A collection of various experiences of adult tonsillectomy patients on their third 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 3. 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.
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Please feel free to add your own experience with tonsillectomy day 3.
-Greg Tooke My short bio
Tonsillectomy Day 3
Tonsillectomy Day 3 : It’s starting to hurt a little worse for some reason. Tonsillectomy Day 3 : Drugs aren’t working – help, Doc! …Yay, new drugs! What to eat? Thoughts on the post tonsillectomy diet
Tonsillectomy Day 3 : I guess what I wanted didn’t matter, because at 1:30am I rushed to the bathroom and began to vomit. After the first time, I absolutely panicked, because I saw red and figured I was bleeding – just my luck! It turned out to be the children’s Tylenol melt away caplets – which were bubblegum flavored and therefore pinkish red in color! Whew! After getting back in bed, I felt a little better and decided to keep drinking water.
An hour later I rushed back to the bathroom, and christened the majestic bowl a second time. After getting sick the second time, my throat felt very raw, but no more painful than before. The only good part of getting sick is that it removed all of the phlegm that was built up in my throat. I went back to bed, grabbed my laptop and came right to www.mybigfattonsillectomy.com, where I posted my guts out! Sleep? What’s sleep? I stayed up all night trying to find something other than an infomercial on television – if you’ve ever watched television at 5:00am; you know how difficult that is! In the morning I began chewing gum to get my muscles working again; my teeth and jaw have been so sensitive. Eating wise, I was able to work in applesauce today, which is a big step up from frozen treats and jell-o. This reminds me, mark my words, after the recovery, I will never be able to eat jell-o again – the taste of it mixed with amoxicillin is haunting me in my dreams! Pain wise, today is definitely the worst by far. The throat is very sore, but the worst is the ear pain; it’s so intense! Today I also had to call my doctor and let him know that the codeine wasn’t working with my empty stomach. He sent my mom out to buy gravol (an anti-nausea medication) to take before the codeine. Turns out, it didn’t help. I found myself dry heaving over that same majestic bowl (I apologize; I know that is not the most pleasant picture). I didn’t actually vomit, but that feeling was definitely worse. As stubborn as I am, I decided to play doctor and call it quits on both the gravol and the codeine. As a result – I’d have to make it through on children’s Tylenol? What was I thinking?
Tonsillectomy Day 3 : day 4 post tonsillectomy and sinus surgery (turbinoplasty, septoplasty, antrostomy, the works), 31 years old. I am still glad that I got both surgeries done at once, since I’ll only have 1 recovery, but WOW. If one thing doesn’t hurt, something else does. I now know why my surgeon works with Ears, Nose and Throat… they are definitely all connected!
Tonsillectomy Day 3 : Day 3-4: I woke up both mornings at 5am with really bad pain, my ears were aching and my throat was on fire and i could barely get my pills to go down my throat. I went back to bed until about 930am. When i woke up again i had to have ice chips, jello and a popsicle to sooth my throat. drank lots of water and some coca-cola and ate some noodles with Parmesan cheese.took my meds like clockwork so i wouldnt be in excruciating pain. although the pain was still pretty bad. Tonsillectomy Day 3 : Surgery day up until the 3rd day, was like, WHAT what surgery..pshhhh smooth sailing…and then Tonsillectomy Day 3 : Day 3 – 7 – Wham! And I mean WHAM! The pain steadily increased with day 7 taking the cake as WORST DAY EVER.
Tonsillectomy Day 3 : Had a pretty decent nights sleep. I think the humidifier helped keep my throat and nose damp over night, and i tried to keep on my pain management by taking a percocet about every four hours. I have started clearing my throat of bloody phlegm, drainage from my nose i believe as i do not see any bleeding form my throat. Pain level is still very tolerable. Drinking fluids is sill a bit difficult, i did start eating popsicles which are nice and soothing. Tonsillectomy Day 3 : Day three–felt better, due to the anti-nausea drugs in my opinion. Taking pain meds was good again, eating still not so good as jello was the only thing I could eat. Drank lots of water, even though it hurt. Worst part, in my opinion, was the swollen tongue and uvula, which no one ever mentioned. Tonsillectomy Day 3 : Day 3 post op (72 hours) . Drooling when i sleep that causes me to choke and cough. I dont know why im not swallowing when i sleep. Ear pain now and sometimes cold doesnt feel good. Im still hanging out in bed and pretty much in a daze after my meds. Im taking one hysrocodone pill every 3 hours. I eat before my meds and it sometimes makes me late to take my meds. That causes more pain. I am drinking trying to eat eggs, pasta, and soup. Sick of popsicles and sweets.
