’s true. You can spit out mucus if you need to, but for regular swallowing you really need to just swallow. It is actually recommended to chew gum because it forces you to swallow more often (and it works your jaw so it’s by stiff).
Day 6- actually did better for a bit but hurt again to swallow. However something that is now helping is that every for hrs I take the loratab elixir and then in btw at the second hour I take liquid motrin (nothing with acetomenophin in it) to help and I actually feel a lot better doing it. the scabs are beginning to somewhat fall off so maybe thats some of the pain but my ears and jaws are still KILLING me! Again, maybe more TMJ related. RIght now is the best I have felt, hurts the most to swallow now though but swelling went down. I seem to cough the most in the morning and again that hurts quite a bit too. May the motrin helps, but I am ready for the pain to settle more!!
Day 2< woke up with two sharp pains in my throat. I continued to drink clear liquids although more difficult than day one. I tolerate jello fairly well. There is a lot of mucus at the back of my throat, so I've started taking muscinex which has help loosen the secretions. I have also been more fatigued today. I also have a Halls periodically, and gum is good for keeping your mouth moist, avoiding jaw stiffness, and helping to swallow, I have also been using a humidifier constantly. Please remember to consult your physician before taking any advice, different pain relievers have different drug interaction warnings.
I am 32 years old and just had my tonsillectomy 38 hours ago. Thank you to everyone here for giving me an idea of what to expect ahead of time. Overall my experience so far has been good.
Straight out of surgery I was hungry and ate a Popsicle, 2 cups of jello and half a turkey sandwich. I was able to eat a bowl of rice krispies for breakfast and stuck with Popsicles and jello and sorbet for the rest of the day. I was able to eat some turkey and mashed potatoes with peas and carrots for dinner last night.
I slept 7 hours last night without waking up (which scared me because of the hydration issue), I have only been taking Tylenol every 4-6 hours along with my antibiotics. I did notice it was a little bit harder to talk this morning my voice has gone very hoarse. Also it seems like I have a bit of sinus drainage going on which makes it hard when I lay down.
Like all of the rest of you have mentioned I am not looking forward to day 4, and I am taking this day by day!