Tonsillectomy Day 3 : Day 3- painful morning, went home ate chicken noodle soup. My mom decided to let me sleep…big mistake! Woke up in horrible pain, stay on TOP With your PAIN MEDS!
Tonsillectomy Day 3 : Recovery Day 3 (post-op day 4): I stopped taking the Lortab because of the slight overdose and the scary side effects (paranoia, mood swings, fidgety, sweating feeling un-easy) and I began to take 2 tablespoons of Tylenol Sore Throat liquid 500mg per tablespoon about every 5 hours or so. It curves the pain slightly without diving back into the Lortab. I did however need a teaspoon of Lortab just so I could eat some soup. I then drank an Ensure plus in the shower while banging on the wall after each sip because swallowing it hurt so bad. I also discovered that drinking some children’s benadryl (double the child dose which is an adult dose) it helps me relax and sleep for a little bit. Noticed a white coating on my tongue. Been using colgate peroxyl mouthwash to get ride of any sores and possible Thrush in my mouth. Also began taking acidophilus probiotic supplement to get rid of any Thrush that may have developed.
Tonsillectomy Day 3 : Day 3: I feel no better than I did the day of surgery. I am pretty disgusted. I thought that I would be feeling better by day 3, but I am not. At this point I am just trying to muster the energy to get through another day.
The pain is worse on day 3 than it was on day 2. I have to really focus on drinking liquids (this was pretty easy for me to do on day 1)! As I begin to feel the pain move toward my ears, I am chewing gum (as recommended by the doctor) and using ice packs on my throat…the ice packs feel so good! I recommend having 2 on hand so that one is always cold.
My Best Advice And Its Going to sound Crazy But Take Two Ice Packs Wrap Them In A Towel And Put Them on Your Ears When They Really Start Hurting It Releaves So Much Pain!!!
Day 3: merry frickin Xmas. Today has been the worst thus far. Throat is healing now and seems to be tightening up. My sinuses, however, are blocked so badly and my uvula is so swollen that I only slept about a solid 2 hours throughout the night. Despite continually hydrating throughout the night, I woke up with a horrible headache and a dry mouth. I ate some cream of wheat and took some ibuprofen and roxicet. Fell back asleep for an hour and am doing better now. Hope someone has some tips on the whole uvula and sinus problem. If I can’t sleep I’m gonna go crazy haha
The best suggestion I can make is taking Benadryl consistently. I was taking 50mg every 3 – 4 hours. It helped to keep my sinuses dried out and helped me relax enough to get a little bit of sleep. I started out taking the liquid children’s stuff but I figured out that th pills are small enough I can swallow them without a problem. I also use a saline nose spray every once in a while to help rinse stuff down.
The honeymoon is over. I have calculated that I can take my pain meds every 3 hours without going over the daily max of hydrocodone or acetaminophen. Just getting to the 3 hour point is torture. I have to give myself a pep talk every time I have to swallow.
My alarm has a nap timer that I can set quickly for an hour to keep waking me up throughout the night to make sure my throat doesn’t get dried out. Most of the time I wake up before the timer goes off anyway because I am drinking so much that I am going to the bathroom every 20 minutes.
I am doing my best to keep myself distracted from the pain with fun stuff like playing Words with Friends, taking bubble baths, surfing LOLcats, etc. My husband won’t let me do much of anything around the house, so I am getting a little bored. I think the hardest part of today was watching football and not being able to cheer or yell.
It is evening of day three, surgery was Dec. 11. Threw up this morning, my biggest fear for all of this. I think I’ll have a bruise from kneeing the cabinet with each heave. It wasn’t as bad as I thought while it was happening, but it left my throat so dry. Today is truly the worst so far. It us so difficult to swallow today. I had no idea my uvula could get so huge. I will most certainly be calling my doc to see if I can get a steroid to take that down. I will be trying any and all tips offered, I have five children that need their mamma back. I dread the thought of my husband going back to work. I don’t really have any tips to offer just the need to feel like I’m not the only who is struggling through this mind blowing pain. I will say though ice packs around the front of my neck and jaws is very soothing. Sleeping in the recliner too is a must. I had no idea how much choking and gagging there would be. Just when I am sleeping good a am jerked awake gasping for breath or just unable to swallow due to lack of any moister in my mouth. I know that I will be like a new person when this is all over. I just had no idea getting there would be quite the brutal
I’ve been experiencing a lot of pain when I try and swallow. I’ve been drinking a lot of water, but it is tricky because it hurts and there is so much phlegm in my mouth. I have the swollen tongue as well.
I got hungry for the first time yesterday evening and tried a protein shake. I got down a couple spoonfuls. I then tried potato soup a little later, and timed it for exactly one hour after I take my lortab so it hurts the least. I managed to eat most of it, which was good.
I haven’t been tired, but I haven’t been doing too much. Also the pain isn’t unbearable yet. I think I’m either fortunate or it will get worse from here on out.
Tonsillectomy Day 3 : I guess what I wanted didn’t matter, because at 1:30am I rushed to the bathroom and began to vomit. After the first time, I absolutely panicked, because I saw red and figured I was bleeding – just my luck! It turned out to be the children’s Tylenol melt away caplets – which were bubblegum flavored and therefore pinkish red in color! Whew! After getting back in bed, I felt a little better and decided to keep drinking water.
The pain is worse on day 3 than it was on day 2. I have to really focus on drinking liquids (this was pretty easy for me to do on day 1)! As I begin to feel the pain move toward my ears, I am chewing gum (as recommended by the doctor) and using ice packs on my throat…the ice packs feel so good! I recommend having 2 on hand so that one is always cold.
My Best Advice And Its Going to sound Crazy But Take Two Ice Packs Wrap Them In A Towel And Put Them on Your Ears When They Really Start Hurting It Releaves So Much Pain!!!
Day 3: merry frickin Xmas. Today has been the worst thus far. Throat is healing now and seems to be tightening up. My sinuses, however, are blocked so badly and my uvula is so swollen that I only slept about a solid 2 hours throughout the night. Despite continually hydrating throughout the night, I woke up with a horrible headache and a dry mouth. I ate some cream of wheat and took some ibuprofen and roxicet. Fell back asleep for an hour and am doing better now. Hope someone has some tips on the whole uvula and sinus problem. If I can’t sleep I’m gonna go crazy haha
The best suggestion I can make is taking Benadryl consistently. I was taking 50mg every 3 – 4 hours. It helped to keep my sinuses dried out and helped me relax enough to get a little bit of sleep. I started out taking the liquid children’s stuff but I figured out that th pills are small enough I can swallow them without a problem. I also use a saline nose spray every once in a while to help rinse stuff down.
The honeymoon is over. I have calculated that I can take my pain meds every 3 hours without going over the daily max of hydrocodone or acetaminophen. Just getting to the 3 hour point is torture. I have to give myself a pep talk every time I have to swallow.
My alarm has a nap timer that I can set quickly for an hour to keep waking me up throughout the night to make sure my throat doesn’t get dried out. Most of the time I wake up before the timer goes off anyway because I am drinking so much that I am going to the bathroom every 20 minutes.
I am doing my best to keep myself distracted from the pain with fun stuff like playing Words with Friends, taking bubble baths, surfing LOLcats, etc. My husband won’t let me do much of anything around the house, so I am getting a little bored. I think the hardest part of today was watching football and not being able to cheer or yell.
It is evening of day three, surgery was Dec. 11. Threw up this morning, my biggest fear for all of this. I think I’ll have a bruise from kneeing the cabinet with each heave. It wasn’t as bad as I thought while it was happening, but it left my throat so dry. Today is truly the worst so far. It us so difficult to swallow today. I had no idea my uvula could get so huge. I will most certainly be calling my doc to see if I can get a steroid to take that down. I will be trying any and all tips offered, I have five children that need their mamma back. I dread the thought of my husband going back to work. I don’t really have any tips to offer just the need to feel like I’m not the only who is struggling through this mind blowing pain. I will say though ice packs around the front of my neck and jaws is very soothing. Sleeping in the recliner too is a must. I had no idea how much choking and gagging there would be. Just when I am sleeping good a am jerked awake gasping for breath or just unable to swallow due to lack of any moister in my mouth. I know that I will be like a new person when this is all over. I just had no idea getting there would be quite the brutal
I’ve been experiencing a lot of pain when I try and swallow. I’ve been drinking a lot of water, but it is tricky because it hurts and there is so much phlegm in my mouth. I have the swollen tongue as well.
I got hungry for the first time yesterday evening and tried a protein shake. I got down a couple spoonfuls. I then tried potato soup a little later, and timed it for exactly one hour after I take my lortab so it hurts the least. I managed to eat most of it, which was good.
I haven’t been tired, but I haven’t been doing too much. Also the pain isn’t unbearable yet. I think I’m either fortunate or it will get worse from here on out.